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Help - new piggies not drinking

  • Thread starter Thread starter sladeeee
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sladeeee

We picked up our new guinea pigs yesterday morning - they are 2 chinchilla sows from the same litter, 8 weeks old. We have them in an indoor cage.

24 hours after we got them they don't appear to have had any water from their water bottle - we have double and treble checked that the water bottle is working properly, and changed the water again this morning. We are sure they can reach it.

Since arrival they have been very scared (hiding in house and under hay). We have spoken to them once every hour for first 3-4 hours, left them alone for 3-4 hours, then returned to hourly talks for 3-4 hours until last night. We have fed them as follows:

* bowl of nuggets left in the cage
* 2 chunks of carrot yesterday lunchtime
* 2 sugar snaps tea time

They had one carrot yesterday afternoon whilst we went out, then half the nuggets and one sugar snap and the other carrot during the night. We have tried to give them some chunks of cucumber this morning to get some moisture into them (about 10 minutes ago) but they are very timid still and haven't touched them.

Don't know if this is relevant but they don't seem to want to be together - generally one is in the house, the other is under a twig "shelter" - is this normal for sisters, or just because they are frightened?

Oh, there are loads of poops in the cage.

Do we need to worry about the water yet? We wondered whether we should hold them and bring the bottle to them (although we had planned not to pick them up for a few days ideally), will this work?
 
I've just logged on for the same problem. My 2 new ones are not especially timid but they don't seem to have drunk anything in the 2 days that I've had them. I've put the water spout in front of their faces a couple of times but they just don't seem interested :{ My other 2 get through a whole bottle every few days so I'm really starting to worry now.

Sorry I don't have any advice slade, I'm sure someone will be along soon to tell us what to do!
 
did they come from a cage/hutch with water bottles if not they might not know how to use them? put a shallow dish of water in for them. I have one guinea pig who i never see drink because she gets all her water from veggies. I would not panic yet they are creatures of instinct and they will not starve or dehydrate themselves they are just hiding out still they feel safe
 
Welcome to the forum, sladeeee. :)

It is normal for them not to have drunk their water yet; it can take a few days for them to find and learn thow to drink from their water bottle. Young piggies may also take a little longer to settle enough to go in search of their water! They will typically get some water from fresh fruits and veggies, so if you are concerned about them not drinking, give them a piece of cucumber each to ensure they are getting enough water from their food.

Some pigs like to sit close together, some don't - even for sisters, this is perfectly fine. It will take them time to settle, but it sounds like you're on the right track.
 
If your really worried, you could try filling a dish with water and try them out with that. But they need to settle in their home first, and they will still be nervous around everything as everything is new to them. :)
 
If you have any concerns that your piggies haven't got the hang of a water bottle it does no harm to put a nice stable water pot in the cage too, just be prepared to replace the water regularly.

Remember if they are small they won't be drinking huge amounts of fluid anyway as they'll be getting some moisture from the fresh veg you are feeding them.

Give them some time and space to settle. The more peace and quiet you can give them in the first week the better. My new piggies came home with me on Thursday. They are only 6 weeks old and it's really only this morning that I've noticed they have started polishing off all their veg and hay. Before that they were being quite picky but now they are putting away pretty much everything I give them.

Oh, I meant to say. Cucumber was the one thing that they ate from day 1 so you might want to give that a try. It has a very high water content too.
 
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Thanks for all the replies already! :)

That is really reassuring - we were getting a bit panicked as we thought it was the one thing they would definitely do!

They came from cages with water bottles so they definitely know how to use them - I'd rather not put in a bowl of water unless it's absolutely necessary. Their poops look healthy (not pinched) and otherwise they look OK to our untrained eyes so I guess we'll just leave them in peace today and see how they go. I've just made a small platform under the hay to be absolutely sure they can reach the bottle too.

Thanks again, I'll post back to let you know if they start on the bottle or else to ask for further advice if they're not.
 
The problem with having a "house" in the cage is that some pigs will stay in there more or less permanently, only coming out to eat or drink. If I get timid pigs, of any age, I will remove the house/cardboard box so there is nowhere for them to hide. You have to be prepared for some erratic behaviour for a few days but, as the pigs realise that no harm will come to them, especially if your visits are accompanied by food, they will quickly become tame. If need be, a house can be re-introduced, at a much later date when they should, hopefully, just sleep in there and spend the rest of the time on the outside.
 
I haven't seen or heard my new youngster Tegan drink (or her mother Taffy, at that), but they get enough fresh veg, so there is no problem. Her fur is still as nice and soft as it should be, and not stiff and waxy as it would be when dehydrated.

Some piggies will never drink, just because they don't like to! I've had several of them throughout my life, and a couple of them lived to the great old age of over nine years and a healthy six years old (killed by accident) without drinking!
 
Just to give you an update, our piggies have settled down a bit now and are venturing out a little bit. They are still very timid and will jump and dart for cover with sudden movements, but we can talk to them from a distance... Gracey will already take a piece of food (if safely in her house!) and Sparkles even kept still for a little stroke today. Gracey has been seen having some water from the bottle, but not Sparkles - the line on the bottle only goes down a few millimetres overnight, but their poops are OK and their coats look shiny and healthy so we guess they are OK.
 
alcesterpigs said:
The problem with having a "house" in the cage is that some pigs will stay in there more or less permanently, only coming out to eat or drink. If I get timid pigs, of any age, I will remove the house/cardboard box so there is nowhere for them to hide. You have to be prepared for some erratic behaviour for a few days but, as the pigs realise that no harm will come to them, especially if your visits are accompanied by food, they will quickly become tame. If need be, a house can be re-introduced, at a much later date when they should, hopefully, just sleep in there and spend the rest of the time on the outside.
Click to expand...

This is interesting, as I've recently rehomed two 9 month old piggies...and when I put them out in their run on the grass, I've also put a large box they can hide in.
The only trouble is, they don't move..just stay huddled in this box..... until I put them back in their hutch, so maybe if I leave them without a box for a little while, they'll become more confident.
Thanks
 
I believe that any minor problems they may have adjusting to life without a box in which to shelter are more than outweighed by the confidence it gives them to lead a normal and active life. As I said, I do replace the box after a few weeks.
 
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