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Please help :(

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GuineaBrat

I have several problems... I took in two guinea pigs from someone who couldn't care for them anymore, this was about 7 months ago. I was told they were both female, and I didn't doubt the previous owner's judgment because I didn't know anything about guinea pigs and never had them before! They've always pretty much got along , I've even seen them cuddle and purr a few times. Anyways, I've just noticed a few things.. one of the pigs is showing very dominant behavior (at least I think so, if they act the same as dogs..) he/she stomps his feet, squeaks at the other one, and even runs up and bites him/her so it doesn't get food! And today the little fight was longer than usual and the other one squealed a lot more than usual and it worried me a lot so I scooped it up and examined for any injury and it looks ok to me except that the hair is ruffled a lot, and looks like there might be some missing from the back, but while I was doing my "examination" something didn't look right back there, I think "she" has testicles. I want to sex the other one too but right now it's angry I think..its chattering its teeth at me and runs when I try to pick it up. I'm not really sure what to do about all this, I took pictures of what I thought was missing hair/ and its rear . Right now I have the poor little guy (I think) in a small box with some hay, I don't have anything else to seperate them with but I feel bad leaving him like that :(..any advice appreciated.
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and just so they aren't all gross..
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depending on how old they are, it could be a teenager thing. in the cage have you 2 of everything? 2 bowls, 2 pigloos, 2 water bottles etc. i would leave them together unless there is an all our fight where blood is drawn or to balls of fluff become one. or if one want let the other eat then would feed them seperately. when it starts to pick on the other one or chattering teeth at you try making a loud noise like clapping your hands, as it sounds like it is trying to be dominant over you too. make sure you have a escape route for the malested piggy. if worried try halving up the cage with a cooling rack and cable tied until you can take your little terrors to the vet and for checkups. especially as you don't know the sex of them. good luck hugs and cuddles from me and the girls in oz :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: girls send :-* :-* :-*
 
I think the best thing to do is go to the vet and get them checked all over, at least that will put your mind to rest.

It sounds like you have a dominant and submissive piggy, the one with the nice bum shot O0 is a boy, and he does seem to have some hair hair, that might be a skin condition, this would come from not being cared for properly, I would wash them also, just make them feel loved. but if you do have two boys, I would suggest seperating them as they clearly don't get on, and just have ONE boar and a sow or two, he will be happy.
 
choloe said:
depending on how old they are, it could be a teenager thing. in the cage have you 2 of everything? 2 bowls, 2 pigloos, 2 water bottles etc. i would leave them together unless there is an all our fight where blood is drawn or to balls of fluff become one. or if one want let the other eat then would feed them seperately. when it starts to pick on the other one or chattering teeth at you try making a loud noise like clapping your hands, as it sounds like it is trying to be dominant over you too. make sure you have a escape route for the malested piggy. if worried try halving up the cage with a cooling rack and cable tied until you can take your little terrors to the vet and for checkups. especially as you don't know the sex of them. good luck hugs and cuddles from me and the girls in oz :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: girls send :-* :-* :-*
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I really haven't a clue how old they are, I know they've at least tripled in size since I got them though ;D
I have 2 food bowls and 1 water bottle. I'll get another one good idea..I've never really seen them fight over the water but who knows what goes on when I sleep. I had two cardboard tunnels but they chewed one all up so there is only one in there, I haven't heard of a Pigloo, is it durable? ;D The cage has 3 levels and one food bowl is on the first level and the other is on the second level but I think he's too scared to leave the corner while the other one is running around being a jerk
 
FiveGuineaGirl said:
I think the best thing to do is go to the vet and get them checked all over, at least that will put your mind to rest.

It sounds like you have a dominant and submissive piggy, the one with the nice bum shot O0 is a boy, and he does seem to have some hair hair, that might be a skin condition, this would come from not being cared for properly, I would wash them also, just make them feel loved. but if you do have two boys, I would suggest seperating them as they clearly don't get on, and just have ONE boar and a sow or two, he will be happy.
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I was running my fingers through his hair and it looks like he has dandruff? And I have been looking for guinea pig shampoo at every pet store :( is it something I have to get online? Also I think the bedding is the problem with that, (I've been reading a bit on this forum), has anyone used Carefresh? The bedding I see mentioned a lot here isn't in the U.S.
 
