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New Piggie

AutumnThePig

AutumnThePig

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
May 10, 2019
Messages
296
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Points
340
Hi everyone!

So, now I have three little pigs! My niece works at an animal shelter and called me to see if I could foster a stray guinea pig that animal control had found. The shelter she works for doesn't take in guinea pigs. He's really friendly, he let's you pet him and I just brushed him a few minutes ago. The only thing is, the guinea pig doesn't have any top teeth and only bottom ones... I'm making a vet appointment for him tomorrow for nail clippings and check up to make sure he's ok. Hopefully the small animal vet can either take him in tomorrow or this weekend.

Since he only has bottom teeth, I have to blend or boil (of course giving it to him after it has cooled) his veggies. Tonight, I blended veggies and put a handful of hay. I'm mostly worried about giving him hay, since it's the most important food he needs to eat. I'm only asking this for now until I see a vet when I can get a better amount of how much to give him. How many times a day and how much should I be blending/boiling hay to give him? I know they need an unlimited amount of hay but I want to make sure I'm giving him enough. He does not need to be syringed fed, he eats right from the bowl. It's easier with my other two guinea pigs because I just refill their hay bin with handfuls throughout the day. I just want to make sure I'm feeding him enough.

Thanks!
 
Please don’t give guinea pigs cooked vegetables. Slice raw veg into thin strips to make it easier for him to pick them up, but don’t boil them.
Fresh Hay is essential, he needs to be able to eat hay. If he cannot pick up and strands of hay, then he absolutely needs to be syringe fed critical care or mushed up pellets to give him the large quantities of fibre that he needs.
@furryfriends (TEAS) has lots of experience with dental piggies
 
Piggies&buns said:
Please don’t give guinea pigs cooked vegetables. Slice raw veg into thin strips to make it easier for him to pick them up, but don’t boil them.
Fresh Hay is essential, he needs to be able to eat hay. If he cannot pick up and strands of hay, then he absolutely needs to be syringe fed critical care or mushed up pellets to give him the large quantities of fibre that he needs.
@furryfriends (TEAS) has lots of experience with dental piggies
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I was advised to boil veggies to make them softer, but I don’t think he can even eat veggies that are sliced into thin strips. He doesn’t need critical care, he just has a hard time eating because he doesn’t have many teeth. I have been mushing up pellets. I just wanted to know how much hay I should be giving to him by hand (I know an unlimited amount) and the best way too.
 
You say he has no top teeth - do you mean no molars or incisors on the top? Is the vet an exotic/dental specialist? If he has no top teeth then his bottom teeth will be at risk of overgrowing. Can he pick up any hay for himself?

@furryfriends (TEAS) is the most experienced person on here when it comes to dental piggies.

his need for fibre is 24/7 constant so you will have to be handfeeding him strands of hay all the time as much as he will eat in a sitting throughout the day and night for as long as he is not able to pick it up for himself. He needs enough hay to maintain his weight/gain weight and that is an unquantifiable amount really. The only way you will know if he is getting enough is to weigh him daily.
 
His incisors are for cutting but also for grabbing the food and securing it and moving it to the pre molars and molars. I would cut the hay up into inch long strands for him. Hand feed them to him at first see how he manages. If his back teeth are fine he should manage well enough. Experiment with what length hay is the best for him, don’t boil it or liquidise it.
Because he hasn’t got upper incisors his bottom incisors will grow up and could get too long and eventually grow into the roof of his mouth so regular filling of his lower incisors may be needed until his upper incisor grow back down and level out the bottom incisors. Fingers crossed they will grow back.
You are far better grating raw veggie than mushing them up for him. let his back teeth do the work or they will overgrow too. He needs to eat as normally as possible to keep his teeth balanced.
Let us all know how you go on x
 
Piggies&buns said:
You say he has no top teeth - do you mean no molars or incisors on the top? Is the vet an exotic/dental specialist? If he has no top teeth then his bottom teeth will be at risk of overgrowing. Can he pick up any hay for himself?

@furryfriends (TEAS) is the most experienced person on here when it comes to dental piggies.

his need for fibre is 24/7 constant so you will have to be handfeeding him strands of hay all the time as much as he will eat in a sitting throughout the day and night for as long as he is not able to pick it up for himself. He needs enough hay to maintain his weight/gain weight and that is an unquantifiable amount really. The only way you will know if he is getting enough is to weigh him daily.
Click to expand...

