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Lizzy776

Lizzy776

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My Bernard has a wide open bottom with a visible big poo there. He's had this before- it started whilst he was being held yet in the past he's had no problem pooping on me! That time he must have eventually got the poo out because his bottom went back to normal soon after.

This morning he was being held by daughter then I noticed it whilst putting him back in the cage. It's now been like that for about 2 hours I think. He is otherwise ok, still eating and walking around the cage looking healthy enough. He has a good, varied diet.

Is this something to worry about?
 
It could be impaction where mounds of poo build up inside your boar's bottom, and sometimes they need assistance to remove it. Or it could just be that his bottom needs a clean.

Here is a video about impaction: (This case seems quite severe)

Do you clean his bottom regularly? Sometimes hair and bits of debris or poo build up inside boars' bottoms because they drag their bottoms along the floor when they scent mark. I use some Q tips dipped in plain mineral oil and use them to swoosh around my boys' bottoms. Don't push them in too far because this can hurt them, but far enough that you bring out any debris along with the Q tip. Repeat as necessary until the Q tips come out clean.

Here is a example video of how to clean a boar's bottom:

 
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I agree with Drezella - this sounds like it may be impaction.

The video clip is very helpful- personally , I would also get someone experienced to show you how to to it - either a cavy savvy vet - or one of your local rescues .
 
Hope you don't mind me butting in onto this thread with a question of my own.
I read somewhere, but I don't recall where, that neutered boars do not tend to suffer from this so much. Is that true? My Freddie is neutered (and only two years old so probably wouldn't have an issue at this age anyhow), but he is my first boar and I am not sure what the signs of impaction are. Is it just generally looking uncomfortable and struggling to poo? I'm sure I'd notice a bad case but when it's just mild and starting out, I don't know the signs :)
Thank you.
 
Bernard is 2 and he is neutered. I can tell because I can see it! We've had him for 6 months and I have to admit I've never cleaned his bottom. At the rescue centre the owner did say to check his bottom and if it looks dirty to clean it but until now I've never thought it looked like it needed cleaning.

Would he be uncomfortable with the impaction. He doesn't seem to be! But obviously we will now do what we can to unblock it- eek.

Thanks for all the advice x
 
I have to clean my boars bottoms once a week because they get a lot of debris inside them. I'd suggest cleaning your boars bits every one to two weeks with Q tips and plain mineral oil. You may not even have to clean it this regularly, every boar is different, but do check them often as things can clog up inside and you can't always see it.

If you haven't cleaned your boar yet then I'd watch the above videos a couple of times. Buy some Q tips and plain mineral oil, then have a go. It is helpful if someone else can hold the guinea pig whilst you clean him, you may even wish to wrap him in a tole to reduce stress, as they can move around a lot if they aren't used to being cleaned. Good luck!
 
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I use this mineral oil

White Mineral Oil 100ml it costs £3.50 on Amazon
 
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Critter said:
Hope you don't mind me butting in onto this thread with a question of my own.
I read somewhere, but I don't recall where, that neutered boars do not tend to suffer from this so much. Is that true? My Freddie is neutered (and only two years old so probably wouldn't have an issue at this age anyhow), but he is my first boar and I am not sure what the signs of impaction are. Is it just generally looking uncomfortable and struggling to poo? I'm sure I'd notice a bad case but when it's just mild and starting out, I don't know the signs :)
Thank you.
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No need to apologise for joining in a thread Critter .

I agree with Drezella that bottoms should be checked regularly . I also agree that all boars are different. I would not feel to do this type of cleaning to a boar without an expert showing me .

I am tagging 2 of our health an illness advisors for advice ...


@helen105281

@furryfriends (TEAS)
 
I will of course start cleaning them regularly- thanks for the link to the oil. In the meantime though I think both of them have impaction. Can we attempt this ourselves if we follow exactly what they do in the video?
 
I recently discovered one of my boyz suffers from impaction, and I have to deal with it. Be warned - it smells dreadful. :(
 
Well we have unblocked him and survived to tell the tale! Bernard was so good and hopefully more comfortable now.

Sue G you are so right about the smell. I'm not good with things like this- I held him whilst my hubby donned the rubber gloves but actually I was able to watch! I suppose it's like the way you can cope with your own child's bodily functions!

We'll be keeping a close eye on him and his pal Harris who has also had a bottom clean tonight.

