Rescued Guinea Pigs With Troubled Past

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drewbles

Post   » Sat Nov 03, 2018 3:51 am


Hello,

I recently adopted a trio of females from the local animal shelter. Unfortunately they had limited information about their lives prior to being surrendered. The woman who gave them up at the shelter claimed they were all over 6 years old despite one appearing to be a baby. They were all also apparently in terrible condition when they arrived, I was told they were practically starving.

They spent only about 3 weeks in shelter, so they still seem to be recovering. Wilma, one of the trio still seems quite skinny, she looks a bit like a bobble head.

We've had them for 2 days now and I've noticed some things that I have questions about.

1) They are eating voraciously as soon as food is put in their cage. They leave nothing behind, not even pellets, and definitely not any vegetables. Should I be worried about them overeating? Is this a response to their past, not having enough to eat? I really don't want to have them make themselves ill somehow, I'm wondering if I should try smaller meals more often or if this isn't something to worry about.

2) Is there a way to accurately gauge a guinea pig's age? They were brought to the vet by the shelter, nobody really had a clear answer for me at the shelter though, because different volunteers had been there different days and such.

3) They are the quietest guinea pigs I have ever known. Is this because they're adjusting still?

4) Wilma seems to chase the baby (Lil) around a lot, and that's about the only time we hear squeaks. Is this a re-establishing of hierarchy since they're in a new place? We haven't seen blood drawn or anything so I assume we're safe to let them sort it out?

Sorry for the long post. I know there's a lot here but I was worried that not having the full story might prevent getting the best information. Thanks to anyone who read this far, especially if you have any help to offer!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Nov 03, 2018 8:34 am


Thanks to you for adopting!

I don't know that my answers would be the best answers, but I'll give them.

More, smaller meals makes some sense. You don't have to take it to extremes but put in what you would feel comfortable giving them for a large meal.

Make sure they are all females.
sexing.html

How big is the cage? A really large cage is best. You can break it up visually by adding fringed pieces of fleece across the cage. This should cut down a bit on chasing the small guinea pig. Shelters with multiple openings means a guinea pig will not be cornered.

As for age, some people find examining the nails helpful. You can see pics of young guinea pigs and older ones here:
nails.html Older pigs will have thicker, coarser nails. Their previous care and diet will doubtless affect this.

I take it you have grass hay available at all times? This will give them something constructive to chew on in between meals.

They will likely become more vocal as they become more comfortable in your home and more trusting of you. Use healthy food bits to interact with them and gain their attention.

If you haven't read over the basic care guidelines, they will give you lots more information.
healthycavy.html

User avatar
GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Sat Nov 03, 2018 10:09 am


Thank you so much for adopting them. It sounds like it will be bit challenging as you try to normalize their lives. You might try taking the little one out for some extra feeding. Just know that they *will* settle down and will be wheeking in no time. Be sure to read the link that Lynx gave you, along with the other sections on raising healthy pigs. Good luck and be sure to keep us informed of how things are going.

Last but not least, PICTURES. :o)

drewbles

Post   » Sat Nov 03, 2018 2:40 pm


Thank you for all the information!

I will answer the questions in order.

We will keep feeding them this way then! It was just a bit perplexing when their bowl of pellets would last all of 4 minutes!

They definitely all appear to be females, thank you for the guide.

Right now we have them in a 2x4 c&c cage. Ideally we want to bring it up to 2x6 in the next couple months, but we need to get a bigger table. They currently have 2 hides available: a woven willow tunnel, and a big Amazon box with the tape removed and two doors cut into it. They use the free box twice as much as the pet store tunnel of course. :)

Thankfully, there seems to be less actual chasing than just Wilma (big), sometimes chasing Lil (baby), out of wherever she is. There is much squeaking and Lil acts terrified and usually runs into another hide. We were worried she was getting bitten, but haven't seen evidence of this. Wilma does not usually follow Lil once she runs away.

We wanted to get at least one more hide for them so the three can all seperate themselves from each other. We will look into some fleece curtains too, even if just to make Lil feel more secure.

That's really interesting about their nails, I hadn't heard of that. We will take a closer look at those for sure.

Yes! Their hay rack is stuffed to the brim. It's been cute watching them survey it for the best pieces.

Hand feeding them some of their veggies has done wonders for their comfort levels with us! By last night they were coming out to greet us at the side of the cage, in stark contrast to them hiding immediately for sure. We've even been able to sneak in a few gentle pets while they've been distracted! Winning their trust has been so rewarding already.

Thank you again for the wealth of information. I've read some while writing this and will continue to go through the rest later on.

I will absolutely update with pictures later today! Most of them are on my wife's phone at the moment.

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