I have a very young guinea pig, Bella. She does not bite, but other that that, she is very anti-social. She ducks from being touched, she hates getting out of her cage.
I've only had her for two weeks. She "lives" in my classroom, but I take her home every weekend to hold her and sort of get her used to things, although she's still very skitterish.
Also, she does not eat treats of any kind...carrots, celery, parsley, etc. She doesn't really chew on any of the wood sticks and toys I got her, either. She only eats the grainy part of her food, not the fake cereal or the dried fruit. She loves Timothy Hay and Bermuda grass, though - she could eat that and be fine.
How can I encourage her to be friendly?
How can I get her to gnaw on things to keep her teeth healthy?
What are other treats that guineas like?
Is she getting enough vitamin C from the little pellets in her guinea pig food?
Thanks!
How to help a shy guinea pig?
Guinea pigs are precious little animals; I have a couple myself.
You just need to give your little piggie some time to get used to things and that can take several weeks. It's totally normal for it to take that amount of time. Appetite should also improve after the adjustment period.
If your little one is under a year old instead of timothy hay it should be given alfalfa hay for the needed extra calcium and minerals.
To encourage her to be more friendly just let her get to know you. Sit and talk to her for a bit each day and don't try to pet or pick her up at first (unless necessary), More than likely even after she gets to know you and is used to you she will never like being picked up. Rare is the guinea pig that likes that.
She will gnaw on things when she needs to and you may never notice. This is instinct and they will do what they need.
Other treats guinea pigs like are: apples, strawberries, lettuce (Never, EVER give them iceberg).
As long as she is eating the hay (if under a year old should be alfalfa based hay and pellett food) and pellett food there should be sufficient vitamin C. The vitamin C drops sold at pet stores are full of sugar and can cause diabetes and make them not want to drink water without them added.
The best website I know of with info on guinea pigs is http://guineapigcages.com There is a wealth of info there and a message board where so many question can be answered and knowledge about these adorable animals can be found.
Reply:shoot it
Reply:WE HAVE A MALE GUINEA PIG WHO IS 2 YRS OLD AND WE RESCUED A FEMALE THAT WAS VERY OLD. UNFORTUNATELY WE HAD HER ONLY 6 MONTHS BEFORE SHE PASSED. SHE WAS VERY SHY TOO AND DIDN'T EAT VEGGIES AT FIRST. WE KEPT HOLDING HER AND WE STARTED HER ON DANDELION FLOWERS AND GREENS AS WELL AS CLOVER, THEN GRADUATED TO FRUITS AND VEGGIES. MY MALE GUINEA DOESN'T CHEW ON THE STICKS EITHER. I WOULD SUGGEST CARDBOARD. THEY HAVE THE CARDBOARD TUNNELS FOR THEM IN THE PET STORE. ALSO T-PAPER ROLLS WORK. IF SHE IS IN THE CLASSROOM ALL WEEK, MAYBE SOME NOISE AT HOME WILL HELP TOO. GOOD LUCK!
Reply:You've already had some great answers, but here's my two cents:
- She may just be a permanently shy pig. We have one who likes the comforting confines of his cage much more than the others. But speaking of others, Bella might get a little braver with a companion to lead (or even "herd") her around - if you're willing to take another one on, just make sure you have enough room and you get another female. And like someone else has mentioned, not many guinea pigs ever really enjoy being picked up. But if you've only had her two weeks, don't expect to see any miracles yet, specially if she's young.
- Mine generally don't touch their wood sticks either, but I get Kaytee honey treats (little logs) and leave them in their cage, and after a few days you'll see that they've been gnawed down. But, eating the timothy hay is probably helping to wear her teeth down adequately.
- My guinea pigs used to love oranges, apples, carrots, celery, strawberries, you name it - and then it happened: I introduced them to kale. Now they'll only take little nibbles of anything else - since it sounds like your piggie doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, try kale - although if she doesn't like parsley either, I'm at a loss as to what to suggest! Ask your vet to check out her mouth and make sure there's nothing physical involved with her strange eating habits. Mine actually try to avoid eating the pellet part of their food and instead eat all the dried fruits...*sigh*
- Try Nutriphase Gold Guinea Pig Formula, I think even the pellets have vitamin C embedded in them, and that will be better than nothing. The jury is still out on whether vitamin C drops in their water is a good idea or not, so I might steer clear of resorting to that.
Good luck, and if you want you can check out the cheesy site I made for my guinea pigs:
http://www.secondstarillustrations.com/t...
Reply:I can tell you Bella is a baby, and that is the way of babies. They are skittery and anxious and full of energy. The other problem is that she is all alone. Guinea pigs need to be in same sex pairs. They are very social animals and babies especially need that interaction. They go from having brothers and sisters and mama to a strange place where two giant hands come from above.
Pigs learn by watching others. She is not eating her veggies because she does not know they are edible yet. Keep trying different things, things with a high moisture content so it would have a high smell like green peppers, or strawberries, watermelon, cilantro... Try giving her these things while holding her. You could even try taking a bite and then offering it to her while you are holding her, that works a lot of the time.
When you open the cage, don't always try to pick her up. Sometimes open it just to try and scratch her head or offer her a treat. These guys are prey animals so they are instinctively nervous. Babies take a lot longer to come around especially when they are by themselves.
Make sure she is in a high traffic area of your house and if she hides in a pigloo or a house a lot, take it away so she doesn't become a turtle-pig. In that way you force her to be exposed to new sounds and things.
Keep holding her and things will get better. Some pigs will never chew on wooden things so don't worry about that so much.
Lisa and the Wheeks and Squeaks Guinea Pig Rescue
Reply:maybe she is afraid of the kids looking at her. hmm just pick her up and pet her behind the ears and it's takes time for her to start getting used to chewing on things. Did you try to give her granny smith apples. that should help her out. yes. gp food is made for them. try mixing the hay with the food. or buy her mixed piggie food. som of the food has banana chips in them and pumpkin seeds. if that doesn't help at all try grapes. and you can teach the kids to feed her grapes and watch her eat it.
Reply:Here's a few excellent websites on guinea pigs, have a read and they'll give you some good info -
http://www.russelrabbit.com/languages/su...
http://jackiesguineapiggies.com/guineapi...
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_pig - this Wikipedia site's page has got lots more links down the bottom of the page, too. Hope they all give you some good advice and more contacts too.
Reply:They like apples, pears, grapes (without seeds), orange, cucumber...all of these with peel.
Reply:being friendly takes time we have a younger female and shes still a little shy.....just hand feed her and put your hand in her cage and shell start getting used to you..Also the vet told me that GRAPES are not good for any animals...So please dont give her grapes.....we use the website www.guinealynxbehavior.com try that its pretty helpful
Reply:Give her food. Guinea pigs associate food with good things. Hand Feed her. When she lets you pet her give her a bit of lettuce or carrot. Don't work with her around the kids in your classroom. She may be scared of them...
Same for getting her out of the cage. Coax her out with a leaf of romaine or a leaf of spinach.
Wish You Luck!
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