New Guinea Pigs Health - Help

[s.buck]

Hi, we bought 2 male Guinea pigs today ~ one is 10 weeks old and the other is 8 weeks old, unfortunately we are not clear on the breed and are waiting to hear back on this. We are quite worried about the younger of the two. When he walks, he seems to hop with his back legs simultaneously rather than moving independently and his left back leg seems to stick out to the side slightly. We've tried our best to examine him gently and when touching his leg/hip theres no real squeals and he doesn't try to run away, indicating that maybe he's in no real pain. The other one walks normally but does seem to have a few scratches on him so I'm wondering if they've been treated badly/dropped etc. I would just like to know why one of them cant seem to walk properly. We've got a nice big cage for them and lots of Vitamin C rich food so our initial thought was to leave it a few days and if it still looks bad take him to the vets for a check up. They are both quite nervous about being handled still but once sitting on your lap, both with sit happily. Really appreciate any advice on the matter.

 

[PigglePuggle]

Think you should get him to the vet ASAP. We have just adopted a new piggy with a limp and she and her sister are off to the vets on thursday- but our piggy is older and overweight and hasnt been exercised much before. A limping youngster without any extra weight should definitely go see the vet. Its good to register new piggies with a vet anyway for a health check

 

[Julie M]

Congratulations on the new additions.

It’s concerning the one hopping like a bunny. There could be any number of reasons for this, poor diet, bone problems, being dropped etc. Was it a pet shop or a breeder you got them from? As they could probably do with a vet checkup.

 

[Lady Kelly]

Personally, I think if you have noticed that things are not quite right and the breeder seems unclear on what breed they even are, I would be taking them along to the vets for a general health check anyway.

 

[s.buck]

Thanks for the replies. It was a breeder we got them from (from what we saw they weren't treated great), I didn't ask about breed at the time but have read that certain breeds have bone issues - the one thats hopping is mostly dark brown with a couple of white patches and quite a smooth short coat if that helps? Other than still being slightly timid they both seem quite happy - I just hope its nothing serious and can be sorted asap.