New GP owner

Question
Hi Ryan.
About a week ago we got our first GP's; one 6 weeks old and the other 6 months old and both are males, or so the pet store staff told us...
Anyway, I was wondering if you could give me some advice about their diet and their behaviour. They seem to never stop eating. I fill their bowl every morning and it is finished about half an hour later! So, I fill it back up again and so forth...I also give them carrots, corn, spinach, apples, oranges, broccoli and cauliflower sometimes, but I don't have any hay. They seem to never stop eating. Is this normal?
Our 6-week-old GP, Buddy, does not like being pet. Whenever anyone touches him, he runs straight into his igloo-home. Is this normal?
Also, our 6-month-old GP, Scabbers, likes to jump around a lot. My sister is scared for his health, but I think that he is popcorning, but he does it when he seems to be scared...What is he doing? Should we be worried?
I also have this other, considerably bigger, problem. A few days ago, Scabbers started to...er..."get attached" to Buddy. I read somewhere that a male guinea pig makes a low purring noise when trying to impress a female guinea pig. That's the sound that Scabbers is making...a lot! And he seems to try and rub against and bite Buddy's behind and he also tries to crawl on Buddy's back sometimes and this worries me and my sister very much, because we found a scab on Buddy's back about 2 days ago. It was not bleeding when we found it, but yesterday we found it bleeding, so my mother applied Dettol cream to it. Should we have? What can we do about the scab?
Is it possible that Buddy really is a female? Or that Scabbers is er...queer? Or is he just confused? What can we do about it?
Should we take them to the vet? My parents say that we don't have to, because they are not very big on vets...:(
Sorry for all the questions, but you seem to know what you're talking about and I love my GP's very much!!!
Thanx,
Rebecca.  

Answer
Hello Rebecca and thanks for the question(s),

Well, welcome to the fun fun world of the Guinea Pig (Cavia Porcellous). I will try my best to answer your questions clearly and as condensed as I can (I can be longwinded sometimes).

Diet: GPs love to eat. You should NOT feed them whenever their bowls are empty though or you will have an obese or indigestent GP. I feed my GPs twice per day (morning and evening) with later night time fruits and veggies. Never fails.

Being Pet/Held: Young GPs will run and be afraid for a little while. It is very important to "force" your love on them while they are young in order to make them a good, trusting, pet. Chase them down and grab them up. Pet them for a little while and then put them, nicely, back in there hiding place. This shows that you are not to be afriad of. Giving them treats while holding them makes them run TO YOU (in time of course).

Jumping Around: is good. Popcorning is the happiest act a GP can show you. "Ranting" is like popcorning but it is accompanied by painful yelps, scratching and running in circles. This shows you that the GP is infested with a bug or has a skin/ear irritation.

Queerness: Check out this site to correctly SEX your GPs first.

http://www.cavyspirit.com/sexing.htm

If one is male and the other (Buddyette?) is female, all is well. If they are BOTH male, they are not queer, they are vying for dominance. One male will ALWAYS be dominant and the others will usually fall in line and be happy. If the one is REALLY hurting the other, they should be seperated by a cage fence (companions but seperate). Unaltered males can be nasty so wear gloves if attempting to seperate them.

Vets: No need for a vet at this time.

Thanks and have a nice day,
Ryan
PS: If this info helps you, please rate me. THX