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Any advice please? New to owning Guinea Pigs and found blood spatters

  • Thread starter Thread starter bobbysgirl
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bobbysgirl

Hello, i've just registered this evening in the hope that someone can offer me some advice. We have had our two guinea pigs, two girls, for just over a fortnight and keep them indoors. Tonight I have noticed spatters of blood on the inside of their house section, as if they have kicked their feet and it's splattered up the side. It's not a catastrophic amount and I can't see blood on either of them. I have read that this can be due to them being in season but I don't want to assume anything. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
 
Did you get them from a pet shop at all? I've had my girlies since summer and havent had any splatters from them being in heat i know they are cos Harry (their neutered male buddy ) goes mad! lol If you got them in a pet shop they might have been kept with males which might mean the blood could be due to an unexpected pregnancy but DONT take my word for that as ive never had any expereince with pregnancy i no there are alot of people on here who might no good luc kx
 
Verity said:
Did you get them from a pet shop at all? I've had my girlies since summer and havent had any splatters from them being in heat i know they are cos Harry (their neutered male buddy ) goes mad! lol If you got them in a pet shop they might have been kept with males which might mean the blood could be due to an unexpected pregnancy but DONT take my word for that as ive never had any expereince with pregnancy i no there are alot of people on here who might no good luc kx
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I was thinking along the same lines as Verity.
Otherwise...
Have a thorough look at them, especially their ears as this is where nips often happen and the ears bleed profusely if bitten and could look like "spray" if they shook their heads.
If you can't find anything at all, keep an eye on their genital areas and observe for blood, discharge or any nasty smell, this could indicate an infection of some kind. Possibly a urinary one but also reproductive.
If either seem at all "under the weather" are lethargic, don't eat as much, anything unusual, do take them along to your vet as soon as possible.
Hope all goes okay,
Barbara :)
 
Thanks for replying Verity and Barbara. We did have them from a pet shop but they were together, in with a rabbit. The only thing i suppose is that you don't know where they were before that do you so it's always a possibility. I looked at some sites on the internet to see how to check their sex and i'm sure they are both girls!
I did notice some dried blood on Lucy's ear but it just looked like it was there because it had been wiped off the sides of their house (where the splatters were) to be honest, there was nothing to suggest it had actually been bleeding.
They are both eating well, and drinking fine, and they are talking away happily enough. Do you think I should just monitor them before rushing to the vet? (and panicking about little babies coming along!) :-\
 
Obviously whether you take them to the vet is your decision :)
But....
If they were mine and they looked well and happy. I'd (which you have I am sure already done) wash down the sides of their bedding area, so that you can see any new blood, if it appears and clean them out for the same reason.
I'd check them and their living quarters for signs of a fresh bleed and keep a close eye on both of them to ensure they are both eating okay, lively and interested in what is going on. Obviously any change off to vet. Otherwise I'd see how things go.
That said, I am, like many on here a very experienced gunea owner and feel confident enough to do this.

If you are at all worried, do take them in for a check up. A good guinea vet will be able to feel if the womb feels bulky and if there could be babies or a problem. Obviously in the early stages of a pregnancy, it is difficult if not impossible to tell.

How long have you had them?

Barbara
 
We've had them just over 2 weeks, we bought them for my son's 4th birthday although i must admit they watch tv with me while he's in bed (i've got quite attached to them myself!). We clean them out every 3 days as the sawdust seems to start to get a bit damp in their house after that. They are out every day with us so i'm hoping that i should notice anything different.
Thinking of it, Lucy is a lot bigger than when we first had her, and although she was always a bit bigger than Rebecca there is a really noticable difference now. Maybe they are like us and grow at different rates though? Lucy is short haired and shiny, but Rebecca has got slightly longer hair (but not like the pictures i've seen with masses of hair, just enough to moult on your clothes!).
Thanks ever such a lot for taking the time to help and reassure me, I really appreciate it :)
 
I agree with the advice already given - if they are OK in themselves I would just keep a very close eye and if any concerns/changes, off to the vet. Things like ears can bleed a lot from a very small wound so it may be something superficial. As you are getting them out of their cage daily, as you stroke them just have a little gentle feel around, as if they have got a wound on their body, they are not always easy to spot until they start to heal and scab.

Do you know how old they are? I am assuming, as they are from a pet shop, they are babies? Guinea's do grow very quickly so it may just be that and not pregnancy which is why one is getting so big - try not to panic! They definatly grow at different rates. I have 2 sisters and one is almost 200g heavier than the other!

If it is pregnancy then there are people on here with pregnancy experience who can give you advice.

Welcome to the forum by the way! :)
 
Can't help with girls but you've been given sound advice everyone here is just fab, you'll quickly become one of the bunch. Good luck with your little ones, can we see some pics soon?

Welcome to the forum
 
Just got back from the school run, thank you to everyone for your advice and welcoming notes! I'll try and get a photo of them on later for you. I'll be checking on them again shortly, they've been chatting happily when we said good morning to them but I haven't had them out yet today so will keep you posted! :)
 
good advice given cant add to any myself although I did wonder if she might have had a good scratch on her ears shook her head the blood splatters could have been some thing like that, but either an experienced guinea owner or a vet would be able to confirm a pregnancy for you, one of mine actually did this to her ear while I was watching, so its quite possible, good luck and keep a close eye on her as pigs can do downhill very quickly and hide their illness and pain very well,
 
Re: Any advice please? Found blood spatters UPDATE and pic as promised

Sorry i didn't get chance to get back on here last night - there are no fresh blood splatters over the cage and they still seem happy, i'll just keep an eye on them like you all advised.

I've tried to put a photo on but it says the upload file is full, so i'll tell admin like it suggested and try again later.... :(
 
Hopefully this will work, had some help from squeakypigs!

smallerpic.jpg


Lucy is the brown one, Rebecca is the smaller white one (my 4 year old son chose their names as they were his birthday present!)
 
Thanks michellemuffin, yes they seem ok now - we're just about to clean them out so we'll obviously check them again. I've just figured out how to add the picture so it appears by my user name too, everyone can see our girls now! :)
 
Hiya and welcome to the forum i hope everythings ok now they are certainly lovely girlies !
 
I love their names. Welcome to the forum. I'm glad that everything is ok with them now :)
 
Hi

Welcome to the forum

Hope everything is ok with the piggies now.

Love
Claire
x
 
Yes, thank you to all of you - they do seem fine now. I suspect maybe they had been fighting (they're definitely quieter now than last week), or one of them had scratched theirselves just like you all advised.

They're settling in really well, they're less nervous and jumpy - unfortunatley we can't have them out at the moment as we are all poorly with colds/flu and we don't want them to catch anything. Typical! :(
 
bobbysgirl said:
Yes, thank you to all of you - they do seem fine now. I suspect maybe they had been fighting (they're definitely quieter now than last week), or one of them had scratched theirselves just like you all advised.
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Great news! :)
 
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