I think my guinea pig ate ribbon!

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jordanderson1986

Hello. I'm new to this thing, so any help is needed as I joined because I am freaking out! I just got a new guinea pig and I fear she ate a piece of ribbon a couple hours ago. I'm not sure though because I'm not sure why she would eat it because she has left all other fabrics and paper in her cage alone. is there anything I can do? I'm afraid her GI tract is going to get blocked
 
There is nothing you can do that would be of any worthwhile benefit. Pigs do tend to nibble at whatever takes their fancy. They do NOT instinctively know what they should not eat, including telephone cables!
Watch, wait and see what happens. How much did she eat and what type of material was it? Are you sure she did eat it?
 
Argh what a nightmare. Guineas do eat anything..I remember one pig who used to chew my hair. Watch her poops very carefully, remove them as they are passed and ensure she doesn't go a long time without pooping.
 
If you're at all worried, I'd suggest getting 0.5ml liquid paraffin in her. I personally would use 1ml, but opinions differ on how "safe" that is (never had a problem myself at that level).

Follow this up a few hours later with probiotic such as Avipro or Bio Lapis to help repopulate any gut bacteria that might have been scoured out by the laxative.

The great thing with liquid paraffin is not only does it help soften anything in teh digestive tract to aid passing it, but it also helps break down various plastics, so if the ribbon was synthetic fibre (almost certain) then the liquid paraffin not only aids moving it, but helps throug reducing the size of the peice that would have to be passed.

Edit - Also agree with above on monitoring what comes out. It's roughly 6 hours between food in and poo out in a healthy piggie, so you want to be seeing healthy poo at least every 6 hours. Also need to be seeing things going in the front! If she doesn't pass a vast amount and starts to show signs of gas, then Infacol (again, I give 1ml, but others will say around half that) will help a little with that, but a trip to the vet will be vital if her guts slow down and gas starts to build up.
 
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