first time guinea pig owner.. whats normal?

[ellie_jo3213]

hey ive had my first pig for about 8 months. just wondered if any one could tell me if some of the things she does are normal?

when i give her carrots or cucumber, she tends to eat it so quick she makes noises like shes choking or wretching to be sick and spits little chunks of it out. is she just eating it too quick and being daft?

she has recently developed a double chin! it this because I'm feeding her too much? she has dry food and hay available all the time and veg in the night. she gets plenty of exercice every night as she likes running around me in circles for hours!

she also scratches quite alot. some times even making little disgruntled noises. she can bite and scratch her back and sides so much her hair stands on end! ive checked her fur, theres no scabs, reddness, hair loss, dandruff etc.. is this a normal thing? is she just grooming? ive bathed her once or twich with a free sample of gorgousginnies, but doesnt seem to make any difference.

would be really grateful for some advice on these
thanks

 

[Niki]

The choking noise is because she's eating too fast, my Huxley coughs when he does it. Some of my piggies have double chins - they're just chubby piggies but her scratching/biting's not normal if she's doing it so often that you've noticed.
My piggies have had mites before & some haven't scratched/bitten or lost hair & none of them have had scabs.

 

[ellie_jo3213]

The choking noise is because she's eating too fast, my Huxley coughs when he does it. Some of my piggies have double chins - they're just chubby piggies but her scratching/biting's not normal if she's doing it so often that you've noticed.
My piggies have had mites before & some haven't scratched/bitten or lost hair & none of them have had scabs.

thank you. hee hee good to know i have a chubby greedy piggy! shall keep an eye on the scratching. think ive noticed it because the cage is right by my desk so i just watch her instead of doing my work! lol she's been fine today. just had a look in my parasite book and your right that one of the mites symptoms have scratching, itching and rubbing as clinical signs. no hair loss or scabs.
shall keep an eye on her and if it gets worse i'll take her to vets.
thank you

 

[Laura-CCC4]

Most pigs have dewlaps to some degree. Some have enormous double chins while some have the tiniest little dewlap. Only the young and the underweight seem to not have dewlaps! Weighing weekly is a good habit to get into, if you aren't already. Tracking her weight frequently will give you a good idea about her health and what a normal weight is for her.

 

[Charlotte]

Ahhh, she looks like a very cool pig. Maybe you could try spreading the veg/fruit out a bit if you are concerned about the coughing. Maybe half of it in the morning and half in the afternoon? That’s what I do with my pigs and they are pretty relaxed around food and just graze away rather than gobbling it all up in one go. As with humans, a little bit of scratching is normal so I wouldn’t worry too much unless it becomes persistent or worse. Piggies can commonly suffer from mites under the skin which aren’t visible to the eye so if you notice any red patches, scabs or bald areas then ship her off to the vets (all piggies have a little bald patch behind each ear so don’t worry about that!) He could give her a jab or oral drops of an anti-parasitic medication called Ivermectin. All my pigs have it as a matter of routine. She’s a very sweet piggy, lucky you x