Babywatch - Day 2

When I went to check on the guinea pigs in the morning, I found one in the fleece tunnel and the other hiding in the fleece forest.  I'm not sure if they were just more comfortable being apart or they had run for the nearest cover when they heard me coming down the stairs.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that they drank more water overnight and ate all of the giant handful of alfalfa hay I had put out for them the night before plus some of the Oxbow Botanical Hay (which is mostly timothy plus a little chamomile, lavender, lemon balm, and clover).

I added another handful of alfalfa and topped off the botanical hay dish as well.  Then I brought down a few pieces (maybe about 10 pieces about a quarter inch square) of green pepper and put them in a dish.  It wasn't too long before the babies came out of hiding to see what new foods were available.  Once they realized green pepper was on the menu, they happily munched on the pieces and within a few minutes, they'd eaten all of the green pepper.  Yay!

I also added maybe a teaspoon's worth of their pellets to the food dish once they were finished with the green pepper.  I'm not sure how much pellets babies should get - I've seen recommendations ranging from a couple of tablespoons a day to unlimited amounts.  But, to be honest, I'm not convinced that pellets are that great of a food source.  The ingredients seem questionable to me, so my plan is to keep the amount of pellets that I feed pretty limited (maybe 2 teaspoons a day), while doing a little more research.  I'm also hoping to start adding a variety of fresh foods to provide what I think is better nutrition.

In the afternoon, I cut up two slices of cucumber (leaving the peel on) and decided to add a few carrot peels as well.  Both guinea pigs immediately went for the cucumber and then tried and apparently like the carrot, because they ate it all.

In the evening, I topped off the alfalfa hay one more time, and gave them just a small amount of pellets, which they got pretty excited about.

In terms of handling, they are still pretty flighty, and I expect that they will be for awhile.  So, I'm trying to spend time hanging out by the cage and just holding them for a minute or two each day for the next couple of weeks.  Then I'll gradually start increasing the time spent handling them as they get older.