New Piggie Not Eating Much?

[nibblesandcoco]

So on Christmas Eve, my 7-year-old piggie Coco passed away - not sure why, probably old age. We got a new piggie yesterday because Nibbles seemed to be withdrawn and not eating as much. The new piggie, Charlotte, has only eaten a bit of hay and nibbled on a couple of carrots since we got her less than 36 hours ago. Most of the time, she is in a hidey house, standing still and alert. Sometimes when she relaxes a bit, she’ll eat a little bit of hay but has barely touched her veggies or pellets. Only drank once from what I’ve seen. We did a little intro earlier to Nibbles and she was regular and basically relaxed, running around in laps with her new friend. We don’t want to put them in the same space yet. But will it do her more good to be with Nibbles, maybe she’s just nervous about being alone? Or should we wait and see if she’s sick? My parents just say that she’s nervous, which I agree but I think she should be eating more than that.

 

[Deleted member 114675]

I agree with your parents - she needs a bit of time to settle .

This thread has a lot of useful information - including whether you need to consider a period of quarantine for your new piggy ...

Introducing And Re-introducing Guinea Pigs

 

[Wiebke]

So on Christmas Eve, my 7-year-old piggie Coco passed away - not sure why, probably old age. We got a new piggie yesterday because Nibbles seemed to be withdrawn and not eating as much. The new piggie, Charlotte, has only eaten a bit of hay and nibbled on a couple of carrots since we got her less than 36 hours ago. Most of the time, she is in a hidey house, standing still and alert. Sometimes when she relaxes a bit, she’ll eat a little bit of hay but has barely touched her veggies or pellets. Only drank once from what I’ve seen. We did a little intro earlier to Nibbles and she was regular and basically relaxed, running around in laps with her new friend. We don’t want to put them in the same space yet. But will it do her more good to be with Nibbles, maybe she’s just nervous about being alone? Or should we wait and see if she’s sick? My parents just say that she’s nervous, which I agree but I think she should be eating more than that.

I am very sorry for your loss!

Give your piggy time to settle in. charlotte will eat more once she is with Nibbles. If the tester with Nibbles went well, please introduce them properly on neutral ground as soon as possible. Guinea pigs, especially youngsters, feel very much exposed and lost without company of their own kind in a strange surroundings. You will find that with Nibbles support and presence, she will come out of herself a lot quicker.

Please read our bonding guide beforehand, so you can make sure that all goes well. Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics