- Expectations and reality
- Give them shelter and place food nearby
- Cover the cage
- Avoid behaving like a hunting predator
- Wait with handling (after your quick health check & sexing on arrival)
- Introduce new foods slowly
- Drinking
- Scent-marking ramps and unused hutch/cage areas
- Run time and lawn trips
Expections and reality
Guinea pigs take time to settle in their new surroundings; more than you think. They are prey animals and not instant living cuddly toys. The cute videos on social media are always the result of a lengthy process that not every guinea pig is ready and suited to go through. Keep in mind that social media is wired to show what humans want to see and not what guinea pigs needs. Who wants to watch of piggies jumping off, tweaking or running away after all? What you see is not the reality, it is more in the way of wishful thinking.
Socialising guinea pigs requires trust and time from animals that haven't usually had anything in the way of friendly interaction with humans. So be patient! It will take weeks or even months before they are fully at home and have bonded with you. Patience and persistence. But it will be worth it.
This guide here explains how arrival in a new home looks from the perspective of new guinea pigs
Give them shelter and place food nearby
Make sure that your piggies have each somewhere to hide until they are ready to come out and explore. This can take a few days. They will dart outside for feeding when nobody is around to watch. Even if you don't see your guinea pig eating, they won't starve! Leave little treats close to their hidey hole.
You'll know when your piggies are starting to feel at home - they will display dominance behaviours in order to establish a hierarchical group in new territory.
Cover the cage (or part of it) upon arrival
A sheet or towel pegged over the cage will give them a feeling of security and encourage exploration in the first days. Your piggies will do that when nobody is around or they will come out once they feel that you are part of the room and that your attention is elsewhere.
Avoid behaving like a hunting predator
Talk to them gently whenever you come close or put food in, as much and as often as possible. Move carefully and avoid sudden movements - guinea pigs are prey animals, and right now they are in unknown territory with their all their instincts on high alert. Try to lower your height, so you don't look so much like a predator ready to pounce!
Look at them sideways and not full on; this is scary for piggies.
Wait with handling (after your quick arrival check)
Give your new guinea pigs a quick check and sexing confirmation upon arrival before you put them in the cage so you can then allow them to settle and get their bearings in peace.
New piggies are irresistably cute, but please try and curb your desire to pick them up for as long as you can unless they are already used to regular handling. The minimum would be for at least 48 hours, more even better so they have time to come round to trust you. Do not let children pet and feed the piggies without supervision, and never allow them to arry them on their own.
Introduce new foods slowly
Always ask at the place you have got your guinea pigs from what diet they have been on.
Be aware that with piggies from a shop or a breeder you cannot be sure that they have had vegetables and greens before; so don't put out too much at first, or they might get diarrhea. Introduce only one new veg at a time; at first in a small quantity as part of a mix. This gives the digestive bacteria time to adjust and scale up the number of the specialists. This way you do not have to worry about diarrhea or bloat.
Food makes however a great lure once your piggies are happily out and about. Create a food call and use their veg allowance to lure them to pick food from your hands. If they do not pick it up yet, let them have it but place the morcels closer and closer to where your hand it.
Re-start back in square one after a scare but you will find that your guinea pigs come round more quickly each time.
Drinking
Young guinea pigs may not have figured out how to use the water bottle yet because it is a learned behaviour. Change it regularly nevertheless daily and put a bowl with water underneath, even if you have to change the water in the bowl twice daily. When they are more comfortable, you can show them how by moving the ball with your finger or rub the nozzle with a rag that carries their body scent. Some piggies, however, will never drink and prefer to get their fluid from the fresh food.
Scent marking ramps and not used cage/hutch areas
Ramps are often a problem at first; safety side rails or a tunnel can help, as can a cover that allows good grip. Some piggies may take a while to pluck up their courage to use them. Use a rag carrying their scent to wipe any places they are not using in order to mark them as their territory.
We recommend to never clean out a boar cage all at once so the territorial scent remains. This cuts down on a lot of dominance behaviour when they do not have to re-establish their group in new territory after each clean.
Run time and lawn trips
Please don't put your piggies out in the run immediately; or if you have a two-level hutch, let them get comfortable with the main level first, before they have established a base in their new home and are confident with it. They will be only frightened or confused otherwise.
Use old bedding to signal straight from the start that this is part of their territory for exercise time and use their scent marked huts and tunnels sprinkled about a foot away from each other to give them safe bases to explore the run on the lawn. Cover the run with a sheet. Exposed places scream danger for guinea pigs; this instinct is still very much alive.
Give your guinea pigs time to get used to the noises and smells from outdoors and treat them like tender plants in spring: give them time to acclimatise to yet another totally new and rather scary environment.
I hope that these tips help you with a good start.
