Two new Guinea Pigs!

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LianeB

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We brought home 2 new female Guinea pigs today. They're both from the same breeder however one is 7 weeks and one is 5 months :) I thought it would be the baby (Marshmellow) that would be nervous but she's running about her cage, already had cuddles and is living her best life! The 5 month old (Coco) is hiding in her bedding and won't come out!
I'm presuming just leave Coco to come out on her own and give her time to settle in. Photo of Marshmellow, definitely the more confident of the two!
 

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Congratulations on your new piggies! Gorgeous:drool:

Age has no bearing on confidence often. Perfectly normal that one may take longer to settle... at least the other may help calm little Coco :)

I would suggest trying to hand feed a few veggy treats in the cage by offering some nice veggies to the new piggy when they are in their hidey, hopefully they will take it off you as you hold it in for them... after a while try offering it a little further from the hidey so they edge out and take it from you.
Food is the best way to bribe, use food when you get round to lap times also. Start lap time for a short amount of time at first and build up. We started off we laptimes for 1 minute with new piggies then pop them back, slowly increasing the time. They will soon associate you with food and good things but at first it takes a while to gain their trust.
 
We one to the forum by the way lovely to have you here :)
 
LianeB said:
We brought home 2 new female Guinea pigs today. They're both from the same breeder however one is 7 weeks and one is 5 months :) I thought it would be the baby (Marshmellow) that would be nervous but she's running about her cage, already had cuddles and is living her best life! The 5 month old (Coco) is hiding in her bedding and won't come out!
I'm presuming just leave Coco to come out on her own and give her time to settle in. Photo of Marshmellow, definitely the more confident of the two!
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome!

If Coco is used to living in a hutch, then it will help to place a sheet over the cage to give her an added feeling of security until she has settled into her new home. Please be aware that that a home environment with all its new noises and smells and its much increased human interaction is a very challenging environment for pet shop and breeder piggies. Give her time to get her bearings! Seeing Marshmellow bounce around and not be harmed will help her come out sooner rather than later.
The world is all new to your baby anyway, and she has the security of an older companion, which is her overwheening need at this age; so she is much less affected by it.

Please take the time to read the guides in our human interaction link below. You may find them very helpful and interesting! They show you how to understand the guinea side of it, how you can work around prey animal instincts and use their own social behaviours to interact with your piggies in terms and in a frame that makes total sense to them. When you invite them to become a beloved part of your own group, you move from predator to a kind of giant piggy and give them a place in your own hierarchy from which to settle from.
Settling In And Making Friends With Guinea Pigs - A Guide

This link is just one section of our new owners guide collection, which addresses in practical detail all the various issues that we get the most questions and concerns about. You may find it very helpful for as smooth a start and as problem-free a long term ownership indeed:
Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides
 
sport_billy said:
Congratulations on your new piggies! Gorgeous:drool:

Age has no bearing on confidence often. Perfectly normal that one may take longer to settle... at least the other may help calm little Coco :)

I would suggest trying to hand feed a few veggy treats in the cage by offering some nice veggies to the new piggy when they are in their hidey, hopefully they will take it off you as you hold it in for them... after a while try offering it a little further from the hidey so they edge out and take it from you.
Food is the best way to bribe, use food when you get round to lap times also. Start lap time for a short amount of time at first and build up. We started off we laptimes for 1 minute with new piggies then pop them back, slowly increasing the time. They will soon associate you with food and good things but at first it takes a while to gain their trust.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the advice! I'm going to wait until the kids are in bed and it's quiet and then try to offer her some food! I thought her being older she would help the baby but I was wrong!
 
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome!

If Coco is used to living in a hutch, then it will help to place a sheet over the cage to give her an added feeling of security until she has settled into her new home. Please be aware that that a home environment with all its new noises and smells and its much increased human interaction is a very challenging environment for pet shop and breeder piggies. Give her time to get her bearings! Seeing Marshmellow bounce around and not be harmed will help her come out sooner rather than later.
The world is all new to your baby anyway, and she has the security of an older companion, which is her overwheening need at this age; so she is much less affected by it.

Please take the time to read the guides in our human interaction link below. You may find them very helpful and interesting! They show you how to understand the guinea side of it, how you can work around prey animal instincts and use their own social behaviours to interact with your piggies in terms and in a frame that makes total sense to them. When you invite them to become a beloved part of your own group, you move from predator to a kind of giant piggy and give them a place in your own hierarchy from which to settle from.
Settling In And Making Friends With Guinea Pigs - A Guide

This link is just one section of our new owners guide collection, which addresses in practical detail all the various issues that we get the most questions and concerns about. You may find it very helpful for as smooth a start and as problem-free a long term ownership indeed:
Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides
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Thank you! I have read the human interaction thread and will put these into practice!
 
Welcome to the forum.
Hope you find the information helpful and enjoy the forum.
Marshmellow is a beauty- looking forward to seeing Coco too.
 
Aww, a baby and an older one is a lovely pairing! Marshmellow seems very happy! I think Coco’s behaviour is much more typical of a new Guinea Pig, so don’t worry, I’m sure patience, food and then introducing some gentle lap time and cuddles will warm her up over the next few weeks. Especially with bubbah being so happy with everything 🙂
 
Merab's Slave said:
Welcome to the forum.
Hope you find the information helpful and enjoy the forum.
Marshmellow is a beauty- looking forward to seeing Coco too.
Click to expand...
Thank you! When the kids went to bed she popped out of her bed but as soon as you go near the cage she runs back in!
 

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Fantasimo said:
Aww, a baby and an older one is a lovely pairing! Marshmellow seems very happy! I think Coco’s behaviour is much more typical of a new Guinea Pig, so don’t worry, I’m sure patience, food and then introducing some gentle lap time and cuddles will warm her up over the next few weeks. Especially with bubbah being so happy with everything 🙂
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Aww thank you! I think the noise of the kids isn't helping! I've spent all day telling them to be quiet!
 
I’m sure they will get used to the noise and it will become their ‘normal’.

I did once have a rescue pig who took three years to warm up to me, but she was happy and healthy and so I just let her be. After that we were best buddies, but that was my longest challenge with a guinea pig for sure! My latest boys took a couple of weeks and I had one pig who took three days. But they’re all different and that’s part of the fun of getting new ones, figuring out who they are.

I would always advocate tucking a nervy pig in a hoodie when you start out with lap time, so that way you can stroke them and they can still feel like they’re hiding. Plus they tend to love anything snuggly.
 
Fantasimo said:
I’m sure they will get used to the noise and it will become their ‘normal’.

I did once have a rescue pig who took three years to warm up to me, but she was happy and healthy and so I just let her be. After that we were best buddies, but that was my longest challenge with a guinea pig for sure! My latest boys took a couple of weeks and I had one pig who took three days. But they’re all different and that’s part of the fun of getting new ones, figuring out who they are.

I would always advocate tucking a nervy pig in a hoodie when you start out with lap time, so that way you can stroke them and they can still feel like they’re hiding. Plus they tend to love anything snuggly.
Click to expand...
Ohh a hoody is a great idea! Thank you for the tip! I'm not even going to attempt to pick her up for a while yet. I tried offering her food when she popped her head out but she wasn't having any of it so I'm just going to keep trying from a distance!
 
Congratulations for Marshmellow and Coco, from the pictures I like Marshmellow more but it maybe that Coco's photo is not very clear. Hope they give you plenty of joy :luv:
 
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