Lethal Whites or just blind PEWs?

[MorskoPrase]

Hello. I recently adopted two young guinea pig boars who needed a home from someone who had an accidental litter. They both are white with red eyes. Their father was a white guinea pig with red eyes and I think the mother was as well. When I took them home, after some interaction and observation, I notice they both seem very blind. When they really want a piece of food, I move it in a certain direction and they kind of sniff all around like they can't find it. They run into the walls of their cage and run over the water dish. They act pretty differently from my other two boars. When I looked up blindness in guinea pigs, I came across information about lethal whites. I never knew this existed in guinea pigs. I know eyeless whites are a thing in hamsters, but after finding out about this, I became worried.

Now, I know white guinea pigs with red eyes aren't necessarily lethal whites and PEWs exist and are perfectly healthy and normal. My new boys don't have squinty eyes, I think they can hear because their ears twitch when certain noises happen and they both seem to have all 4 front teeth and they aren't crooked or misshapen. But since they both seem blind, does this indicate them being a lethal white? Or are they just the product of bad genetics which unfortunately caused them both to be blind? I'm just scared one day, their teeth are gonna go crazy and fall out and I find out they have some internal problems. I hope it isn't the case because I love them so much already. Here is a pic of them in their temporary enclosure.

 

[Marlee and Fluffy]

Hello, I’m not an expert, but I do know that guinea pigs cannot see very far, they depend on their sense of smell. Hope this helps you.

 

[Sweet Potato]

I don't know much about this but they're very cute a d I can see why you love them so much. Hopefully @furryfriends (TEAS) will be able to help, I know she has a lot of experience when it comes to special needs piggies.

 

[Julie M]

They dont look blind to me. Usually if they are blind their eyes have a white kind of sheen over them.

 

[Swissgreys]

They look like perfectly healthy PEW to me, but i am far from an expert.

Young piggies are often very skittish and can give the impression of being a little uncoordinated and crazy due to a combination of nerves and energy. If their cage is partially covered and they have lots of hides and tunnels and minimal open space you may notice that they seem a lot more confident when moving around.

 

[Bill & Ted]

I have a young piggies and she is always running over her water bowl, in fact sometimes she sits in it. Most young piggies are quite skittish and having seen two lethal white girlies at a sanctuary who are blind, your boys eyes look normal. The lethal sows eyes were very small and obviously blind

 

[Freela]

Their eyes look normal to me... lethals often have eyes that are noticeably smaller or otherwise appear abnormal. I obviously can't tell your for sure, but they look like normal PEWs to me. The good news is that, even if they don't see well, guinea pigs generally have poor sight and they would lead a pretty normal life. I've had pigs go blind from cataracts in later years and it affected them surprisingly minimally.