After handing the abandoned baby guinea pigs over the Little Critters Rescue Club, I became aware that they had an old guinea pig up for adoption. Bella is about 5 years old, and her owner recently gave her to the rescue because she didn't want her anymore. She's also been alone all this time. It breaks your heart, that someone would choose to give up on their pet in their old age. I felt bad for her, thinking adoption chances are slim when she has to compete with all the young animals at the rescue. So after much thought (I wanted to make sure I'm not replacing the Poe shaped hole with another guinea pig), I felt that I would at the very least be helping the rescue out by adopting and also it's not much different caring for 3 guinea pigs instead of 2. So in early March, after a successful home check, I brought the girls to meet Bella at the rescue and then took the 3 of them home.
Bella was so scared. For the first few days she just hid. She was terrified of us and even of Sylbie and Tiramisu. She would only eat if we put food right by were she was hiding. You could see that she's not had much interaction because she is impossible to pick up/hold. She would squirm and wriggle and if you loosened your grip she'd bolt. The first week was tough, the others also bullied her because they were establishing their dominance.
But it slowly got better. She taught the other 2 to eat pepper and cherry tomatoes! I now have pigs who happily munch on bell peppers! She also came out of hiding more and more and now runs out like the others when it's food time. Still working on getting her to be less afraid of humans. She takes food from our hands, and I've managed to wrangle her twice for nail clipping and weighing (gaah! it's terrifying, I have a pillow case for her to bolt into for some feeling of security, else she'll literally jump from my lap.) You can't stroke her like we do with Tiramisu and Sylbie (she runs away). Having Bella has made me realize that my guinea pigs are actually really tame! I used to complain that they don't like being picked up, but geez, if their natural instinct was to get as far away from my giantness as possible, to hide and never come out, then they've come a long way.
I really hope she settles down and becomes less afraid of us. It frustrates me to think that the previous owner never put in any effort at all to get her to be accustomed to humans, to a point where routine things that are important for a guinea pig's well being like nail clipping and weighing is very difficult to do with Bella (imagine if I had to force feed her!) It's basic care that a guinea pig needs, never mind the poor girl was kept alone her whole life! I wonder why she got a guinea pig in the first place.
Bella was so scared. For the first few days she just hid. She was terrified of us and even of Sylbie and Tiramisu. She would only eat if we put food right by were she was hiding. You could see that she's not had much interaction because she is impossible to pick up/hold. She would squirm and wriggle and if you loosened your grip she'd bolt. The first week was tough, the others also bullied her because they were establishing their dominance.
But it slowly got better. She taught the other 2 to eat pepper and cherry tomatoes! I now have pigs who happily munch on bell peppers! She also came out of hiding more and more and now runs out like the others when it's food time. Still working on getting her to be less afraid of humans. She takes food from our hands, and I've managed to wrangle her twice for nail clipping and weighing (gaah! it's terrifying, I have a pillow case for her to bolt into for some feeling of security, else she'll literally jump from my lap.) You can't stroke her like we do with Tiramisu and Sylbie (she runs away). Having Bella has made me realize that my guinea pigs are actually really tame! I used to complain that they don't like being picked up, but geez, if their natural instinct was to get as far away from my giantness as possible, to hide and never come out, then they've come a long way.
I really hope she settles down and becomes less afraid of us. It frustrates me to think that the previous owner never put in any effort at all to get her to be accustomed to humans, to a point where routine things that are important for a guinea pig's well being like nail clipping and weighing is very difficult to do with Bella (imagine if I had to force feed her!) It's basic care that a guinea pig needs, never mind the poor girl was kept alone her whole life! I wonder why she got a guinea pig in the first place.
When I try to take photos of the three of them munching away together, this is what usually happens:
Sylbie and Tiramisu: "Ooh do you have treats?!" (Runs up to investigate)
Sylbie and Tiramisu: "Ooh do you have treats?!" (Runs up to investigate)
Bella: "You fools! It's danger approaching!" (runs away to hide...)
But I did manage to get some photos, it makes my heart glad to see them relaxing and eating together. I hope Bella will have a good retirement with us.
