New Member, 2 new guinea pigs, advice needed

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Metatron

Hello,
I am pleased that I have found this site, we bought two new baby guinea pigs yesterday. They are 2 girls and are adorable. However, these are the first guinea pigs we have owned, and although I have read a lot about them on the interent I have come across conflicting advice and am confused.

The lady at the pet shop recommended the nugget/pellet food that they were on in the shop, so we have bought a bag of that. We also have a hay rack with timothy hay available to them.

The lady said that we should not give them fruit/veg for a few weeks until they are more settled, but i'm not sure they'll get enough nutrition from the dry food alone? What do you guys think?

I don't want to upset their tummies by giving them fresh food, but likewise I don't want them missing out on nutrients that they may be needing.

She also said not to put them out in their run for a few weeks, but again i'm not sure if this sounds like the best thing for them, won't they get restless being in their hutch all the time?

Any advice would be really appreciated, I just want the best for the girls.

Thank you :)
 
Welcome to the forum - and to your new arrivals!

Nugget food is good as it stops them from selectively feeding i.e just picking out the nice bits! They should always have hay available too as it keeps their teeth down (their teeth grow constantly!)

As for veg - if you don't know what they've been having, then introduce gradually i.e one sort of new thing at a time, leave it a couple of days before introducing next new thing... and only a little of each thing to start with. This is the safest way to stop them from getting tummy ache! Especially if they're not used to it. When new pigs come in here I usually give them carrot first (as this is what they're most likely to have been given previously), then greens, then salad... one thing at at time with a gap of a day or so inbetween.

The same goes for the run / grass - if they are not used to it - just a short time to start with (no more than half an hour) and then build it up. Too much rich grass can lead to things like bloat, so worth keeping an eye on them, and don't put them on really long rich grass just yet :)

Sophie
x
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. I think that Sophie has given you some fabulous advise there :) Are your piggies housed outside? If so, they will also need plenty of hay in their sleeping area as bedding. Enjoy your new piggies and look forward to hearing more about them :)
 
Thank you both for the replies, I will start them on small amounts of carrot and see how they get on.

They are going to be kept indoors in their hutch. And then during the day in nice weather we have a run for them to go out in the garden.

They seem to be settling in ok, I have seen them both eating and drinking which I think must be a good sign. They do squabble over the water bottle though, so am thinking about putting an extra one in!
 
Hi! Welcome to the forum!

Start feeding veg slowly and never introduce more than one variety at once. Best start with a small quantity of cucumber or carrot and then take it from there; a bit more with every day and a bit more variety as well until you have reached your cupful/50g daily portion of mixed veg per piggy, which of course can be given in several servings! Make sure that your piggies have plenty of good quality hay (it should make the majority of their diet) and try to obvserve whether they can and do drink.

Here are some informative threads which you might find useful:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=36239
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=37030
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=42
 
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