I picked up 2 6 week old female guinea pigs yesterday from a breeder. When I got them home I put them straight into their hutch (a triangular hutch with inside and outside area). They have a house inside their inside bit because they're so small. 24hours later and they hadn't moved from the house, not to eat anything at all. I checked that they were OK and my mum and I decided to bring them inside and put them into a smaller cage with their food and bedding etc so that they could get used to the noises we make and also so they don't have so much space. I held them both for a while and one of them eventually started purring at me for a bit. I was just wondering whether I should be worried that they hadn't eaten anything? I've put the food that they came with plus a tiny bit of cucumber and celery as well. We've kept guinea pigs before, 11 in total and never had this problem before. They both seem pretty healthy apart from that.
6 week olds not eating..
- Thread starter RoopyE
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Lil-Ninnibig
Teenage Guinea Pig
They will be frightened, guineapigs are very timid and have to get used to there new surroundings and you. They will be nipping out for food and water when no ones around probably during the night. Be patient it could take weeks for them to be confident enough to venture out
thanks, we're just so used to them being a bit more curious when we first get them, but I think they're a little younger than we've had them before. They definitely hadn't eaten anything in the last 24hours, apart from maybe a bit of hay that was stuffed into their house.
Lil-Ninnibig
Teenage Guinea Pig
Well if there not eating for definate ie-there nuggets havent gone down and veggies remain then to save any illness or starvation i would be tempted to put them a small amount of nuggets/feed in there hiding quarters and also some veg such as cucumber and carrot so they get water from there veggys... Have * got the cage in a quiet room? Make there cage as calm and quiet as possible as any slight noise could frighten them... Be patient and I'm sure there confidence will pick up.. but if they do not eat the food placed in there hidey hole then id seek vet advice as id be concerned as to why they are not eating...
Yeah I've found a low dish and put their food inside the house so they don't have to go out, and also covered the cake with a towel so it's dark, the house is pretty quiet in the day time, though I might bring them upstairs later on so it'll be a bit more quiet for them. They didn't seem skittish really when I was holding them, they didn't try to run for cover even though there were things they could have hidden under. I'm going to keep a close eye on them in the next few days, if it doesn't improve then I shall be taking them to the vet.
Lil-Ninnibig
Teenage Guinea Pig
If guineapigs dont run away with fear then they tend to freeze hoping the predator ie-yoy will not notice them or lose interest in them.. Its a natural reaction as prey such as guineapigs know that if they run it will cause the predators instinct to chase to kick in.
Just as a quick update, since moving them inside they've started to eat rather a lot and I've heard them talking to eachother which is a great sign 
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