Owning a new Guinea Pig
Day One.
Wednesday 14th August 2003
6 weeks old (Although she looks very small to me - She could
be younger)
 I
went to the pet store just to look if they had a grey Guinea
Pig. I had 3 already and 2 big rabbit cages end to end. However
sometimes it would be nice to stack them on top of each other
so having 2 pairs of Guinea Pigs seems fair.
I couldn't believe it when I saw her. They never
have grey ones in. After pondering for a few moments and thinking
it through and discussing it with my partner we both agreed
another piggy would even them out.
The shop assistant from Pets at Home at last
caught her <they are ever so fast and hard to catch when
they are new> The new policy at that particular store is
to get the on site vet to check them over before they are
sold. This I was quite impressed with. They have a Vet clinic
on site.
They checked her over and were happy to let
her go. They placed her in a box with some hay and saw dust
in. Straight away the poor little thing started to panic and
ran around frantically. We brought her straight home.
When we got home we took her out of her box
and sat with her on the sofa. After 5 min's we decided to
get Kornage who is a very friendly Guinea Pig to introduce
them. Straight away Kornage started rumble strutting, however
he soon stopped once he had sniffed her all over. He then
sat and was licking her ear in a kind of parental way. I have
never observed him doing this with any of the others, however
you don't know what he gets up to when he gets them in his
hidey hole!
We then got out Millie and Nutmeg to introduce
them. Millie and Nutmeg were both very interested and sat
sniffing her. As it was a nice day I put all four Guinea Pigs
out doors in the pen. I assume this was probably her first
time out on grass so didn't let her out there for too long
as she probably hadn't eaten fresh grass.
When all the piggie's went back in to the cage,
Nutmeg was showing signs of being territorial. However this
is expected, she is letting the new pig know some rules. Kornage
wasn't bothered by her presence and surprisingly Millie hasn't
been snappy.
Day Two
Today the new girl has been out sniffing around
the cage. She makes a lot of mweeping noises, I think she
is possibly calling for her Mum. Nutmeg is still snappy with
her but it's nothing to be concerned about. It is just general
Guinea Pig pecking order behaviour.
The new Guinea Pig seems ok and lively, she
is eating well and cleaning her self so no cause for concern
about her health.
Day Three
Today I tried the new girl with some different
kinds of food. She wasn't too sure about peppers though. She
quite likes baby sweet corn. She wasn't interested in carrot.
She is going to have to learn to eat faster as Kornage keep's
finishing what ever he's eating then going and nicking hers!
Piggy by name and definitely by nature!!
Day Four
Weight 400g Roughly 6 weeks old.
Today I decided to weigh the new Guinea Pig.
I felt maybe the weekly weight gain would be of interest to
a new Cavy owner. She is very small and very fast compared
to my other 3. Kornage is just a few weeks over a year old
and he weighs 1.15kg, Millie 9 months old 1.20kg and last
of all Nutmeg is 6 months old and weighs 1kg.
Today I noticed the girl has had quite soft
pellets so I am going to cut back on fresh food for her. She
has in four days eaten lots of different things that she needs
to get used to. If you have a Guinea Pig with diarrhoea you
should seek medical advice from a vet immediately. This is
a bad sign!. However the Squirrel <which we have nick named
her until we come up with one> her pellets are nothing
to cause concern I know its just she's eaten too much fresh
food! Tomorrow I will let her run about on the patio rather
than let her graze on the grass.
Millie has taken to her really well and during
cuddle time earlier with my daughter, Millie and the new Guinea
Pig were cuddled up together.
Day Five
The new piggie (still with no-name) is very
sweet. She is so full of beans compared to the other three.
She pop corns around the cage and when she is left in there
on her own she stands on a house calling for the other piggy's.
Day Six
Nutmeg is being very snappy with all the Guinea
Pigs at present. She is being very territorial and has taken
over one half of the cage and will not let the others in there.
I have decided to separate her from the rest for the time
being. I do not think this is down to a space problem as she
is the same when they are in the piggie run which is quite
big and has about six different hidey holes. I am starting
to wonder if she would maybe like to live on her own. This
could be her age though as she is growing in to an adult Guinea
Pig.
Millie and Kornage are really nice to the new
girl. They will let her share a food dish with them. Nutmeg
snaps at her and even Kornage if they get close to her when
she is eating.
Day Seven
Today I was surprised to find the baby Guinea
Pig rumble strutting and trying to mount Kornage. Kornage
was thrilled with this and played mounting with her for a
mad 30 min's. The pair of them were running around in the
cage together pop corning and having lots of fun. Millie just
sat up on a ledge in the cage watching them. I have tried
cutting the tips of her nails today as they are really sharpe
and she likes to climb over Kornage and Millie. She was not
impressed by this and I left it so I didn't stress her out
too much.
Week 2
This week squirrel has been very lively she
is full of beans but still very nervous. I have weighed her
again and she still only weighs 400g but then I was using
dodgy scales to weigh her. When she is being cuddled she will
sit for about 10 min's then she climbs off me and runs to
the end of the sofa and mweeks for the other piggie's. When
she does this I am putting her back so she doesn't get too
distressed. The new Guinea Pig seems to be very nice natured
and very playful with the others.
Week 3
Squirrel has learnt to mweep for food! She is
so enthusiastic when she does this, when I get up from my
desk she runs over to the front of her cage and sticks her
nose up in the air and mweeeps really fast and loud she makes
me feel so bad that I have to come back with something for
her and the rest of the crew. She is not over keen on cucumber
and often when Kornage has finished his he will come and nick
hers. She will learn to eat faster I am sure. She has a bond
with Millie which I have noticed over the last week. The other
night I had all 4 pigs out on the sofa and when Millie went
back squirrel ran to the edge of the chair and was calling
for her.
She had a mad moment the other day running around
her cage on the floor the other day pop corning. She looks
so sweet when she does this.
|
