Hi again, guys. Some of you will remember me, since I've made such a bad first impression of myself as an owner LoL. (I'm that guy who let the dog chase after his guinea pig for the first week)
But I'm way over past that, and I've made soooo many improvements.
Porca is so much better, less shy and happy, and now she's even HAPPIER, because I've bought her a roommate!
Yesss, I've got another Guinea Pig, by the super creative and uncommon name of *drum roll* COOKIE (because she looks like a chocolate cookie) **CREATIVE**
The question I have today is about their food, more precisely, about how much food is good enough for them. I'm giving them pellets everyday (which they don't seem to care much for), vegetables and they have Alfafa Hay spread all across their playing area. (btw, I've expanded the area, will show at the end of the thread)
I've made this plate of vegetables for them today at lunch
Yes, I'm aware I've exagerated a bit in the quantity. But the point is; I'm curious about if I should leave the plate overnight for them to eat as they wish, or if I should remove the plate and give them in the morning. I've seen countless videos and reports of guinea pigs getting used to lunch and dinner time, at the point of squeaking when they want to tell their owner to feed them.
Also, I got worried about obesity. Will they get obese if they eat too much veggies? Should I reduce the amount of hay, vegetables or pellets? Vegetables seems like it should be their main dish over pellets, since that's what hey usually eat in nature aside from hay and grass. And the "1cup of veggies once a day" seems so little for them. I'm much more content seeing them savour those delicious vegetables over industrialized gray pellets of not-so-delicious nutrients.
So, give me tips about this.
Should I always leave veggies and pellets in their area, or should I remove it and only give them on fixed periods of the day to create a schedule?
I actually would like hearing them squeak for food ^-^
Oh, and here's the new area I've made for them. It's a huge mess right now, It's almost cleaning time, but it's just so you have an idea of how wide it is. There's the cage, which Porca is pretty dominant about, but usually let's cookie get inside, and there's a shoebox that I've turned into a house for Cookie. It's not onscreen because it is the box that closes the gap between the two tables so they don't run around pooping everywhere, but it's the same size as Porca's cage.
A quick update for those who helped me with my last post about Porca being unhappy:
I've made a huge progress. She's not running away too much from me anymore, but she still barely let's me pet her. She's fine with picking her up and lap time, but she really doesn't like petting, except for under the chin. I've managed to feed her from my hands, tho the only thing she eats are carrots and apples. She refuses all the other foods I give her manually. She's SUPER ticklish, and just touching the fur in her back makes her twitch around and try to bite me if I keep doing it. I've seen her popcorning a few times, so that's something. But sadly, she's still scared of me. If she's outside the cage or shoeboxes, and I make a move around her, she runs straight to her hideouts. But luckly, she'll get used to me overtime. And I've found out that she's a big drama queen. I tought that she cried too much when I pet her, but she's ALWAYS whining and crying when she's with Cookie, so I guess that's just the way she talks?
Oh, and I've noticed something weird today. Sometimes my dog Saphira enters my room, and she's super curious about the piggies. Cookie ran away when she saw the dog, but Porca stood still, and when Saphira approached to smell her, Porca smelled her back. Saphira backed away a little, and Porca started following her! I was so dazzled by this! And Saphira is a big dog, she's a border collie.
But anyway...
Cookie, on the other hand, I've still haven't figured her out, but she might be more interactive than Porca. She's 2 months old and was the bigger piggy in the petshop where I bought her. She's only been her for 3 days, and is super scared of me, runs desperatly when I approach to pet, and screams like hell when I try picking her up. But she is already eating veggies from my hand when I put her in my lap or on the ground, she approaches more than Porca, and I've heard more different noises from her than from Porca.
They fought a lot on the first day, teeth chatter and all. Porca is the dominant pig, usually leads the way when they explore the room, and is the one who dictates wether Cookie can or cannot enter the hideout Porca's in. But they're getting along fine now. Cookie screams A LOT when Porca chases her and sniffs her butt, but I guess she's just a drama queen too, because they're not fighting anymore.
So that's resume of what happened over the past few weeks, for those who helped me and are aware of the whole story. I really want to tank you all for helping. The website is wonderfull, full of hospitality and good people. I really feel welcome here ^-^ Good job, everyone!
