A couple of questions about my new cavies

Question
QUESTION: I purchased a guinea pig about a month ago, and I recently just got another one so that the first one would not be lonely (both are males, I believe one is about 3 months and the other 4, but the new one looks really small so I'm wondering if maybe he is younger).  I have them in 2 separate cages right now.  I want to eventually introduce them, but I first wanted to make sure that they are not too young.  How old should a guinea pig be before introducing to another?

Also, I had been feeding them veggies (cucumbers, a little bit of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, bell peppers, and a little bit of fruit such as bananas and apples).  I realized that one of them has diarrhea, and I was wondering, is it probably because of the veggies?  Am I feeding him too much?  I was told that about 3/4 of a cup a day was a good amount.  Is he too young for veggies?  Do they have to be a certain age before veggies are safe?  

Last question:  is it okay to leave a lot of Timothy Hay out, or does it not stay fresh?

Sorry about all of the questions, I just want to make sure my cavies are happy and healthy :)

Thank you!
Charlene

ANSWER: ill answer them in order

1. the younger they are the better they are to be introduced, have a look at some of my previous answers theres rucks o information on bonding them.

2. try to avoid watery and rich greens, a little apple is fine say once a week, but regular amounts is bad for them, this will be what is causing the warery stools. if possible the ebst greens for them is fresh grass. if you can allow them to graze on a lawn. the rather than tomatoes peppers i would recommend broccoli and carrots or better yet freshly picked dandelion leaves. guinea pigs are never too young to be given greens they start eating them from day 1.

3. yes and no, timothy hay losses its goodness and quality over time, but if you are supplementing their diet with grzing time then so long as the hay insn't rotting they'll be fine.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for answering my questions so quickly!  I had another question about the introductions/cohabitation of the 2 new piggies (I tried to search the website for the answer but I wasn't able to find it).  I put them together for about 30-45 minutes or so.  The older one was definitely showing dominant behaviors for about 75% of the time, but the other one didn't seem to be hurt or anything.  My question is: how do I know when it is ok to leave them together unsupervised?  When I am unable to supervise them now, is it ok to put up a partition in the cage and them take it out when I am able to supervise?  Thank you so much for your help, you have been amazing!

Answer
yes a partition is fine, ill give a quick basic bonding schedule.

have a partition like you already, when you're not there that is, swap them over onto each others side every morning, this way they not only  get used to each others scent, they get used to both scents being everywhere, do this for about two weeks. this is usually enough to bond them,if not then a bath together while someone cleans out their home with a watered down disinfectant is a good idea, or a drive in a cardboard box together, again while someone cleans the cage is another. this whole limited interaction buisness while not bad is an unnessesery slow process, it is better to have the guinea pigs seeing smelling but not touching, i know one rescuer who just leaves them oth in a new cage for half an hour un divided, he calls it "tough love" after the half hour one might have a couple of cuts here and there but from then on the two are bonded, personally i dont agree with it but the numer of animals he has to look after means he cannot give the time to monitor them.

so usual behaviour.

teeth chattering
mounting
the occasional nip.


usual stuff to watch out for

not letting the other eat or drink
not letting the other in the bedding area.

best of luck.