Well like I suggested you should wash them, in the winter they have more greasy coats like most animals to keep warm, you can buy animal shampoo from most pet stores, usually costs maximum £5

You should keep them on shavings, however if this is a problem you can keep them on Hemcore (thats available from pet/horse supplies) or you could keep them on vetbed, its very good for them!

If you have problems I would suggest getting two of everything, 2 feed bowls, 2 water bottles and most importantly 2 pigloo's (I have two of these) - this prevents un-nesecary fighting - is the cage big enough for 2 boys? - they need lots of room!
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they are roomy, I have Harley (fresh from castration) has to be on his own, you can stuff it with hay, small animal fluff bedding, strips of paper or small animal bedding from most pet stores.

Pets at Home will be the best port of call, they supply ALL of what I have suggested - BAR the Hemcore.

Hope this helps.
 
there are 2 websites promoted on this site that i know off gougeous guineas(sp) and pampered piggies so try these two sites as i have heard they sell everything you need and there is a sue on one of the sites who is a wealth of knowledge on piggies. so check it out. hoping your boys calm down and you get them vet checked, products available in petshops aren't usually as good as what you can buyfrom these two sites. i am only going by what i have read as these sites are in the UK and i am in OZ, but have heard sue is an angel and really helpful. perhaps as said half the cage and let each piggy have a level of the cage at least until vet checked. good luck. :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :-* :-* :-*
 
Well done for seperating them. If one is male, one is female you'll have babies on your hands. In fact if this is the case it's probably too late. The one in the picture is definately male. If the other one is like this then you have two males, and like everyone else has said, they're probably just going through their teenage phase, put a divider up between them and try and re introduce them at a later date.
If the other one looks different (down below ;D) you will probably have babies on your hands. As you haven't had any mini pigs by now I assume both are the same sex.
I think he has quite a bit of fur loss. This doesn't look like mites but could be the beginnings. I'm no expert, and I think, usually mites begin on the back, not round the legs. I would think both guineas are suffering from running lice. Part their fur, and if you're quick you may see tiny, white, worm like things. You can't get rid of these by just shampooing, you need something special. I think www.gorgeousguineas.com deliver to the U.S. you need to get a bottle of Lice And Easy and shampoo both in that. If you're not sure, email Chrissie who runs it, her email is on the website :)
 
I'm in the U.S so I can't really use any of those sites for cages, etc..This is my cage:
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I don't have the wheel or the hammock. It's over 8sq ft of space, but I don't like it..I think its difficult to clean, I'd rather have something where the bottom tray slides out, and the blue floor things are hard to take out. I did find a local vet that has a lot of good reviews, so I will be calling soon to see what they say. :)
 
a microneem melt from Gorgeousguineas would work well on his hair/skin O0 rinsed off with the manuka and neem shampoo.

that piccy is def a boy

if they are fighting and the other pig hasnt popped out any mini piggies after you hav had them for a while souns like they could both be boys, and this fighting sounds llike typical boy dominance. could you post a piccy of the other piggys "bits" so we can say if that is a boy or girl?
 
