Apples
Junior Guinea Pig
Hello,
There I am again looking for some thoughts and advice. I've been away from the forum for a bit, enjoying a spell of calm and trying to enjoy my time with the piggies after all their medical misfortune. My sows Anna and Bonkie are getting a bit older (both 5 years old now) and I don't see either of them happy as a pair with husboar Rocket if one of them passes. So, I decided that as everyone is currently in good health and shape, now is the time to add two sows to the herd but anxiety is kicking in
I sometimes volunteer at the rescue, so I know that they have a lot of sows available, but many from inbreeding situations. As much as I hope they all find a good home, I wanted to try to reduce the chances of rare medical issues for once. I did some research into breeders, and found one that left a good impression. I first visited her just to look around and see how she kept the pigs first. She didn't expect any pups until next year again, but she did have a few sows that had had one or two litters and were ready to "retire". And so I went back a few days later to buy Pumpkin and Yet.
I put them in a temporary cage in my bedroom. When I came home and put Yet into the cage, she laid down flat panting at first, but soon recovered and explored the cage shortly before retreating in a hidey. Early next morning I woke up to a hooting sound coming from Yet. It quickly went away again, so I assumed it was an incident. That evening however it returned with a bit of "gurgling"/rattling sounds, but I didn't hear this again during the night.
The next day (Monday afternoon) I took both Yet and Pumpkin to the vet to get them checked. The vet listened to Yets heart and lungs thoroughly, but couldn't find anything wrong. No runny eyes or nose either and no heavy breathing anymore so the most likely cause is the change in environment from pretty much outside, to a well insulated indoor environment. Basically I bought two healthy, well-fed piggies with lice (got the pipettes to treat them for lice from the vet).
On Monday and Tuesday, there were no more hooting sounds, but early this morning I was woken up by hooting again. She was sitting in the hay pile just now when I went into the bedroom to grab something, no more hooting. I've got a pet cam on their cage, so I can see that they are both eating enough and getting more comfortable in their new surroundings.
Does anyone have any experience with moving piggies from outdoor to indoors who struggled with the change in environment? How long did it take them to adjust, should I be worried already? (too late, I already am worried
) How long does it generally take to develop from hooting to a clear URI if it does turn out to be that?
To reduce my anxiety I could move them to a different room in my apartment not being my bedroom, but that means that all piggies are technically in the same room (it's a U-shaped room, they would be in opposite ends of the U, so further apart from each other than they are right now, but no doors in between). Would that matter if it is something contagious?
There I am again looking for some thoughts and advice. I've been away from the forum for a bit, enjoying a spell of calm and trying to enjoy my time with the piggies after all their medical misfortune. My sows Anna and Bonkie are getting a bit older (both 5 years old now) and I don't see either of them happy as a pair with husboar Rocket if one of them passes. So, I decided that as everyone is currently in good health and shape, now is the time to add two sows to the herd but anxiety is kicking in
I sometimes volunteer at the rescue, so I know that they have a lot of sows available, but many from inbreeding situations. As much as I hope they all find a good home, I wanted to try to reduce the chances of rare medical issues for once. I did some research into breeders, and found one that left a good impression. I first visited her just to look around and see how she kept the pigs first. She didn't expect any pups until next year again, but she did have a few sows that had had one or two litters and were ready to "retire". And so I went back a few days later to buy Pumpkin and Yet.
I put them in a temporary cage in my bedroom. When I came home and put Yet into the cage, she laid down flat panting at first, but soon recovered and explored the cage shortly before retreating in a hidey. Early next morning I woke up to a hooting sound coming from Yet. It quickly went away again, so I assumed it was an incident. That evening however it returned with a bit of "gurgling"/rattling sounds, but I didn't hear this again during the night.
The next day (Monday afternoon) I took both Yet and Pumpkin to the vet to get them checked. The vet listened to Yets heart and lungs thoroughly, but couldn't find anything wrong. No runny eyes or nose either and no heavy breathing anymore so the most likely cause is the change in environment from pretty much outside, to a well insulated indoor environment. Basically I bought two healthy, well-fed piggies with lice (got the pipettes to treat them for lice from the vet).
On Monday and Tuesday, there were no more hooting sounds, but early this morning I was woken up by hooting again. She was sitting in the hay pile just now when I went into the bedroom to grab something, no more hooting. I've got a pet cam on their cage, so I can see that they are both eating enough and getting more comfortable in their new surroundings.
Does anyone have any experience with moving piggies from outdoor to indoors who struggled with the change in environment? How long did it take them to adjust, should I be worried already? (too late, I already am worried
) How long does it generally take to develop from hooting to a clear URI if it does turn out to be that?To reduce my anxiety I could move them to a different room in my apartment not being my bedroom, but that means that all piggies are technically in the same room (it's a U-shaped room, they would be in opposite ends of the U, so further apart from each other than they are right now, but no doors in between). Would that matter if it is something contagious?