Thanks again for all the words of wisdom xx
 
Ok. So know we seem to have problem following Bernard's procedure. We have two boars who we adopted together from the rescue centre. They are closely bonded and have always had a lovely relationship. Bernard is 2 years old and Harris less than one. Harris has always been the more confident, eating the lions share of the food, whereas Bernard grabs something then runs back undercover to hide. But they've never fought.

Since we dealt with Bernard's impaction he seems to have changed personality! He is chasing Harris round the cage and Harris looks seriously terrified. They are both doing that teeth chattering thing which I thought signalled fear? Bernard seems really aggressive all of a sudden and he's never been like that!

I put a bowl of veg in to try and distract them and Bernard was straight in there, not his usual cautious self. Harris on the other hand cowered in the corner. Harris also had a little bottom clean earlier but he's not afraid of me now as he ate food from my hand and let me stroke him.

Should we just leave them? What has happened to my sweet Bernard?
 
Lizzy776 said:
Ok. So know we seem to have problem following Bernard's procedure. We have two boars who we adopted together from the rescue centre. They are closely bonded and have always had a lovely relationship. Bernard is 2 years old and Harris less than one. Harris has always been the more confident, eating the lions share of the food, whereas Bernard grabs something then runs back undercover to hide. But they've never fought.

Since we dealt with Bernard's impaction he seems to have changed personality! He is chasing Harris round the cage and Harris looks seriously terrified. They are both doing that teeth chattering thing which I thought signalled fear? Bernard seems really aggressive all of a sudden and he's never been like that!

I put a bowl of veg in to try and distract them and Bernard was straight in there, not his usual cautious self. Harris on the other hand cowered in the corner. Harris also had a little bottom clean earlier but he's not afraid of me now as he ate food from my hand and let me stroke him.

Should we just leave them? What has happened to my sweet Bernard?
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Can you separate them temporarily ? - until we get advice from an expert ?
 
They seem to have calmed down a bit and it wouldn't be easy to separate them I'll just keep an eye and ear out for now.

Thank you.
 
It may just be the upheaval of having something new done to them.. Maybe the smell of liquid on their bottoms is putting one another off as they dont recognise the smell? If their not fighting i.e nipping and biting then personally id leave them to calm down but keep a close eye on them.

I had a boar that only started suffering from impaction a few months after neutering. Every second day i would tip him up, use my thumb and forefinger and gently part either side of the anus slowly and gradually until the lump of poo worked its way out. I'd then apply a wet cloth (boil washed before hand) and squeeze the cloth to rinse away any poo pieces. He never had any problems and his bum always looked normal after each clean.
 
Adelle said:
It may just be the upheaval of having something new done to them.. Maybe the smell of liquid on their bottoms is putting one another off as they dont recognise the smell? If their not fighting i.e nipping and biting then personally id leave them to calm down but keep a close eye on them.

I had a boar that only started suffering from impaction a few months after neutering. Every second day i would tip him up, use my thumb and forefinger and gently part either side of the anus slowly and gradually until the lump of poo worked its way out. I'd then apply a wet cloth (boil washed before hand) and squeeze the cloth to rinse away any poo pieces. He never had any problems and his bum always looked normal after each clean.
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That all makes sense about the smell having changed.

The latest is that they are both huddled together under a blanket which shades one corner of the cage- this is very unusual even under normal circumstances as they both like their own space to hide and there are other covered places in their cage. But at least they're not fighting anyone.

Who knew having guinea pigs could be so emotionally draining?!
 
Well done on surviving your first bum clean! If you keep this up regularly you'll reduce the chance of impaction happening plus your boys will become more tolerant of it over time and it will help them get more used to being handled.

Don't worry about the teeth chattering and rumble strutting that's completely normal male behaviour. It only becomes a problem if they actually go for each other and start fighting. You'll have removed their personal scent by cleaning them, so they'll just be re-establishing who is boss. My boys do this every time I clean the cage or clean their bums. Just keep an eye on them it will die down eventually once they've sorted the pecking order out. Only separate them if they actually go for each other or fight, because separating them when they are establishing who is boss can cause more problems later on when you reintroduce them, if the process is interrupted.
 
Yes, my boys are my babies. I'd be devastated if anything happened to them. It's natural to want to mother and protect them. ;D

The dominance behaviour will most likely occur again after a bath due to you removing their personal scents. But don't be alarmed, they'll sort out who is boss pig then move on. :)
 
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