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Worried about my piggies!

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Logiebear

Logiebear

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We have had them for 5 weeks and they are still like they were when we first got them. We handle them every day and they get lots of hugs and lap time. They have a c&c home which is 6squares by 4squares, it's huge. They get fresh veg twice a day and have water bottles and a water bowl.

I am worried because they still run away when we go in to room, they don't popcorn, they hardly ever wheek for food, they don't really drink water at all.

They also are not close at all. I have mentioned before the group is a single agouti and a mother and daughter abby. They don't cuddle up together and they are always bickering if they are all in the carrier or pigloo together.

Any advice or experience would be great please?
 
5 weeks is still relatively short period of time. I have been fostering some and they took an absolute age to popcorn, I think some pigs never do. Mine tend to popcorn in the morning and the evening but that's all.

As for being close. I have 6 living together and they don't snuggle up together but they don't bicker much either although the two who live on their own snuggle and bicker. So each herd is different.

What's their cage like if they are bickering over spaces? How many igloos are there and how much space do they have to run about if they want to?

I know from advice read on here that some guineas can take 6 months to fully relax and enjoy their new surroundings. So there is still time.

I bet they do relax and enjoy with a bit more time.
 
Perhaps, if you put thing in their cage to investigate and then just sit nearby and watch, or find a job you can do just next to them, so they can get used to your presence (without being necessarily picked up) and be more relaxed around you?

Things like a toilet roll hanging from a string and stuffed with fresh hay or grass or greens. Or a soft washing up rag pegged to the bars/mesh and pooling onto the ground. Or a little dish with a hint of fruit juice in...
 
Anything that can be snuggled into or has a foodie connection is always good!

I have put whole rose stems (dethorned) and leaves still on or broken off blooms into the cage to let them have a rip at that (they won't eat as much).
Let some bird seed sprout outside in a tray over winter (cover the seed with clingfilm until sprouted) and let them munch on that.
Offcuts from soft-edged ornamental grasses are great as well.

Hide away some of their veg around the cage, so they have to look for it. Make them stand on their back legs to get at something.
 
Beautifulmess said:
I've heard like birds, mirrors are good, toilet roll tubes =]
Click to expand...

Mirrors won't work for very long - once they have figured out that it isn't a real guinea pig in there, they ignore it. But mirrors are a good distraction for a "naughty" day!
 
i was going to say what wiebke said.ive had my piggies nearly 2 weeks now.they run and hide from us but they have started coming out when we are around.i spend a lot of time sat on the floor by their cage talking to them.the more time they see you the more theyll get used to you.i find theyre more adventurous in the evening especially when i give them all their veggies.they love hay though and i stuff a toilet roll with hay and they go mad for that. they throw it round which is quite funny.
i had the idea of using a piggie litter tray with hay well the boys love it but as a food bowl!maybe fill a box with hay and watch them play in it.
 
we have had our piggies for almost 3 months and had to have them neutered recently before this they had been very friendly since they became slightly more jumpy and flighty which you can understand as leaving them at our vets was hard enough for me to do never mind what they went through, but since when we give them their veggies we always sit by the cage and wait for them to come out and investigate their veggies, as many have said food is a good way to their hearts, also snuggling with a towel on your lap seems a good way of bonding outside the cage and changes things when they are inside their cages as well, ours love snuggling in the towels and playing in them aswell, spike is still very skittish in his cage but is getting better the more he gets to know us outside the cage, hope this helps,

Kev and Caz x
 
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