Guinea pig drinking a bottle of water a day..

[Jenilouhoo]

My 1+ year old adopted piggie is drinking a lot of water lately. I noticed it a few weeks ago I guess and it's been so crazy, I haven't been able to give it that much attention. I'm a sped teacher, so I've been crazy working from home trying to figure out how to serve my students virtually. Anyway, I'm noticing that he's drinking a whole bottle or more in a day. At first I thought his bottle must be defective and leaking so I ordered a couple new ones from Amazon, but those were quickly empty too. I knew then that his drinking habits were actually changing.
My other pig isn't drinking any more (he's in a separate cage) and I don't notice any weight drop. I lost an older dog some years ago to undiagnosed diabetes and it was heartbreaking. I'm home with all my animals and I'll take him to the vet if I need to, but obviously like a lot of us, times are scary and cash is tight. From what I've read, if it's diabetes type 2, could I not cut out the sugary treats and romaine lettuce and just stick to hay to try and reduce his blood sugar and drop his insulin?
My significant other tends to over feed them I think and I have a glucose meter that I also ordered from Amazon (for my spouse bc he also eats too much sugar and I want to check his blood sugar as I think his ass is probably diabetic too!) but I'm not sure how to test a little piggie. I don't want to be a cheap skate, but I also don't really want to leave the house and am trying to save money.
He seems healthy, but definitely acts thirsty.

 

[DMS260820]

I wouldn't cut veg altogether, but if you feed any carrot, or other root veg, I would stop that as a starting point incase of diabetes.

Is that guinea pig eating alot of nuggets? Because I do notice guinea pigs will drink alot if fed alot of nuggets. It s because they get dry mouth from, either that or they are trying to wash the crud down from around the back teeth.

Another possibility is that guinea pig is playing with the water bottle as a toy, an not always actually drinking from it, it is heard of.

Any weight loss atall? Might be good idea to weigh daily and see if there is any loss

 

[DMS260820]

These are just ideas, a vet will be your best bet if possible in these times lately. to get a diagnosis

Edit.. I do apologise, some things I mentioned, you already said you checked

 

[Siikibam]

I would take him to the vet. That much water isn’t at all normal. Please don’t test the piggy, you don’t know what is normal or not. We don’t recommend home treatment of any kind on here.

Fingers crossed you can get him seen soon.