Pellet stuck on teeth

[Willow1825]

Emil has continued to cause trouble. This time he managed to get a pellet stuck on his bottom teeth. It looked very scary as he was violently shaking his head around, he looked like he was choking on something. Once we realized what the problem was, we had to pick him up and dislodge the pellet while he was biting at everything. Of course after the pellet was out he calmed down immediately and started eating the remainders of the pellet still in his mouth . I was just wondering if this has ever happened to anyone else. This is the kind of pellet they have.


I wasn't quite sure where to post this thread.

 

[T-Rex]

Oh gosh Emil! That must have been frightening for all involved but did make me smile that after it was off he just continued to eat the bit in his mouth, classic piggy!

I have seen posts about this happening before over the years to be honest. Can’t recall if on here or social media groups but it’s not the first time I'm reading this.

Glad he’s ok and hopefully it was just a fluke. Science selective do a different pellet type now that’s Timothy hay based and doesn’t have the hole in, if you’d feel more comfortable in changing.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m so glad he is ok now.

Yes there have been a few posts over the years about these particular pellets and incidents the same as Emil’s. Although there will be many who do feed it and have not had problems.
As Lavinia has said SS make their grain free version which doesn’t have the hole so there is less risk of becoming stuck. (There are also some health benefits of switching away from this version of science selective (its three main ingredients aren’t really recommended - alfalfa being the biggest issue in that it is too high in calcium for piggies. It’s best to look for a pellet which doesn’t contain alfalfa as it can contribute to bladder problems, but also the next grain ingredients arent needed in a piggy diet).

 

[David Piggie Lover]

I posted 3 years ago or so exactly the same with my piggie, it freaked him and me out, luckly we quickly removed it and changed to pellets that are rounded and he was fine,
They were same pellets, was over in a flash but I was with him and it was not nice,
I'm pls Emily is ok,
I broke up rest of them until we got some without , ,

 

[Little Ones]

Our younger piggy got these caught on his teeth once, luckily I was sat right there when it happened but it did panic me! We didn’t realise at the time either that they’re quite bad pellets to give, they’re alfalfa based. We only fed them about one month, and ended up with bladder sludge left, right and centre in our piggies. A piggy who’d never had bladder problems in his entire 6 years of life developed a bladder issue. We still had almost a full bag left, but I just binned it as it wasn’t worth the risk - and the vet fees.

 

[Deleted member 139433]

I have heard of this happening before. Unfortunately I just think it's bad luck sometimes (a bit like hay poke)! I feed the grain free version of those, but literally just 2 or 3 per guinea pig per day, and they have to go foraging for them - though trying to scatter/hide them without them following me around is amusing

Like with all of our animals, you can only do so much. Sometimes they will always find a way to get themselves in a sticky situation no matter what you do. Our horses and dogs are the same!

 

[Two_Wheeks]

I, too, experienced this with my rainbow piggie Higgins - with those same pellets, and with a piece of corn from one of those dried corn on the cobs (before I knew better). I stopped feeding the pellets (gave them to a rescue) and switched to ones with no hole!

You're definitely not alone!