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Hi Everybody!
I'm new to having guinea pigs and just need a little advise. My 4 year old son was wanting a pet for ages and I'm newly separated and wasn't "allowed" pets before (!) so I jumped at the chance. I have the best childhood memories of having a guinea pig called Leena, who I got when I was 6 and she was with me until I was about 12... So we decided to get 2 piggies. We got sisters Daisy and Tansy from a pet shop (I know, that's bad, but I really didn't realise it was at the time... sorry!) and because I was new to everything I only checked the, to me, obvious health signs: clean eyes, ears and nose, clean bum and vagina. So it happened that I didn't notice until later that Tansy wasn't walking... She actually looked quite "spaced out" to me when I took a closer look, she wasn't eating or drinking, just generally lethargic. I took her to a vet and they said her spine and both her legs were broken and there was nothing they could do for her, her injuries were too bad. She was put to sleep... It was terrible with both me and my little boy crying. We were in shock a bit after that and I wasn't sure what to do... I started researching online and there realised how much better it would have been to get them from a rescue, also how important it is to keep a minimum of two piggies and so after a little while we decided to get a friend for poor lonely Daisy, this time from a rescue. Daisy was about 9 weeks old then. At the rescue they had just got a little girl in, who had apparently been handed in because she had 2 brothers and they needed to be separated (so what about the Mum, I ask myself...) She was just 6 1/2 to 7 weeks old, a cute little bundle. My son named her Smiley. Well.... Smiley and Daisy are sort of getting on, I suppose. They are not the best of friends though... They sway from side to side (Smiley more than Daisy) and they chatter their teeth and they do chase each other around the cage - but only sometimes. Sometimes they seem a lot better, they have been together for about 2 weeks now. I've even found them sharing the same house a few times now, sharing a food bowl, sitting snuggled up together... But then they sometimes chase each other around again, squeaking real loud, head butting, swaying, teeth chattering. They've never been proper agressive though, never biting each other or been bullied into a corner or anything. So what do I do? Can I leave them together? Will they get on better with time? I'm totally enchanted by these lovely animals, and I really want to do right by them x) . Also they are both very shy still, Smiley a lot more than Daisy. I spend a lot of time sitting infront of their cage, just holding my hand in and talking to them. Is there anything else I can do to tame them?
Thank you so much for reading this, I know it's a bit of a novel.... Just wanted to explain the situation properly.
Jenny
I'm new to having guinea pigs and just need a little advise. My 4 year old son was wanting a pet for ages and I'm newly separated and wasn't "allowed" pets before (!) so I jumped at the chance. I have the best childhood memories of having a guinea pig called Leena, who I got when I was 6 and she was with me until I was about 12... So we decided to get 2 piggies. We got sisters Daisy and Tansy from a pet shop (I know, that's bad, but I really didn't realise it was at the time... sorry!) and because I was new to everything I only checked the, to me, obvious health signs: clean eyes, ears and nose, clean bum and vagina. So it happened that I didn't notice until later that Tansy wasn't walking... She actually looked quite "spaced out" to me when I took a closer look, she wasn't eating or drinking, just generally lethargic. I took her to a vet and they said her spine and both her legs were broken and there was nothing they could do for her, her injuries were too bad. She was put to sleep... It was terrible with both me and my little boy crying. We were in shock a bit after that and I wasn't sure what to do... I started researching online and there realised how much better it would have been to get them from a rescue, also how important it is to keep a minimum of two piggies and so after a little while we decided to get a friend for poor lonely Daisy, this time from a rescue. Daisy was about 9 weeks old then. At the rescue they had just got a little girl in, who had apparently been handed in because she had 2 brothers and they needed to be separated (so what about the Mum, I ask myself...) She was just 6 1/2 to 7 weeks old, a cute little bundle. My son named her Smiley. Well.... Smiley and Daisy are sort of getting on, I suppose. They are not the best of friends though... They sway from side to side (Smiley more than Daisy) and they chatter their teeth and they do chase each other around the cage - but only sometimes. Sometimes they seem a lot better, they have been together for about 2 weeks now. I've even found them sharing the same house a few times now, sharing a food bowl, sitting snuggled up together... But then they sometimes chase each other around again, squeaking real loud, head butting, swaying, teeth chattering. They've never been proper agressive though, never biting each other or been bullied into a corner or anything. So what do I do? Can I leave them together? Will they get on better with time? I'm totally enchanted by these lovely animals, and I really want to do right by them x) . Also they are both very shy still, Smiley a lot more than Daisy. I spend a lot of time sitting infront of their cage, just holding my hand in and talking to them. Is there anything else I can do to tame them?
Thank you so much for reading this, I know it's a bit of a novel.... Just wanted to explain the situation properly.
Jenny
But glad you decided to come on here, as the people are amazing 
