r/guineapigadvice

Okay so before I left for work today (12ish) guinea pig 1 was fine and active as usual but guinea pig 2 was in his hidey taking a nap (i assume) but instead of facing towards the opening he was backwards if that makes sense which was odd to me because he never sleeps that way so anyways i lift the hidey to make sure he's alright and he didn't move at all which usually he does he just runs around and stuff so I gave him a little tap and he wasn't moving his body (only his head) and then i tapped his butt (which he doesn't like) just to see if he'd run away and he didn't so I didn't think much of it I just thought maybe he was sleepy and I had just woken him up from a nap or something so fast forward to around 9pm i get back from work and I notice he's in the same spot, same position, same everything so I grew more worried. I did pretty much the same thing tapping him and stuff and he was only slightly moving his head so I figured if anything was gonna make him move it would be the sound of me putting in hay or food so that's what I did and he still didn't move. I decided to pick him up carefully and the minute I put my hands around him he started wheeking like crazy and not in the normal guinea pig wheek kind of way it was more like I was hurting him or making him uncomfortable. He had never made that sound before so I hurried up and put him in my lap so he could lay down and he stopped that wheeking. I checked his body to make sure he was free of any cuts or wounds or anything and everything was fine. I was feeling for his heart beat and everything seemed normal to me. I finally put him in the cage but I put him on the other side away from the hidey he was in and something I noticed when I placed him down was that he lost his balance a little bit I'm not sure if it was because of the way I put him down or what but it seemed like he tripped a little bit. He didn't move from his spot for five minutes and in that five mins I placed a bunch of hay in front of him so he could eat it (he LOVES hay) but he just was looking at it then his brother went next to him and started eating it but he was still looking at it. He eventually went back to his hidey but I noticed he was walking very slow. That's not like him at all my guinea pigs, like most, move pretty fast. Me observing him has led me to believe he may be dying. He's about 6 years old which I believe may be a normal age for guinea pigs to pass away (correct me if I'm wrong) While I don't want to lose him, I do have to accept that one day he will leave me physically. If anyone has any insight on what might be happening (if he's not dying) please share! Another reason I believe he may be dying is because this was similar behavior as my hamster when he died.

I would also love advice on how to care for a grieving, single guinea pig so that he can still get the best and adequate care if his brother passes on. Please respond if you have any advice/insight! Thank you! 🙏

Hi guys! First time posting here. My boyfriend got me a 4th guinea pig to complete my muddle. All sows. The smaller white/tan/brown one is Pickles, the larger white/tan/brown is Parmesan, and the black one is Berry. I first got Pickles, a week later Parmesan and a week after that Berry. Then I got the all brown one- Whippy.

Pickles, Parmesan and Berry got along fine but Pickles and Parmesan are obviously bonded and Berry was kind of a third wheel. Pickles and Berry would hang out a bit but nothing like with Pickles and Parmesan. So we decided to try and get a friend for Berry. Berry and Whippy have done fine together so far, no scuffles or odd behavior- just existing together.

I’d like to preface that Parmesan is the queen and all other pigs that come in our home is her subjects. As expected- Parmesan was the first to try and assert dominance. Nothing unusual just normal behaviors of smelling, throwing head back and wiggling hips. This went on for a few minutes while Whippy was just minding her own business. She clearly just accepted she was bottom of the food chain.

Then things started escalating a little bit. A lot of chasing into corners and doing her dance again. Another few minutes passed and I fed them their veggies. I only set up my phone to get a video of them eating so I didn’t scare Whippy. Then this all started happening.

In the first video it is Parmesan that was the aggressor. I pulled her away for a “time out” to cool down. I had her in my hands for a little more than a minute the Pickles started doing the same thing. When you can not see them Whippy is tucked up in a corner while either pig was intimidating her.

I’ve tried to find videos online for actual guinea pig fights to compare but I can’t seem to find any- and rightly so. So I’m attaching my two videos below.

Currently I have Pickles and Parmesan on one side of the cage and Berry and Whippy on the other with a divider in the middle. I’m going to try again tomorrow in another neutral spot to see if I can get them to get along.

Videos are in comments.