How Long Should I Keep Sick Pigs Separated For?

[MichelleM]

I have 2 piggies about 13 weeks old. I've had them for about three weeks.

A week and a half ago Dibbler started sneezing. I brought him to the vet who put him on antibiotics for ten days. The new cage I had ordered hadn't arrived yet so I had no way to separate them.

Same day Dibbler finished his meds, Ganon starts coughing. He goes to the vet and gets antibiotics for a week. I now have them in separate cages to keep the sane sickness from going back and forth between them.

Ganon is on antibiotics for five more days. Do I need to keep them separate those five days, or can i safely reintroduce them sooner without fear of getting Dibbler sick again?

Thank you!

 

[CarnivalPiggy]

to the forum

What's the illness?

 

[MichelleM]

to the forum

What's the illness?

I brought them in suspecting URIs. Vet said both times their hearts and lungs sounded fine. Dibbler's only symptom was sneezing, Ganon's is coughing and he had this grumbling noise when he breathed. They had no other symptoms like nasal discharge or eye crust. Antibiotics were a better safe than sorry measure. It's Ganon's coughing that had me most worried because it was infrequent, but loud.

Both still eat, drink, and poop like normal.

 

[CarnivalPiggy]

Ah sorry, I don't know much about URIs. I'm pretty sure they're supposed to be kept in different rooms as it's contagious

@Wiebke

 

[Wiebke]

I have 2 piggies about 13 weeks old. I've had them for about three weeks.

A week and a half ago Dibbler started sneezing. I brought him to the vet who put him on antibiotics for ten days. The new cage I had ordered hadn't arrived yet so I had no way to separate them.

Same day Dibbler finished his meds, Ganon starts coughing. He goes to the vet and gets antibiotics for a week. I now have them in separate cages to keep the sane sickness from going back and forth between them.

Ganon is on antibiotics for five more days. Do I need to keep them separate those five days, or can i safely reintroduce them sooner without fear of getting Dibbler sick again?

Thank you!

Hi and welcome! I am sorry that you have such a bad start to your piggy life!

As you have separated, I would recommend to wait at least until the end of the medication.
A full quarantine lasts normally 2-3 weeks after the end of acute symptoms/end of treatment; that covers the period between infection and outbreak to make sure that any problem has fully cleared.
As exposure infection has happened at the shop and has come up within the quarantining period after a sale, you can reclaim any vet cost if you produce the sales bill together with your vet bills. Young shop and breeder guinea pigs whose immune system is still developing when they undergo several major upturns to their short life while they are crammed into close quarters during transport to the shop are prime prey for opportunistic illnesses that healthy older guinea pigs are able to fend off.
Importance Of Quarantine

Please re-introduce them formally on neutral ground that is not part of either boar's territory.
Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics

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New Owners' " How To" Starter Kit

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[MichelleM]

@Wiebke
On the note of reintroducing them, they both had a few hours together in the new big cage (that Dibbler is now occupying) before I separated them, so they each had some time to mark territory, and they napped together right next to each other in that time. I had an idea on reintroducing them, and I'd appreciate your input:

Their playpen is neutral territory for them. Would it be advisable to reintroduce them here, and then give Ganon some time (~1 hour) by himself in the big cage to acclimate and mark, before putting Dibbler back in with him?

 

[Wiebke]

@Wiebke
On the note of reintroducing them, they both had a few hours together in the new big cage (that Dibbler is now occupying) before I separated them, so they each had some time to mark territory, and they napped together right next to each other in that time. I had an idea on reintroducing them, and I'd appreciate your input:

Their playpen is neutral territory for them. Would it be advisable to reintroduce them here, and then give Ganon some time (~1 hour) by himself in the big cage to acclimate and mark, before putting Dibbler back in with him?

You can intros in the bonding pen, but clean out the big cage and start afresh with both together. leave out any hideys that only have got one exit. The link I have given you explains it all in detail through the various bonding stages.

 

[Lorcan]

My advice would be to introduce them on neutral territory, and while that is going on, completely clean out the bigger cage and redo the bedding etc so it would be like a brand new home for both of them,rather than letting the big cage smell of one or the other of them.

Edit: sorry, Wiebke, your reply didn't show up for me before I sent mine!

 

[MichelleM]

Just wanted to post an update!

Happy news! Both piggies are done with their antibiotics and have been reintroduced into their new big cage.

I took your advice, @Wiebke and washed the bedding first. The boys were getting reacquainted in their playpen while the washer was going. There's been some dominance behavior on both ends since reintroduction, which they had been doing before separating them. But it looks like Dibbler might be backing down. Nothing worse than some rumbling and mounting, so I'm not too worried about it escalating into a fight.



(There's a second full bowl two inches away from them. They're a stubborn pair.)

 

[sport_billy]

Fab news! Lovely to see them diving into their food bowl

 

[Wiebke]

Just wanted to post an update!

Happy news! Both piggies are done with their antibiotics and have been reintroduced into their new big cage.

I took your advice, @Wiebke and washed the bedding first. The boys were getting reacquainted in their playpen while the washer was going. There's been some dominance behavior on both ends since reintroduction, which they had been doing before separating them. But it looks like Dibbler might be backing down. Nothing worse than some rumbling and mounting, so I'm not too worried about it escalating into a fight.

View attachment 62535

(There's a second full bowl two inches away from them. They're a stubborn pair.)

Glad that it has gone well. Dominance behaviour is par for the course as your boys re-establish their relationship, but it sounds very much in the amiable and mild range.