ok that lovely bum shot is definitely a boy, so you've done the right thing separating them, but i fear it may be too late on the baby front. :-\ how long have they been together? Can we have a bum shot of the other? :P it's just the reason for fighting could be that they are both boys and have kinda hit the teenager stage! O0 yeah could you put a divider in the cage or get another cage and put them next to each other so they can still smell each other and chat etc. O0
yeah e-mail chrissie from gorgeous guineas if you're unsure of what products to use on him (shampoos etc.) O0 her e-mail's [email protected] she's very helpful and knows a lot about skin probs O0 have you noticed them scartching at all? ?
Good luck, keep us posted O0 (((hugs)) :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
sorry this one took a bit, this one does not like being handled. But its hair looks a lot better, not nearly as dry/flaky and no bald spots on the back. The y both scratch/sneeze, but not excessively.
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here's the culprit
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looks like a boy aswell to me O0 so at least the worry of babies is out O0 this will be why they are fighting, they've probably hit the teenage stage! xx0 so if you just keep them apart for a bit and try and re-introduce at a later date O0
what bedding are they on? That sneezing could be from the dust from wood shavings :-\ or it could be the start of a URI :-\
Can you get them to a vet? I think it would be worth having them checked over O0 let us know how you go O0
 
http://cavyspirit.com/sexing.htm

Check out this site. I can't tell from the pics because to me they are upside down...lol Most people turn them onto their backs and snap that way.

Not sure the cage is suitable to be honest, they could fall off those shelves. Have you had a look on cavycages.com you can make your own cage from cubes! :) Guinea like to run up and down in a cage that is high and has shelving they can't do that.

They are lovely pigs, the last one looks like my foster boar Choccy. :smitten:
 
yeah i was thinking the same about the cage just wasn't sure weather to say or not! :embarassed: ;D
yeah i was thinking those shelves are dangerous :-\ have a look at the link, you'll get soem great ideas from that O0
 
their bedding isn't cedar its called Cozy N' Fresh, I believe its pine based. Is that bad? :embarassed: I have been using different types, this time I asked my mom to pick up carefresh for me on her way home and she got the wrong thing. I checked that site for cages and that's exactly the type of thing I'm looking for but they don't have anything like that based in the US that I can find. I don't like the cage I have at all because 1 its hard to clean and they're very messy piggies, 2 the bowl in the hole.. they like to take it out n throw it and I'm always afraid they'll get stuck.. also no room for hay, extra water bottle, etc. :embarassed:
 
Do you have a wallmart by you? I have read that they do the grids that make the cages? :)
 
Oh that site does ship US! :D ... but what's the deal with the topless cages, is that normal? I don't have any other pets so I guess it would be safe, but I've never saw that before. And which size would you recommend assuming my boys will get over their fighting stage ;D

** nevermind the site recomends 2x4 ;)
 
so glad you're going to make your own O0 carefresh is supposed to be ok O0 are you going to see a vet? ?
 
GuineaBrat said:
Oh that site does ship US! :D ... but what's the deal with the topless cages, is that normal? I don't have any other pets so I guess it would be safe, but I've never saw that before. And which size would you recommend assuming my boys will get over their fighting stage ;D

** nevermind the site recomends 2x4 ;)
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many people have the open top cages, they are called C+C cages. you make them out of display grids and plastic or lino for the base :)

heres mine:
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both pigs look like boys O0 which is good even though you have to split them at least theres no minis on the way
 
theyre over a foot, each grid is 14inch square

this cage is 5X2 grids which in foot is about 6ft by 2 and a half foot
 
I'm looking through cages on Guineapigcages.com and they're alternatives to people who maybe can't find all the supplies for the c&c ones but still no luck finding a design that I can fit in here.. The cage the pigs were given to me with was pathetic..I guess one of the reasons I got a cage that was tall and not long was because lack of space in my apartment, plus I was uneducated about their needs, and the pet store I bought the cage at actually recommended a smaller one, but I wanted the biggest they had, and she said it would be more than enough space for both of them. :( Still looking.. I'm going to have to be very creative about this one
 
the pet store shouldn't have told you that >:( yes piggies aren't really climbers as such, they do climb sometimes, mine climb the stairs when i turn my back >:( LOL but they're not like chinchillas etc O0 it would be great if you can give them a cage like S&T's or Lez's O0
 
the good thing with C+C is u can build them any size or shape, for example you could do an L shape one, etc it doesnt have to just be square, if doing a different shape means it fits better in your room, as long as the surface area for the pigs to live in is within the recommended amount it should be fine O0
 
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