Help Tear shaped poos!

[ChloesPiggies]

I have two Guinea pigs about 8 or 9 months old. Their names are mocha and cookie. Cookie has recently started having tear shaped poops. They are not dry though. Neither of my guinea pigs have been as active or friendly lately. They don’t like being held all the sudden and they won’t let me pick them up. My other guinea pig mocha has been kinda bullying my guinea pig cookie. There has been no injuries or blood. They are past the teenage stage as far as I know. They where put on a new hay about a month ago. They seem to like it. Their poops were normal till about 2 days ago. Cookie is the one with the bad poops. I don’t know if a dirty cage could have caused. (It’s usually pretty clean) I recently started feeding them veggies differently. Normally everyday I feed them spring mix with Roma tomatoes, green bell pepper and cucumber, and Romain lettuce at night. Lately I’ve only been giving them spring mix with some bell pepper for vitamin C. Would this have triggered cookies tear shaped poops? Is he dehydrated? Is he not getting enough fiber? I don’t know what to do and any tips would be helpful.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

This might indicate a mild digestive upset. Remove all vegetables from the diet and feed only hay and the normal one tablespoon of pellets per pig per day. This will give the digestive system time to settle. Once poops normalise, keep them off veg for a further 24 hours and then you can slowly start to add veg back in - starting with herbs is often best as they tend to be milder. If poops don’t normalise after a couple of days, then please see a vet.
Also switch from the lifelong weekly weight checks and instead weigh him daily so you can more closely monitor his hay intake. 80% of the daily food intake needs to be hay but you cannot judge they are eating enough by eye.
When you do reintroduce veg into the diet again, ensure it is kept to 50g per day.

Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

Your piggies are not past their teens - in fact they are right in the middle of it. They will be teenagers until 14 months of age. If your piggies are simply displaying normal dominance behaviours then there is nothing for you to worry about - chasing, mounting, rumbling are normal and are not bullying. If a piggy is truly being bullied then you are likely to see them (the submissive piggy) become withdrawn, the chasing of the submissive piggy by the dominant may become constant, and the submissive may start to lose weight through not being allowed to eat.

Please don’t feed tomatoes daily, they are far too acidic and can cause health problems (cheilitis which is a bacterial infection in the lips). Tomatoes should be a very occasional treat.

Its normal for piggies to not want to be held or picked up. They may simply be feeling comfortable and safe enough now to tell you they don’t like it, however, any change in behaviour does warrant a vet check.

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Bonds In Trouble

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

 

[Wiebke]

I have two Guinea pigs about 8 or 9 months old. Their names are mocha and cookie. Cookie has recently started having tear shaped poops. They are not dry though. Neither of my guinea pigs have been as active or friendly lately. They don’t like being held all the sudden and they won’t let me pick them up. My other guinea pig mocha has been kinda bullying my guinea pig cookie. There has been no injuries or blood. They are past the teenage stage as far as I know. They where put on a new hay about a month ago. They seem to like it. Their poops were normal till about 2 days ago. Cookie is the one with the bad poops. I don’t know if a dirty cage could have caused. (It’s usually pretty clean) I recently started feeding them veggies differently. Normally everyday I feed them spring mix with Roma tomatoes, green bell pepper and cucumber, and Romain lettuce at night. Lately I’ve only been giving them spring mix with some bell pepper for vitamin C. Would this have triggered cookies tear shaped poops? Is he dehydrated? Is he not getting enough fiber? I don’t know what to do and any tips would be helpful.

Hi!

Please switch from the life-long once weekly health monitoring weigh-in to weighing daily at the same time in order to monitor the daily food intake. Around 80% of it should be hay, which you cannot control by eye (and not veg, like most people mistakenly think). This will give you a clearer idea.
Weight - Monitoring and Management

New veg could cause a minor tummy upset if it is not carefully introduced and hits the unprepared gut microbiome, which is responsible for the digestive process. Please take your piggies off any fresh for 24-48 hours to see whether the poos firm up and normalise again during that time. If not and if the problem persists over the coming days and weeks, then you may want to have your piggy vet checked.
Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

