HELP! First Guinea Pigs

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Abby&Piggies

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Hello,

I'm new to guinea pigs and the forum

On monday i got my first two guinea pigs and they're in a large C&C cage

I'm a little unsure on a few things though, i'm not sure how much pellet and fruit/veg to feed them daily? They have an unlimited supply of hay from their hay rack.

I would also like them to use a litter tray as its taking a heck of a lot wood shavings to keep the cage clear and clean because of the size of it.

Also how long will it take for them to not run away from me, i know it has only been a few days I'm just curious

If anyone has any advice, help or experiences that would help me it would be appreaciated!
 
I give each of my boys a good handful of pellets a day. If I see there's lots of food left over at the end of the day, I cut back a bit. If I see the bowl is completely empty at the end of the day, I give them a little more the next day.

Hay should account for at least 80% of their diet so as long as they're eating a lot of hay, I wouldn't worry about them starving, but they do need at least a few different fresh vegetables a day. If your pigs came from a pet store or you don't know their previous dietary history, introduce veggies to them slowly so you don't upset their tummies and give them runny poops. It can take a long time for them to get used to eating veggies, so don't be discouraged if they don't touch them at first. I've had my boys for just over a week now and they'll still only gobble down green beans and nibble reluctantly at red peppers. They still won't touch anything else. Give them just a small amount of veggies at first (half a green bean or half a slice of bell pepper each), and see how it goes. If they get runny poops, cut back on the amount. If they still have normal pellet-like poops, slowly increase the amount until they're happily eating a variety of veggies along with their pellets and hay.

As for running away from you, every pig is different, but by nature, they're very skittish creatures with the instinct to run and hide when something scares them, because this is this only defence against predators. I know some people who've had piggies happily trot up to them and beg for food when they approach after only a couple months while other people have had their piggies for years and they still run when their cage is approached (though more often than not, they're happy as can be once they're being cuddled or fed).
 
Hi Abby welcome to the forum.

They will need a reasonable amount of dry food if they are young as they are still growing, a couple of hand fulls per day, along with unlimited hay should suffice. A small cup of veg/fruit per piggy a day - but remember you can also supliment with a variety of wild plants as well, which they love!

As you are keeping them in an indoor C&C cage it might be owrth considering changing your bedding to fleece or vet bed instead of shavings. This is much less messy, doesn't run out and is easy to clean. It is near impossible to litter train piggies so if you use fleece or vetbed you can just sweep or hoover up poo and the urine soaks straight through the fabric!

How long it takes from then not to run away depends on many many factors. How long you spend with them, how much time they are handled, and how much time they are just spoken too. I would recommend just sitting by the cage and tempting them out with vegetables rather than trying to pick them up at first. Also it depends on the piggy, some are very brave, some are not. I have a female guinea pig i have had for 6 months who will let me stroke her in the cage and pick her up and cuddle her. I have another who i have had for 6 years and he still hates being handled!

Please have a browse around the forum, we have lots of sticky threads full of good info and advice :)
 
Hey thanks for your help,

so far ive given them a few pieces of apple and carrot with unlimited pellets and hay but i wasnt sure if i were over feeding them pellets and was unsure the amount of fruit/veg as i dont want to give them an upset stomach..

I was thinking about fleece but ive seen a few people say they smell indoors?

ive spent at least a few hours each day with them just talking or feeding, letting them sniff my hand (& nibble mallethead). they are a little better as they dont run away when i walk by the cage now, whereas they did on Monday/Tuesday so thats a good sign

Theyre both not too bad once i manage to get hold of them, one did shake a little when i stroked so i put it down so not to stress it too much
The other doesnt like beign picked up and runs away at the slightest thing (even a slice of apple!) but once i held him he was quite good, and squeaked a little, a happy squeak i hope.

they seemed to fight a lot on the first night, there was lots of angry squeaking through the night but last night i barely heard them! :-)
 
what i do is i rubb them on the nose sometimes they might lick you......it will get them used to you as guineapigs greet each other by nose nuzzling :)
 
also i give them a kale with cucumber carrot. they LOVE corn on the cob and i have heard they like parsley too. I just give mine a bowl of pellets a day. Mine still run away from me but thats just instinct and as hard as i tried they never used their litter tray they just pooped where they wanted!
 
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