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Constantly eating plastic!

Hiitshannah

Junior Guinea Pig
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West Sussex, UK
Hi! My guinea pig Butternut will not stop eating the plastic in his c&c cage. He’s eaten so much of it. He’s about 10 weeks old, and lives with an older boar who’s about 4.5, but very active, and they get on really well - there has never been any aggression (even teeth chattering) from the moment they were introduced, they curl up to sleep together etc.

They live in a 3 x 4 cage, they have loads of toys like balls, tunnels etc. 2 bowls, 2 bottles, blankets to sleep on, they get 3 different types of hay to choose from, fresh veg twice a day following the recommended diet on this forum so a good variety. They also come out for a run on the floor every day where they can run freely and we have a huge fleece set up with loads more toys, so he can’t be bored!

We have 2 other males who live above them, and the only time his cage mate Nutmeg chews plastic is when he’s trying to get to the other pigs when they are out for their run. I think Butternut learned this behaviour from Nutmeg but is now doing it all the time. Does anyone have any tips to get him to stop? I’m worried it’s going to cause issues in his tummy if he continues to eat so much of it!
 
Do you mean the correx in the cage? There is something people put on the edges to stop them chewing on it, though I can’t remember what it’s called! Plastic sliders or something similar.
 
Do you mean the correx in the cage? There is something people put on the edges to stop them chewing on it, though I can’t remember what it’s called! Plastic sliders or something similar.

I do! We have the correx 10cm high, and in some places he’s eaten it about half way down! I’ll have a look for that :)
 
I’m not saying it’s the case with your boy, but I’ve had an experience with constant chewing. One of mine chewed plastic, toys, hair etc constantly. So I got him vet checked as he was doing it because he was in discomfort. Turned out to be an issue with the bladder. Following treatment, the chewing stopped (as he was more comfortable).

but if you are worried about any behaviours, it’s always worth a vet check to rule out underlying health issues first.

😊
 
I’m not saying it’s the case with your boy, but I’ve had an experience with constant chewing. One of mine chewed plastic, toys, hair etc constantly. So I got him vet checked as he was doing it because he was in discomfort. Turned out to be an issue with the bladder. Following treatment, the chewing stopped (as he was more comfortable).

but if you are worried about any behaviours, it’s always worth a vet check to rule out underlying health issues first.

😊

Thank you! Annoyingly with lockdown the vets are only taking ‘emergency’ cases so without any symptoms we can’t get an appointment :( it seems to be just this plastic that he chews, but I know what you mean with bladder pigs chewing everything as one of my other piggies is dealing with stones at the minute! I’m hoping it’s just a novelty to him as he’s only started doing it this week, it’s like he saw Nutmeg doing it and has to copy him to an extreme! But will of course monitor him closely!
 
C&C cages do these ‘nibble guards’ that may be able to help with little Butternut’s chewy problem!

Nibble guards - C and C Guinea Pig Cages

My Luigi is a big chewer (of everything he shouldn’t, won’t touch a carrot cottage though! 🤷‍♀️) so I don’t even have correx in his 4x3, can’t imagine what a state it’d look!
 
Thank you all for your suggestions! He seems to have suddenly stopped doing it, but I’ll be ordering some edging as suggested in case he decides it’s a tasty treat again in future :)
 
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