PS: We do not recommend to feed tomatoes on a daily basis. They are a fruit and have a high acid content, which can contribute to cheilitis (lip infection). We recommend to keep the veg diet and small amount of pellets closer to the wild forage guinea pigs have evolved to supplement their grass/hay diet with for all those trace elements and vitamins that are not in grass (which is high in vitamin C when green and growing and the reason why guinea pigs never had the need to make their own in the first place). Fresh herbs and leafy greens make a healthier source of those than any fruit, which guinea pigs would have come across only fairly rarely.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

 

[ChloesPiggies]

Welcome to the forum

This might indicate a mild digestive upset. Remove all vegetables from the diet and feed only hay and the normal one tablespoon of pellets per pig per day. This will give the digestive system time to settle. Once poops normalise, keep them off veg for a further 24 hours and then you can slowly start to add veg back in - starting with herbs is often best as they tend to be milder. If poops don’t normalise after a couple of days, then please see a vet.
Also switch from the lifelong weekly weight checks and instead weigh him daily so you can more closely monitor his hay intake. 80% of the daily food intake needs to be hay but you cannot judge they are eating enough by eye.
When you do reintroduce veg into the diet again, ensure it is kept to 50g per day.

Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

Your piggies are not past their teens - in fact they are right in the middle of it. They will be teenagers until 14 months of age. If your piggies are simply displaying normal dominance behaviours then there is nothing for you to worry about - chasing, mounting, rumbling are normal and are not bullying. If a piggy is truly being bullied then you are likely to see them (the submissive piggy) become withdrawn, the chasing of the submissive piggy by the dominant may become constant, and the submissive may start to lose weight through not being allowed to eat.

Please don’t feed tomatoes daily, they are far too acidic and can cause health problems (cheilitis which is a bacterial infection in the lips). Tomatoes should be a very occasional treat.

Its normal for piggies to not want to be held or picked up. They may simply be feeling comfortable and safe enough now to tell you they don’t like it, however, any change in behaviour does warrant a vet check.

A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Bonds In Trouble

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

I tired this for a day and I’m happy to say he is all good! His poops are normal. But something else is wrong. We recently had to move houses with them and the first day we got there they were happy and running around and wheeking being their normal happy self. But then the second and third day neither of them come out of their hides. They do eat and drink tho and thet are eating Veggies. They just are more anxious and get scared super easily. They don’t like being picked up or held as much. The store was out of bell pepper so they haven’t had any vitamin c for a few days. Could this have made them tired or sad or something? I have some now though.

 

[Piggies&buns]

It’ll take them some time to settle into a new environment. See how they go.

No, the bell pepper won’t have made any difference. They will have still been getting vitamin c from other items in their diet - it’s in hay and pellets are fortified with it etc. it’s fine to not give them certain veggies for a few days in any event.

 

[Wiebke]

I tired this for a day and I’m happy to say he is all good! His poops are normal. But something else is wrong. We recently had to move houses with them and the first day we got there they were happy and running around and wheeking being their normal happy self. But then the second and third day neither of them come out of their hides. They do eat and drink tho and thet are eating Veggies. They just are more anxious and get scared super easily. They don’t like being picked up or held as much. The store was out of bell pepper so they haven’t had any vitamin c for a few days. Could this have made them tired or sad or something? I have some now though.

Hi!

Vitamin C is in fresh herbs (a healthier alternative to fruit), kale and greens; fresh growing grass (which is actually rich in vitamin C and the reason why guinea pigs never had the need to make their own in the first place), dandelions (all parts can be fed) plus other wild forage (just make sure that it is dog pee-free). It is also in recovery fomula powder and most probiotic brands.

Please be aware that what piggies eat in a day is 80% hay and fresh grass, 15% fresh ideally green veg and herbs and 5% pellets (1 tablespoon per piggy per day). Hay and grass is what their dental growth rate and their digestive system are laid out for. Veg and pellets basically fill the supplementary role that wild forage used to have to add any trace elements not present in grass fibre.

If you are out of peppers for a few days it is not the end of the world; piggies don't develop scurvy that quickly; if necessary, just feed more fresh herb or (if you have access) some fresh grass or double the portion of pellets during that time.

You may find our diet guide helpful: Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

If your piggies are skittish, place a sheet over the cage to make them feel secure and use our piggy whispering tips to reassure them that they are still a loved part of your herd. Ideally, you use already scent-marked bedding or some bedding from their carrier to wipe down their cage to declare it as their (safe) territory. All the new scents and sounds will take some days to get used to.
Here are our particular practical tips:
How Do I Settle Shy New Guinea Pigs?
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips