Guinea Pigs On A Diet/boredom

[Lily-Victoria]

Hello, apologies for not posting regularly, my daughters are the great guinea pig owners, and although I was determined not to get "sucked in" the piggies are just so gorgeous and with so much personality that I can't help but adore them! We are now on our second pair, after the original two (Lily and Vicky) passed on at the grand old age of 7. All this by way of saying that it is my daughters who do most of the care and attention, they are absolutely great with their pets.

Anyway, in the summer my daughter noticed a lump in her guinea pig's (Topsy's) side, we took the piggie to the vet, who diagnosed a totally benign mass, a bit like a sist, but not attached to anything and not causing any pain. Whilst at the vets my daughter asked about Topsy's weight. Topsy is a lot larger than her sister and we (correctly) worked out that she was being less than fair when it came to sharing food. The vet said it wasn't a major problem, but we should consider putting them on a diet.

In the summer they were outside, in a great enclosure, lots of hidey holes, lots of grass and lots of space. I have to admit to giving them a lot of veggies, I like to cook and grow my own food so the piggies get our veg waste and lots of it - broccolli stalks, apple cores (minus pips of course), carrot tops and peels etc. They always had plenty to eat and sometimes in the outside enclosure they wouldn't eat their veggies (a sure sign we were giving them too much) Since visiting the vet we have limited their veggies to one cup a day, reduced their pellets and increased the hay they're given. We have also noticed that they are drinking, much, much more from their water bottle. We have tried very hard to make sure Topsy doesn't take more than her fair share and she is noticeably more svelte and Skweak (the little one) has actually gained a bit of weight.

My problem is two-fold. First, they are now indoors, (although if the weather forecast is favourable we do let them out during the day) their indoor enclosure is much smaller, it has a few hidey places and a ramp for climbing, but nothing like the space they had outside to burn off energy. Second, when we give them their allocation of food it is gone in seconds. Obviously they have hay and water. But I am really worried that they are very, very bored. They are becoming very, very vocal whenever anyone walks past and are pusing against the cage, acting desperate for food - I find it very difficult to resist giving them something - and when we do, they are getting almost aggressive, making it difficult to open the cage and put stuff in, nipping at hands that are putting food in (they aren't very sensible and the fact that their cage is on a waist high unit means nothing to them!)

For most of the week we are at work/school for a good part of the day and I am really worried that we are starving them, or that they are bored. We've had this particular pair for 2 years, in previous years I would hide food around their cage and they would spend their day finding it and eating it and they seemed happier, but obviously that had a bad effect on their health. My daughters have made them hidey holes and tunnels, but that makes the cage cluttered.

Any advice? Is it time to stop the restricted diet but not return to the excess of the previous one? What is a good balance? Is there anything I can do to help with their daytimeboredom?

I'm getting quite stressed listening to their wheaking every time I go into the room, I feel like I'm doing something wrong, if I feed them, that's wrong and encouraging their demanding behaviour, but if I don't they're suffering?

Sorry this is such a long post, thank you if you've managed to get to the end of it xx

 

[RingoandOlly]

My advice is to put in a big pile of hay and put some dry leaves and flowers in it so that they can forage, this really helps prevent boredom. You can by this forage at the pet shop and it will say that it is good for guinea pigs. It's very stimulating for them. Hope this helps! xx

 

[Mishka]

Haha little will pull at your heartstrings even if they are fed a thousand times a day. They are expert beggars!

I really wouldn't worry about them being bored from a food point of view. As long as they have plenty of hay and the recommended portion of veg daily, they will be absolutely fine. They will still peep at you every time you're near, because they associate you with yummy things. Don't be fooled! They're fine. They're just little fibbers, trying to convince you they haven't been fed. My piggies will beg like this even if they are halfway through eating their bowl of veg!

 

[RosieMaia]

How large is their cage, and could you extend it (if you feel they'd benefit from the additional space)? I like rearranging our cage every few weeks, even if it means just switching the places of the hay trays and their cuddle sacks, I think this keeps them on their toes. They always appear more exited after a cage rearrangement. Their daily floor time around the kitchen floor is also much anticipated.

You can always vary the hay you give them. I think to guinea pigs hay isn't "just hay", but they differentiate between timothy, oat, orchard grass, meadow, and then also between first and second cut, etc. So even if you can't give them as many veggies, you can give them more and varied hay. I personally like to keep small bags of different types of hays and cuts, which I use to top up their main hay and make it more interesting.

In my experience, the way you give them hay is also important, and hay in a cardboard box, paper bag or toilet paper roll is a great boredom-breaker. I personally don't think you need to be concerned about starving them, as long as they have unlimited hay and their weight is good and stable. They may need time to adapt to the limited veggies and pellets diet and they're bound to be grumpy for some time, but they should adjust sooner or later.

 

[Reenie]

As long as they have unlimited hay they won't starve....they'll tell you they're starving, but they're little fibbers. I love a bag of sweeties, but just because I had a healthy dinner doesn't mean I'm starving if I don't have sweets! Try to steer clear of carrots, apples and other root veg or fruit, as they are high in sugar, and should only be given in tiny amounts once or twice a week. Try them with fresh grass (be careful where you get it, as fresh dog and fox pee can kill) they LOVE this, and it won't make them fat. I agree with @RosieMaia different kinds of hay will help too. I give mine Timothy hay in their hay rack, but they also have a tray with loads of meadow hay which they can burrow in and eat as well. Try cutting holes in toilet roll holders, and filling them with hay, and other ways to make them work for their food, and help with boredom.
Good luck - they sound lovely when they wheek, so enjoy the sound and don't let them emotionally blackmail you. lol