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New Guinea pig won't come out

Kirst817

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi, I brought two Guinea pigs Tuesday afternoon, I know it will take them a while to settle and get use to us but one seems to be a bit more confident and is coming out for food and water even if we are sat there watching. The other seems to stay in and I haven't seen him eat or drink yet, he could be eating and drinking when we are not there but I'm just worried incase he isn't.

They are called Tigger and Dopey (my child named them haha) they are 8 weeks old. They are on the same food as the pet store was feeding them and plenty of hay and i have been feeding them peppers, little gem lettuce and parsley.

I'm a new owner to Guinea pigs so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Hi, I brought two Guinea pigs Tuesday afternoon, I know it will take them a while to settle and get use to us but one seems to be a bit more confident and is coming out for food and water even if we are sat there watching. The other seems to stay in and I haven't seen him eat or drink yet, he could be eating and drinking when we are not there but I'm just worried incase he isn't.

They are called Tigger and Dopey (my child named them haha) they are 8 weeks old. They are on the same food as the pet store was feeding them and plenty of hay and i have been feeding them peppers, little gem lettuce and parsley.

I'm a new owner to Guinea pigs so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
When they get more confident and know you will not hurt them. They should start drinking more. One of them is probably gettinf enough hydration from the bell pepper. You can feed rings of cucumber aswell to help. But just not too much in one go. Can cause loose poos. Welcome to the forum👍.

If you want. It might be worth putting 2 water bottles on the cage. Will stop one from hogging it. Just incase it could be that
 
Thanks,

Yes Tigger is enjoying his peppers. Should I be worried that the other one is not coming out, I would happy if I seen him eat.
 

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Welcome to the Forum
:wel:

A good place to get started is here:
Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides

Rest assured that both of them are eating, but to help them feel safer you could try covering at least half of the cage with a large blanket or sheet.
Your cage looks brilliant!
But it would also help to add a few more tunnels and hides - old cardboard boxes with doors cut in work great.
Guinea pigs aren't fans of open spaces, and will be 'braver' if they can dash from tunnel to tunnel.
 
Thanks for your advice.

I will cover half of the cage to see if that helps. I thought they would want the open space to move around, I have two hideouts in the cage on opposite sides and 2 tunnels which I will put in for them.
 
Thanks for your advice.

I will cover half of the cage to see if that helps. I thought they would want the open space to move around, I have two hideouts in the cage on opposite sides and 2 tunnels which I will put in for them.
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Open space is great inside the cage but as they are prey animals - they feel safer without a fully open top - give it a go... hopefully you will see them get braver x
 
The blanket over half should really help them feel more secure, as they start venturing out more you can start to move it back slightly every few days until it's not there at all :)
 
When we got our first 2 baby piggies I was worried that only the bigger more confident one was coming out, but she was taking food back into the hidey house for her more nervous little cousin to eat!
They will soon settle down, but to start with they might be happier exploring darting from one hidey house or shadey place to another. Give it a year and they'll probably be chilling out asleep in the middle of the floor :)
 
Honestly when we bought our first piggies home I was terrified Ruby was actually going to die that night.
She was so small and so scared.
3 years later and I had to clip her nails today and I was the one who felt small and scared (and got bitten twice for my efforts).

Your cage looks great and they will be bouncing around and shrieking their heads off in no time.
 
Yes it's a water bowl as, I have ordering a water bottle which is arriving on Saturday. I have seen Tigger drinking from it.

Thanks for all the great advice, I feel a lot happier now.

I have just brought a playpen for them, since I have only had them since Tuesday should I leave them in the cage or can I put them I'm the pen for a bit?
 
Yes this is standard behaviour with new piggies. They hide away and only come out when they think nobody's watching. Then they slink about looking for cover and run back with any little noise or movement. Once they become more confident they slink around the cage very slowly and stretched out (my girls rumble like they think they are tigers) then suddenly remember they are piggies, panic, popcorn and rush back to cover. After a week or so of this, curiosity gets the better of them and they start to explore freely.... then the escape attempts start. and you learn just how intelligent piggies are.

Also don't be too worried if you piggies don't appear to drink much. The vet told me that that some piggies don't drink, especially girls. We have a water bottle and a water dish just in case (not all piggies seem to get how water bottles work) and anyway mine like standing in the water dish and splashing their cage mate...... teenagers!
 
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