Hi! I'm actually not sure about what type of teeth he has left, all I know is that he doesn't have many... My vet is an exotic vet, she has taken great care of my two female piggies. :)
 
Bill & Ted said:
His incisors are for cutting but also for grabbing the food and securing it and moving it to the pre molars and molars. I would cut the hay up into inch long strands for him. Hand feed them to him at first see how he manages. If his back teeth are fine he should manage well enough. Experiment with what length hay is the best for him, don’t boil it or liquidise it.
Because he hasn’t got upper incisors his bottom incisors will grow up and could get too long and eventually grow into the roof of his mouth so regular filling of his lower incisors may be needed until his upper incisor grow back down and level out the bottom incisors. Fingers crossed they will grow back.
You are far better grating raw veggie than mushing them up for him. let his back teeth do the work or they will overgrow too. He needs to eat as normally as possible to keep his teeth balanced.
Let us all know how you go on x
Click to expand...

Thank you for the suggestion about experimenting with lengths of hay. I just tried giving him some! I cut a few pieces really small and he was able to chew it! He was so happy to see hay. I'm afraid to try big pieces of hay without consulting a vet first because I'm not exactly sure how many teeth he has left. Until I see a vet today or tomorrow, I think I'm just going to have to give a few strands at a time. I have a peace of mind though that he is able to eat some strands of it.

This should mean I can try giving him grated veggies, right? I'll be sure to give an update about what teeth he has/doesn't have.
 
AutumnThePig said:
Do you think he'd be fine eating regular pellets?
Click to expand...
You might need to soak the pellets in water and mush them up, and if he's not eating enough hay you might need to syringe feed some recovery food or mushed up pellets every few hours to make sure he's getting enough fibre.
Best of luck at the vets and finding out what is going on with his teeth x
 
Hey guys, thanks for the well wishes for the vets. So, since I’m fostering him... I’m legally not allowed to bring him to the vets. Technically, he is owned by the state. Even though I wanted to get him checked out for lice, etc. I was informed by the shelter that he only has bottom teeth and no top. I’m going to have to grate his veggies tonight and hope that he eats them.
 
How does a piggie loose his top teeth? Poor thing.. I find it a bit strange you can't take him to the vets to be checked out :(
 
Siikibam said:
Really?! So when did the shelter last take him to the vet?
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They didn’t 😔 He is currently listed as an animal cruelty case for three days. I’m concerned because what if theirs something medically wrong with him that I don’t know about? I extended my C&C cage up so my two females won’t be in contact with him in case he has lice or anything else contagious. I examined him and he seems to be ok but I don’t have the tools a professional vet would.
 
artcasper said:
How does a piggie loose his top teeth? Poor thing.. I find it a bit strange you can't take him to the vets to be checked out :(
Click to expand...

Animal control found him outside and brought him into the shelter. Nobody knows what could’ve happened to him/his teeth while he was outside. Maybe he couldnt have access to food that would help his teeth.
 
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AutumnThePig said:
Animal control found him outside and brought him into the shelter. Nobody knows what could’ve happened to him/his teeth while he was outside. Maybe he couldnt have access to food that would help his teeth.
Poor little piggy -
Click to expand...
 
I would speak to the shelter and get them to take him to the vet as soon as possible. It’s best to know what you’re working with. And the vet can recommend a way forward and give advise re his teeth. How long was he at the shelter before he came to you?
 
Siikibam said:
I would speak to the shelter and get them to take him to the vet as soon as possible. It’s best to know what you’re working with. And the vet can recommend a way forward and give advise re his teeth. How long was he at the shelter before he came to you?
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Their not allowed to take it to the vet either because he is owned by the state... Yes, those are the reasons why I wanted to bring him to the vet! He was only at the shelter for a few hours before I got a call asking if I could foster him. I was just trying to feed him some Cilantro since it was soft to see if he could eat it... unfortunately he couldn't. I'm going to grate his veggies in an hour or so.

Another reason why I wanted to go is because I'm having a hard time giving him water. I've been having to give it to him with a syringe while I'm teaching him how to use the water bottle. I feel like I'm failing lol.
 
So WHO can take him to the vet? Sorry for the questions, I just don’t understand. He’s owned by the state because they found him by the side of the road? So any animal found abandoned belongs to the state and can’t be taken to to the vet by a rescue or anyone who finds it? So it will just suffer in silence, so to speak? I find that mind boggling!
 
Siikibam said:
So WHO can take him to the vet? Sorry for the questions, I just don’t understand. He’s owned by the state because they found him by the side of the road? So any animal found abandoned belongs to the state and can’t be taken to to the vet by a rescue or anyone who finds it? So it will just suffer in silence, so to speak? I find that mind boggling!
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I'm not sure! They said I can't even clip the pigs nails, and they are so long. So, I'm only supposed to feed and give it water only to watch his health decline...?
 
AutumnThePig said:
I'm not sure! They said I can't even clip the pigs nails, and they are so long. So, I'm only supposed to feed and give it water only to watch his health decline...?
Click to expand...
You’re stronger than me! I couldn’t do that. If I wasn’t allowed I would have to hand the piggy back.
what would happen if you clipped the nailsor took him to the vet and lied he’s yours?
 
I would do it. Though it depends on the consequences. All just very odd! 🥴
 
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