Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => Pets without Feathers => Topic started by: timtheenchanteruk on April 14, 2012, 15:20
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I have just bought 2 guinea pigs, mainly for the kids, but i love them too, I'm just a little concerned about one of them, had them since Wednesday, no kids around till today (they have been away)
One seems to be very active, go near the cage, it legs it into the house, the other seems to just sit in the middle of the cage, does go in and out of the house, but nowhere near as active as the other one.
not seen either of them eating, but had to replenish food, so they must be at night, water is also going down, but again not yet seen the drinking.
am I just being paranoid? we have had guineas before, but they were kind of in the middle of these two, and both similar nature, its a couple of years since they passed on, they lived outside, but the new ones will be indoors.
There is nothing that could have transferred infection as absolutely EVERYTHING is brand new, and was cleaned/scrubbed before use with a cage cleaner.,
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Could try asking here -> http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk
I've never had GPs but that is the sister site of the rabbit forum I use.
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Well by sheer chance, guinea pigs are animals I kept/showed for many years!!
So... questions are
1. When you pick the quiet animal up, does it squeak as though in pain?
2. Have a look at it's rear end. Is it clean and dry?
3. Feel through it's fur to see if it has any signs of being bitten
4. Are it's eyes OK? Check that there is no signs of injury at all, no bloodshot look, no odd colouration
If it seems fine, make sure it has enough hay to burrow deeply in, and offer a bit of carrot or a few dandelion leaves they do need a lot of fresh food)
Chances are it is fine, but gpigs can suddenly get pneumonia from shock. If it seems to be breathing far to fast, please do take it to a vet.
Hope this helps
Sunny
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Hi, thanks for that post.
nope, no signs op pain.
clean rear
no signs of bites
eyes fine, clean & bright.
just stuck some dandelions in, and he having a nibble, and Ive added some more hay as they seem to have squashed the stuff that was there.
breathing seems to be fine, they are both breathing the same anyway, just heard them "talking" to each other in the house, looks like i might be a little paranoid, I'll still keep an eye on for a few days.
I've not handles them much yet, letting the settle in first.
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As sunny did, I used to keep them too. I think they just need to settle down and get accustomed to their new surroundings, then they and you will benefit from handling. :)
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We used to have loads of piggies too, love to hear their chatter. It could be just that they have very different personalities. If they are eating and drinking ok then they maybe just need to settle in. Like all rodents, though, they will need frequent handling to keep them tame, they can be very scatty otherwise.
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Now that all is well health wise, they do need to be handled every day, and ideally trained to sit still on your hand, not just when being held firmly.
It will make dealing with overgrown nails much easier, I can tell you.
Glad everything seems OK with them both, tim :D :D :D
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We have 2 with very different personalities - like yours, ours live indoors, one is very lively and has been trained to squeak for treats when Mr Raven makes a certain noise and will then take veg from his hand, the other is very quiet and spends a lot of time in his bedroom but they are both happy, can both be handled, they are just different!