Guinea pig acting strange suddenly

[ahilton5507]

Hi I am new to this forum and fairly to new Guinea pigs. My daughter has a very wonderful relationship with her guinea pig Miss Hamey. She is super nice and tolerant.
For 3 days now she has been acting very unlike herself. I gave her a nail trim ( unsure if this is related) and that night when I got from work at midnight she was more hyper than I'd ever seen her. Running all around her cage and jumping off of the ramp to her feeding platform. For the past 2 days I've notice these things that concern me.
1. She refuses to come down from her feeding platform and is not eating as much as usual. She is drinking but for the first time she is pushing the tube too far down her throat and gaging. She seems to be fluffing up her fur more and I don't Think she is getting as much sleep.
2. She had 1 very soft poop 2 days ago but since has been normal.
3. Today, day 3 of abnormal behavior, she was still on her platform standing in her urine. This is very unusual as she has ever only used 1 specific location for her waste.

Any information you might have on behavioral changes like this would be very helpful thank you so much.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi I am new to this forum and fairly to new Guinea pigs. My daughter has a very wonderful relationship with her guinea pig Miss Hamey. She is super nice and tolerant.
For 3 days now she has been acting very unlike herself. I gave her a nail trim ( unsure if this is related) and that night when I got from work at midnight she was more hyper than I'd ever seen her. Running all around her cage and jumping off of the ramp to her feeding platform. For the past 2 days I've notice these things that concern me.
1. She refuses to come down from her feeding platform and is not eating as much as usual. She is drinking but for the first time she is pushing the tube too far down her throat and gaging. She seems to be fluffing up her fur more and I don't Think she is getting as much sleep.
2. She had 1 very soft poop 2 days ago but since has been normal.
3. Today, day 3 of abnormal behavior, she was still on her platform standing in her urine. This is very unusual as she has ever only used 1 specific location for her waste.

Any information you might have on behavioral changes like this would be very helpful thank you so much.

Hi and welcome!

I would recommend to switch from weighing your girl once weekly to weighing daily at the same time in roder to monitor the food intake; the food output always runs 1-2 days behind.

I may also be a good idea to have her vet checked, especially if she losing weight. A fluffed coat can indicate pain or discomfort somewhere in the body.
It could be that she has got a hormone spike from an active ovarian cyst, but as she lacks company of her own kind, she cannot react it off otherwise, like by mounting and chasing her companions.

Please clean the platform once or twice daily and if necessary, cover it with a fleece on top of a puppy pad. The fleece needs to be washed with softener-free detergent to allow it to wick any fluid through into the absorbent layer below.

 

[Hetja]

The thing with fluffing up the fur is an alarm sign to me. She presumably feels cold, so something with her must be quite wrong. I would see a vet to check her.

 

[Tiamolly123]

I l'll go against everyone & say shes playing. All of mine at some point have shoved the water bottle, tube down there fault. It's no harm getting her checked out by a vet though.
How old is she & does she have a friend?

 

[ahilton5507]

Thank you for all the information it's nice to be learning about this. I'm a stay at home dad of 4 so I'm probably over analyzing the situation as usual.. lol.

 

[ahilton5507]

I l'll go against everyone & say shes playing. All of mine at some point have shoved the water bottle, tube down there fault. It's no harm getting her checked out by a vet though.
How old is she & does she have a friend?

My best guess on her age is 1 to 1.5 years. She is alone though.

 

[ahilton5507]

My best guess on her age is 1 to 1.5 years. She is alone though.

Honestly she doesn't look or is acting like she's sick it is just the first time I've seen her act differently.

 

[LittleGems]

Hey!
Is there a reason she is alone? Sometimes piggys can act strangely if they are depressed. I would go and get a vet check though x

 

[ahilton5507]

Hey!
Is there a reason she is alone? Sometimes piggys can act strangely if they are depressed. I would go and get a vet check though x

Hi! No there's really no reason she is alone. I didn't know until now that they were better with friends. We've had her alone now for about 7 months do you think she would readapt to having a friend?

 

[Gem789]

Hi! No there's really no reason she is alone. I didn't know until now that they were better with friends. We've had her alone now for about 7 months do you think she would readapt to having a friend?

Yes definitely, guinea pigs can be bonded at any age and really need guinea pig company.I would definitely recommend a vet check 1st though as it sounds like she could be in pain x

 

[Freela]

Honestly, I would wonder if something has spooked her if she is reluctant to go to areas of her living space where she was previously comfortable. It can be hard to tell what scared them. They will gradually get over it, but guinea pigs have a surprisingly long memory to perceived threats and it may take a week or so.