Have two new grown Guinea Pigs

Question
My children and I have took in two grown Guinea Pigs.We have never had one before.The person who had them before did not take very good care of them.She did'nt even know thei're ages.One of them has long hair that was just nasty!!So I had to cut most of it off.They do look well fead,I think.They are pretty big.The reason I am writing you is that I need some more info on these cuties.I went on some web sites but they only give you the basic info like feeding and housing.I need to know what some of thei're behavior means ,like what the different noises they make means and why does one byte,the other one sounds like it is alwayes crying when you hold it.One of them has a very big belly is that normal?They are both female so I dont think it is pregnant.
I will be taking them to the Vet in a couple of weeks but since they had such por care till now I would feel more comfortable knowing more.
The long haired (Skunki)is losing a lot of hair and she needs a bath,what kind of shampoo do you recomend for her? The short haired ( Charlie)has nice hair ,but could need a bath too.What would you recomend for her.
I read that giving them unsweetend cranberry juice
is good for them.Is that true and if how much and can you put some in thei're water?
I hope you can awnser my qwestions and if you have more info that you think I should know go ahead and info me out!!!The more I know the better
Thank you very much!!

Jeanette

Answer
Hello Jeanette

You can use kitten shampoo to bath them be sure to dry them throughly  also make sure the water isnt more then two inches deep and is luke warm. Offer them some cardboard boxes with large holes cut in them so they can hide and chew, offer some rodent wood chews for them because there teeth can over grow if they dont have these to chew on, offer fresh fruits adn vegtables daily along with there water and pellets, if you want to use vitamin drops put it on there fresh food not in there water because it can give the water a bad taste and cause them not to drink it and when its mixed with water they need to drink the whole bottle to get the right amount of vitamins. Dont bath them more then nesssairy only when they are dirty thast about every three months, keep the hair short around the long coated ones obttom because it gets dirty, smelly and matted. When they click there teeth together it means they are mad and can bite at this time talk in a calming voice before attempting to pick a clicking pig up, if its a high pitch squeal wehn picked up it could that they just dont like to be picked up or that they are in pain, a rumble that seems to go through there whole body is offen made when there in your lap being petted I have always said this to mean they are scared, also if they will eat when out on your lap then they are content because a scared pig wont even move, guinea pigs are offen quite fat but if her belly feels hard then she is pregnant.

I hope this helps if you have any more questions feel free to ask.