Hiding and scared guinea pig? HELP!

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bebe_thepiggy

Post   » Wed Mar 21, 2018 7:56 pm


So i got my guinea pig from a petsmart near me about 2 days ago. She has a cage meant for one guinea pig and she’s the only one there. She met a few of my friends yesterday and seemed to enjoy it a lot. Today i tried to give her peppers and strawberries as i read it helps them trust you more. She didn’t like the red peppers but liked yellow peppers. She nibbled it a bit. I tried to give her a starberry piece she sniffed it and seemed to like it but didn’t try it. Now she’s sitting in the farthest and darkest corner of her cage under the loft/shelf area in her cage. She seems scared and is just staring at me. She stayed there for about an hour. I moved her igloo under there so it was darker and now she has her front two paws on top of her igloo and is standing up. I looked it up and it says she’s either very sick or wants company from another guinea pig. Can someone help me? (I’m a first time owner)

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Mar 21, 2018 10:23 pm


You need to make sure your guinea pig is eating. Get a scale and start weighing daily right now. If you see any of the signs on this page, you need to see a vet right away:
www.guinealynx.info/emergency.html

bebe_thepiggy

Post   » Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:51 pm


Ok, she is eating now. She hasn’t hid in the corner since unless you she was pooping (it’s where she usually does cause it’s dark). She ate a lot last night when all my lights were off, I could hear her munching on the hay. She seems alright now. Should I still weigh her even though now she is eating perfectly fine?

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Zaphy

Post   » Thu Mar 22, 2018 7:25 pm


Weigh daily until you are sure she is doing well. Guinea pigs from pet stores tend to develop respiratory infections, and one of the first signs that something is wrong will be weight loss. Being prey animals, guinea pigs tend to hide their symptoms until they cannot anymore. Watch/listen for sneezing and a crusty nose and/or eyes, too. I like to weigh young pigs daily anyway so that I can better track their growth. Once you are absolutely sure she is fine (if she's really female, you'll want to be on pregnancy watch for a while as well), you can switch to weighing weekly instead of daily.

She'll likely take a few days at least to get used to her new environment and you. It's a rough time for her- she'll have just been taken away from her mom to live at the pet store, and then her world changed again when she came home with you (all that stress makes it easier for them to get sick, which is why you should be careful to weigh daily for now). A guinea pig friend will make it less scary for her and keep her happier later on, but you'll need a bigger cage- and to make *very* sure of each pig's gender.

If she's still hesitant about the fresh produce, leave some bits in her food bowl so she can figure out how good they are on her own time :) Strawberries aren't bad for her or anything, but peppers (and romaine or green/red leaf lettuce) are better for her so I'd start with that. They usually love fruit, but it's a lot of sugar for pigs so I like to think of it as candy for them. Start slowly with each new vegetable/fruit to give her body time to get used to it, just a little at first, then build up the amount bit by bit until she's getting about 1 packed cup of fresh vegetables each day. Once she figures out that she likes fresh veggies, she ought to come right up to you when you bring them.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Mar 22, 2018 8:02 pm


Big ditto to Zaphy's advice. Zaphy has dealt with several ill guinea pigs.

bebe_thepiggy

Post   » Thu Mar 22, 2018 8:54 pm


thanks! i’m about to weigh her now. She came from a pet store with only female guinea pigs. They didn’t sell male ones. So is it possible for her to be pregnant? How would I know if she really is pregnant?
UPDATE: She’s one pound. I don’t know if that’s normal for her size though. I forgot to ask if they knew how old she was.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Thu Mar 22, 2018 9:14 pm


If you believe that there are pet stores that sell only one sex of guinea pigs and know what the sex of those guinea pigs are, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell you. We have seen many, many pregnant "males" from pet stores that only sell "males." Pet store employees are given no instructions on how to properly sex guinea pigs, and I wouldn't trust a store clerk to be able to sex one correctly any further than I could throw an elephant.

bebe_thepiggy

Post   » Thu Mar 22, 2018 9:16 pm


That’s true. She was in a “cage” with like 5 other guinea pigs. How can I tell if she’s pregnant or if she’s actually a male? She also seems to be shedding a lot. I don’t know if that’s normal but I thought I’d just mention it to see.
Last edited by bebe_thepiggy on Thu Mar 22, 2018 9:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Thu Mar 22, 2018 9:20 pm


See https://www.cavyspirit.com/sexing.htm and compare the pictures. If there's another guinea pig around whose sex you're sure of, you can turn them both over and compare their private parts.

Here's a thread I wrote for another forum on knowing about pregnancy. But you won't be able to tell anything until she's about 4-6 weeks along: https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/th ... ong-is-she

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Mar 22, 2018 9:22 pm


And this too:
www.guinealynx.info/sexing.html

Are you sure she is one pound? A one pound guinea pig is NOT a young guinea pig but at least an adolescent. Usually pet stores sell very young guinea pigs.
www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html

bebe_thepiggy

Post   » Thu Mar 22, 2018 9:24 pm


She wouldn’t sit on the scale and stay still. So I stood on there while holding her and then put her back in her cage and weighed myself and subtracted the weight. It was exactly 1 pound. Thanks I’ll look at those and see.
UPDATE: She’s definitely a female. I compared the pictures and she’s a female.

bebe_thepiggy

Post   » Thu Mar 22, 2018 10:11 pm


Update again. She’s doing the thing where she sits in the corner and looks scared again. She’s denying hay too. Along with her favorite treat.

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