But I'm way over past that, and I've made soooo many improvements.
Porca is so much better, less shy and happy, and now she's even HAPPIER, because I've bought her a roommate!
Yesss, I've got another Guinea Pig, by the super creative and uncommon name of *drum roll* COOKIE (because she looks like a chocolate cookie) **CREATIVE** The question I have today is about their food, more precisely, about how much food is good enough for them. I'm giving them pellets everyday (which they don't seem to care much for), vegetables and they have Alfafa Hay spread all across their playing area. (btw, I've expanded the area, will show at the end of the thread)
I've made this plate of vegetables for them today at lunch
Yes, I'm aware I've exagerated a bit in the quantity. But the point is; I'm curious about if I should leave the plate overnight for them to eat as they wish, or if I should remove the plate and give them in the morning. I've seen countless videos and reports of guinea pigs getting used to lunch and dinner time, at the point of squeaking when they want to tell their owner to feed them.
Also, I got worried about obesity. Will they get obese if they eat too much veggies? Should I reduce the amount of hay, vegetables or pellets? Vegetables seems like it should be their main dish over pellets, since that's what hey usually eat in nature aside from hay and grass. And the "1cup of veggies once a day" seems so little for them. I'm much more content seeing them savour those delicious vegetables over industrialized gray pellets of not-so-delicious nutrients.
So, give me tips about this.
Should I always leave veggies and pellets in their area, or should I remove it and only give them on fixed periods of the day to create a schedule?
I actually would like hearing them squeak for food ^-^
Oh, and here's the new area I've made for them. It's a huge mess right now, It's almost cleaning time, but it's just so you have an idea of how wide it is. There's the cage, which Porca is pretty dominant about, but usually let's cookie get inside, and there's a shoebox that I've turned into a house for Cookie. It's not onscreen because it is the box that closes the gap between the two tables so they don't run around pooping everywhere, but it's the same size as Porca's cage.
A quick update for those who helped me with my last post about Porca being unhappy:
I've made a huge progress. She's not running away too much from me anymore, but she still barely let's me pet her. She's fine with picking her up and lap time, but she really doesn't like petting, except for under the chin. I've managed to feed her from my hands, tho the only thing she eats are carrots and apples. She refuses all the other foods I give her manually. She's SUPER ticklish, and just touching the fur in her back makes her twitch around and try to bite me if I keep doing it. I've seen her popcorning a few times, so that's something. But sadly, she's still scared of me. If she's outside the cage or shoeboxes, and I make a move around her, she runs straight to her hideouts. But luckly, she'll get used to me overtime. And I've found out that she's a big drama queen. I tought that she cried too much when I pet her, but she's ALWAYS whining and crying when she's with Cookie, so I guess that's just the way she talks?
Oh, and I've noticed something weird today. Sometimes my dog Saphira enters my room, and she's super curious about the piggies. Cookie ran away when she saw the dog, but Porca stood still, and when Saphira approached to smell her, Porca smelled her back. Saphira backed away a little, and Porca started following her! I was so dazzled by this! And Saphira is a big dog, she's a border collie.
But anyway...
Cookie, on the other hand, I've still haven't figured her out, but she might be more interactive than Porca. She's 2 months old and was the bigger piggy in the petshop where I bought her. She's only been her for 3 days, and is super scared of me, runs desperatly when I approach to pet, and screams like hell when I try picking her up. But she is already eating veggies from my hand when I put her in my lap or on the ground, she approaches more than Porca, and I've heard more different noises from her than from Porca.
They fought a lot on the first day, teeth chatter and all. Porca is the dominant pig, usually leads the way when they explore the room, and is the one who dictates wether Cookie can or cannot enter the hideout Porca's in. But they're getting along fine now. Cookie screams A LOT when Porca chases her and sniffs her butt, but I guess she's just a drama queen too, because they're not fighting anymore.
So that's resume of what happened over the past few weeks, for those who helped me and are aware of the whole story. I really want to tank you all for helping. The website is wonderfull, full of hospitality and good people. I really feel welcome here ^-^ Good job, everyone!