- Give them shelter and place food nearby
- Cover the cage
- Avoid behaving like a hunting predator
- Wait with handling (after your quick health check & sexing on arrival)
- Introduce new foods slowly
- Drinking
- Scent-marking ramps and unused hutch/cage areas
- Run time and lawn trips
Expections and reality
Guinea pigs take time to settle in their new surroundings; more than you think. They are prey animals and not instant living cuddly toys. The cute videos on social media are always the result of a lengthy process that not every guinea pig is ready and suited to go through. Keep in mind that social media is wired to show what humans want to see and not what guinea pigs needs. Who wants to watch of piggies jumping off, tweaking or running away after all? What you see is not the reality, it is more in the way of wishful thinking.
Socialising guinea pigs requires trust and time from animals that haven't usually had anything in the way of friendly interaction with humans. So be patient! It will take weeks or even months before they are fully at home and have bonded with you. Patience and persistence. But it will be worth it.
This guide here explains how arrival in a new home looks from the perspective of new guinea pigs
Give them shelter and place food nearby
Make sure that your piggies have each somewhere to hide until they are ready to come out and explore. This can take a few days. They will dart outside for feeding when nobody is around to watch. Even if you don't see your guinea pig eating, they won't starve! Leave little treats close to their hidey hole.
You'll know when your piggies are starting to feel at home - they will display dominance behaviours in order to establish a hierarchical group in new territory.
Cover the cage (or part of it) upon arrival
A sheet or towel pegged over the cage will give them a feeling of security and encourage exploration in the first days. Your piggies will do that when nobody is around or they will come out once they feel that you are part of the room and that your attention is elsewhere.
Avoid behaving like a hunting predator
Talk to them gently whenever you come close or put food in, as much and as often as possible. Move carefully and avoid sudden movements - guinea pigs are prey animals, and right now they are in unknown territory with their all their instincts on high alert. Try to lower your height, so you don't look so much like a predator ready to pounce!
Look at them sideways and not full on; this is scary for piggies.
Wait with handling (after your quick arrival check)
Give your new guinea pigs a quick check and sexing confirmation upon arrival before you put them in the cage so you can then allow them to settle and get their bearings in peace.
New piggies are irresistably cute, but please try and curb your desire to pick them up for as long as you can unless they are already used to regular handling. The minimum would be for at least 48 hours, more even better so they have time to come round to trust you. Do not let children pet and feed the piggies without supervision, and never allow them to arry them on their own.
Introduce new foods slowly
Always ask at the place you have got your guinea pigs from what diet they have been on.
Be aware that with piggies from a shop or a breeder you cannot be sure that they have had vegetables and greens before; so don't put out too much at first, or they might get diarrhea. Introduce only one new veg at a time; at first in a small quantity as part of a mix. This gives the digestive bacteria time to adjust and scale up the number of the specialists. This way you do not have to worry about diarrhea or bloat.
Food makes however a great lure once your piggies are happily out and about. Create a food call and use their veg allowance to lure them to pick food from your hands. If they do not pick it up yet, let them have it but place the morcels closer and closer to where your hand it.
Re-start back in square one after a scare but you will find that your guinea pigs come round more quickly each time.
Drinking
Young guinea pigs may not have figured out how to use the water bottle yet because it is a learned behaviour. Change it regularly nevertheless daily and put a bowl with water underneath, even if you have to change the water in the bowl twice daily. When they are more comfortable, you can show them how by moving the ball with your finger or rub the nozzle with a rag that carries their body scent. Some piggies, however, will never drink and prefer to get their fluid from the fresh food.
Scent marking ramps and not used cage/hutch areas
Ramps are often a problem at first; safety side rails or a tunnel can help, as can a cover that allows good grip. Some piggies may take a while to pluck up their courage to use them. Use a rag carrying their scent to wipe any places they are not using in order to mark them as their territory.
We recommend to never clean out a boar cage all at once so the territorial scent remains. This cuts down on a lot of dominance behaviour when they do not have to re-establish their group in new territory after each clean.
Run time and lawn trips
Please don't put your piggies out in the run immediately; or if you have a two-level hutch, let them get comfortable with the main level first, before they have established a base in their new home and are confident with it. They will be only frightened or confused otherwise.
Use old bedding to signal straight from the start that this is part of their territory for exercise time and use their scent marked huts and tunnels sprinkled about a foot away from each other to give them safe bases to explore the run on the lawn. Cover the run with a sheet. Exposed places scream danger for guinea pigs; this instinct is still very much alive.
Give your guinea pigs time to get used to the noises and smells from outdoors and treat them like tender plants in spring: give them time to acclimatise to yet another totally new and rather scary environment.
I hope that these tips help you with a good start.