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I dont know.

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just to know

Hey guys,

I could be wasting your time but my brother who has had a new guinea pig for about 3 months is acting strange.

HE squeals really loud randomly and sometimes when you bring him out if you stroke him he gets annoyed and bites you. I know that new guinea pigs can be shy but other days hes fine. And another thing he did today was he was getting all flustered and kept on tossing his head and kind of sticking out his legs, sort of like hes ****** off :P. And I just dont think its normal for my previous pigs. Another thing i noticed today when he was on my lap was he had a cut on his front left leg high up. I dont see how it could of happened. I didn't have a chance to look at it because he was very flustered and i just wanted to let him rest, I will look again and update.

please help me :) I'm concerned :(,
Liam.
 
Is the guinea pig all on his own?

Does he squeal loudly when there's nobody/nothing near him or just when he's handled? Does he have any bare patches or falling out hair? Does he seem irritated when you touch him?

I understand your concern, perhaps a bit more detail will help some of the helpful experienced people here to work out why the piggy may be behaving like this.
 
Sarah from Chucklebunnies said:
Is the guinea pig all on his own?

Does he squeal loudly when there's nobody/nothing near him or just when he's handled? Does he have any bare patches or falling out hair? Does he seem irritated when you touch him?

I understand your concern, perhaps a bit more detail will help some of the helpful experienced people here to work out why the piggy may be behaving like this.
Click to expand...

hes on his own.
randomly high pitched squeal like high for a guinea pig :P
nothing unusual normal weight eats well. and sometimes he gets irritated when you touch him other times he enjoys it.
 
Hi Liam, welcome to the forum.

What you're describing can be attributed to a number of things. From what you have said, I would be inclined to suspect that it's both a behavioural and a skin problem. What I would recommend to help overcome the problems is:

1. Encouraging him to settle in - some tips on this can be found here: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=36239

2. Getting him a friend - This will encourage him to settle in and increase his confidence. Please be sure that his cage is large enough for 2 piggies, and find a reputable rescue that can help you to pair up your youngster with another boar.

3. Having him treated for mites - This will require a trip to the vets, partly for a diagnosis and partly as you are very new to guinea pigs and so home treatment is not recommended. Treatment the vet should advise is 2-3 injections/topical spot on treatments/oral doses of ivermectin, and 48 hours or more after the final dose the pig will need to be carefully but thoroughly bathed to clear away any dead parasites; this will help to prevent further skin irritation.

The dislike of being handled, the small cut and the high pitched squeals says to me that mites are a very real possibility. Mites lead to skin sensitivity and pain and excessive scratching. It's worth seeing if he makes the high pitched squeal when he's scratching himself.

He is also likely to be feeling somewhat insecure with being quite young and living alone, so please do consider the first two steps I recommended. :)
 
Laura-CCC4 said:
Hi Liam, welcome to the forum.

What you're describing can be attributed to a number of things. From what you have said, I would be inclined to suspect that it's both a behavioural and a skin problem. What I would recommend to help overcome the problems is:

1. Encouraging him to settle in - some tips on this can be found here: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=36239

2. Getting him a friend - This will encourage him to settle in and increase his confidence. Please be sure that his cage is large enough for 2 piggies, and find a reputable rescue that can help you to pair up your youngster with another boar.

3. Having him treated for mites - This will require a trip to the vets, partly for a diagnosis and partly as you are very new to guinea pigs and so home treatment is not recommended. Treatment the vet should advise is 2-3 injections/topical spot on treatments/oral doses of ivermectin, and 48 hours or more after the final dose the pig will need to be carefully but thoroughly bathed to clear away any dead parasites; this will help to prevent further skin irritation.

The dislike of being handled, the small cut and the high pitched squeals says to me that mites are a very real possibility. Mites lead to skin sensitivity and pain and excessive scratching. It's worth seeing if he makes the high pitched squeal when he's scratching himself.

He is also likely to be feeling somewhat insecure with being quite young and living alone, so please do consider the first two steps I recommended. :)
Click to expand...

hey thanks for that its just my dog died recently and now any sign of sickness or well anything makes me probably more worried then i should be :)
i had a guinea pig before this one. his name wa Pikachu and he lived to be 8. He also moved with me from england to Ireland :)
 
I agree with Laura.

It looks to me that your brother's guinea pig seems a bit lonely and is craving attention. Finding him a young companion might be a solution. Guinea pigs are very social animals.

It is often a sign of mites that a guinea pig suddenly doesn't like being handled; a scratch mark could also indicate that. But I would have any such diagnosis confirmed by a vet. We can only give tips on your information. A vet sees the animal himself and can ask the appropriate questions.
 
It sounds like it could be mites to me.... I had to treat all mine for mites recently - a couple had bad symptoms, a couple were completely fine, and a couple looked uncomfortable and irratated. They didn't want to be touched (usually they love being fussed) and they were back to normal after mite treatment.
 
Hey had a much better look at him he has a sore on his leg. I believe it could be the beginnings of a fungal infection. Vet appointment tomorrow at half 10. Hope everything goes well.
 
Oh and is it very sore if they have a fungal infection because if hes scratching it he cries out.

I don't know how bad it is but i think its been bleeding. It must be some sort of skin problem because this isnt a cut he could of gotten any other way.

Guess ill find out tomorrow. Thank you all :)
 
Went to vet and he is being treated for mites :). Just a cream to kill them that goes onto his skin and something into his mouth to kill any infection that might b there :). thanks for all the help/advice
 
Good to hear he's getting some treatment. Do you know what the cream and the oral medicine are called and how long he has to be on them for?
 
actually need more help; The oral medicine is called Baytril oral suspension which we give him o.18 mls twice daily. The problem is getting him to take it. I just need suggestions. He knows what it is and wont go near it. He is too hard to force feed plus i dont want to do that and he wont eat it in food.
 
When I'm administering medicine orally, I wrap the piggie securely in a towel . That way they usually cant wriggle free. If the piggies tries to struggle just wait a few moments. Usually the piggie (in my own experience) then just submits and takes the medicine...Hopefully others will give more advice..
 
I appreciate the difficulty you are having. When I first had to adminster Baytril to a piggie, it took three people to do the job! (Luckily I'm now past that stage, which is just as well. :) )

Have a read of this, see if it helps:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=36533

It's just about holding him right, so he can't get away, then popping the syringe behind his front teeth and aiming for the fleshy cheeks.
 
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