Mikatelyn
Junior Guinea Pig
Hi,
Not sure if I need to be concerned or not. In the past week it seems like one of my piggies (Bandit) is more skittish and scared than normal. I've had them for 3 months, and they are 6 month old males. They were both slowly becoming more tame, reliably coming to take treats from my hands, jumping into my lap, letting me pet them. I was even able to coax them into my arms so that I could pick them up a few inches off the ground in the last week before Bandit's behavior changed. We got concerned because last week he was tunneling behind his litter/hay tray and staying there for hours one day. At first we thought maybe he'd gotten stuck and moved the box, but then he kept trying to tunnel back in there until I finally blocked the small opening with some towels. Now Bandit has just gone backwards in tameness, and will barely tolerate pets again, and looks scared when he comes to get treats (eyes are really wide-hasn't done that since the first month I had him). The only thing that seems to have changed is the weather. In the last couple of weeks the temperature has dropped. They were born in the Arizona summer, so they were used to indoor temps being around 80F, but now we're all quite cold when it drops inside the house to 68F (the humans are all bundled up, and the piggies are using their cozies a lot more). Could he just not like that my hands are colder now when I pet them?
The other thing I've noticed is that he's not as motivated by food as before. Usually the two of them keep sniffing around for more veggies or pellets long after they are gone, but now both of them seem to lose interest in their pellets and go eat hay before they finish off their treats, and I'm not giving them much (the recommended 1 cup veggies and 1 tbsp pellets per piggy per day, given in multiple sessions spread throughout the entire day.) Bandit is usually the one that loses interest first, then I think maybe Bolt gets nervous that Bandit has run off, so is more likely to leave as well. They otherwise seem fine and get along well. They are both slowly gaining weight, eating lots of hay, poops look normal, occasionally doing zoomies and popcorns in their pen.
Do piggies just eat less when it gets colder? It's much harder to tame them if they aren't very motivated by food!
Or is this just some teenage moodiness phase that hopefully we'll get past?
Not sure if I need to be concerned or not. In the past week it seems like one of my piggies (Bandit) is more skittish and scared than normal. I've had them for 3 months, and they are 6 month old males. They were both slowly becoming more tame, reliably coming to take treats from my hands, jumping into my lap, letting me pet them. I was even able to coax them into my arms so that I could pick them up a few inches off the ground in the last week before Bandit's behavior changed. We got concerned because last week he was tunneling behind his litter/hay tray and staying there for hours one day. At first we thought maybe he'd gotten stuck and moved the box, but then he kept trying to tunnel back in there until I finally blocked the small opening with some towels. Now Bandit has just gone backwards in tameness, and will barely tolerate pets again, and looks scared when he comes to get treats (eyes are really wide-hasn't done that since the first month I had him). The only thing that seems to have changed is the weather. In the last couple of weeks the temperature has dropped. They were born in the Arizona summer, so they were used to indoor temps being around 80F, but now we're all quite cold when it drops inside the house to 68F (the humans are all bundled up, and the piggies are using their cozies a lot more). Could he just not like that my hands are colder now when I pet them?
The other thing I've noticed is that he's not as motivated by food as before. Usually the two of them keep sniffing around for more veggies or pellets long after they are gone, but now both of them seem to lose interest in their pellets and go eat hay before they finish off their treats, and I'm not giving them much (the recommended 1 cup veggies and 1 tbsp pellets per piggy per day, given in multiple sessions spread throughout the entire day.) Bandit is usually the one that loses interest first, then I think maybe Bolt gets nervous that Bandit has run off, so is more likely to leave as well. They otherwise seem fine and get along well. They are both slowly gaining weight, eating lots of hay, poops look normal, occasionally doing zoomies and popcorns in their pen.
Do piggies just eat less when it gets colder? It's much harder to tame them if they aren't very motivated by food!
Or is this just some teenage moodiness phase that hopefully we'll get past?
