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Rescued Guinea pigs.

MinnieZvonar

MinnieZvonar

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Sep 30, 2018
Messages
81
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84
Points
195
Location
Queensland Australia
hi there, I saw an add yesterday on gumtree of someone selling 1 male guinea pig and 3 females. I took to it and picked them up today. Initially i was going to introduce the male to the males i already have, and i was going to get the girls set up in a new hutch (I also presumed that the girls would be pregnant because the seller said that they were living with the male). Anyway, i went to pick them up today, and at first glimpse all of them had severe mange, and were literally skin and bones. So i had to make a makeshift quarantine set up until they were better again. I fed them, bathed them, and put some mange treatment on them. And then eventually put them in their temporary home. I’ve checked on them, and they have gotten VERY bloated. plus i don’t know if the girls are pregnant. i’ve been feeling around their stomach but i don’t know the difference between squishy and hard. Because everything feels squishy and hard! I am not too sure on what to do, can someone help?
 
@MinnieZvonar Bloat is something that needs to be treated by a vet immediately as it can kill them quite rapidly.

If you get them to a vet asap they will also be able to check them for babies and also provide treatment for the mange.

Good luck! Let us know you get on at the vet.
 
Jaycey said:
@MinnieZvonar Bloat is something that needs to be treated by a vet immediately as it can kill them quite rapidly.

If you get them to a vet asap they will also be able to check them for babies and also provide treatment for the mange.

Good luck! Let us know you get on at the vet.
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I am going to call the vets tomorrow morning and try book an appointment asap. But it’s going to be hard for as tomorrow’s a public holiday. Thank you for the help!
 
MinnieZvonar said:
hi there, I saw an add yesterday on gumtree of someone selling 1 male guinea pig and 3 females. I took to it and picked them up today. Initially i was going to introduce the male to the males i already have, and i was going to get the girls set up in a new hutch (I also presumed that the girls would be pregnant because the seller said that they were living with the male). Anyway, i went to pick them up today, and at first glimpse all of them had severe mange, and were literally skin and bones. So i had to make a makeshift quarantine set up until they were better again. I fed them, bathed them, and put some mange treatment on them. And then eventually put them in their temporary home. I’ve checked on them, and they have gotten VERY bloated. plus i don’t know if the girls are pregnant. i’ve been feeling around their stomach but i don’t know the difference between squishy and hard. Because everything feels squishy and hard! I am not too sure on what to do, can someone help?
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Hi and welcome!

Bloating is an emergency that needs to be seen by a vet ASAP!

Please never feed lots of fresh veg to guinea pigs that you do not know whether they and their mothers have ever had any, as in a digestive system not accustomed to them, it can cause bloating or diarrhea.
Take them off any fresh food until at least 48 hours until they are well again and then gradually introduce veg in small bits, no more than one new variety with one meal to slowly build up tolerance.
Bloat, GI Stasis ( No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Please do NOT treat your guinea pigs on spec with low dosed pet shop brands that will not heal. You may need to treat for both mange mites and fungal skin infections. Be aware that either can cause fitting in advanced cases and that you need to be extremely careful when treating.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...inea-pigs-vet-checks-sexing-parasites-illness.

You'd best open a support thread in our pregnancy section and read up on pregnancy, birth, baby and mother care.
Be aware that about 20% of pregnancies and births go wrong, but that this percentage is going up drastically in freshly rescued pregnant sows in bad state. This is one of the most emotionally taxing sides for all guinea pig rescues.
I am very sorry, but you are in for an extremely steep ride. I sincerely hope that you have the financial resources to afford all the necessary vet care, including being able to pay upfront for a cesarian operation (I've seen US figures of £1000 cited by forum members).
Here is our guide collection; please take the time to read up on all the guides I have linked in. Pregnancy & Baby Care Guide's

This guide collection includes lists of good standard rescues in several countries you might contact for further advice on treatment or help if it gets too much for you, as well as recommended vets. It also contains guides on how you can settled in and make friends with very skittish piggies. This is especially important for any pregnant sows; the sooner they settle down, the higher their changes for a successful birth. Please be honest with yourself if you have taken on too much; rescuing several neglected and prgnant piggies is not for the faint-hearted and usually requires experience (see the bloating).
Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides

Since we have members and enquiries from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details so we can always tailor any advice to what is relevant and available where you are straight away. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to account details and then down to location. This makes it appear with every post you make and saves everybody time. Thank you!
 
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome!

Bloating is an emergency that needs to be seen by a vet ASAP!

Please never feed lots of fresh veg to guinea pigs that you do not know whether they and their mothers have ever had any, as in a digestive system not accustomed to them, it can cause bloating or diarrhea.
Take them off any fresh food until at least 48 hours until they are well again and then gradually introduce veg in small bits, no more than one new variety with one meal to slowly build up tolerance.
Bloat, GI Stasis ( No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Please do NOT treat your guinea pigs on spec with low dosed pet shop brands that will not heal. You may need to treat for both mange mites and fungal skin infections. Be aware that either can cause fitting in advanced cases and that you need to be extremely careful when treating.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...inea-pigs-vet-checks-sexing-parasites-illness.

You'd best open a support thread in our pregnancy section and read up on pregnancy, birth, baby and mother care.
Be aware that about 20% of pregnancies and births go wrong, but that this percentage is going up drastically in freshly rescued pregnant sows in bad state. This is one of the most emotionally taxing sides for all guinea pig rescues.
I am very sorry, but you are in for an extremely steep ride. I sincerely hope that you have the financial resources to afford all the necessary vet care, including being able to pay upfront for a cesarian operation (I've seen US figures of £1000 cited by forum members).
Here is our guide collection; please take the time to read up on all the guides I have linked in. Pregnancy & Baby Care Guide's

This guide collection includes lists of good standard rescues in several countries you might contact for further advice on treatment or help if it gets too much for you, as well as recommended vets. It also contains guides on how you can settled in and make friends with very skittish piggies. This is especially important for any pregnant sows; the sooner they settle down, the higher their changes for a successful birth. Please be honest with yourself if you have taken on too much; rescuing several neglected and prgnant piggies is not for the faint-hearted and usually requires experience (see the bloating).
Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides

Since we have members and enquiries from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details so we can always tailor any advice to what is relevant and available where you are straight away. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to account details and then down to location. This makes it appear with every post you make and saves everybody time. Thank you!
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Thank you for the advice. I have been constantly checking on them and the bloating has gone down significantly, still booking a vet appointment though.
My mum and I have been fishing through the internet and comparing pregnant guineas symptoms to the ones we have. We have been feeling around their stomach and everything feels ‘squishy’? So i’m assuming their not pregnant? (although don’t know how this is possible if they have been living with a male). and i haven’t seen him have any sort of funky behaviour to the girls at all. I’m still going to treat them as if they are pregnant before i can get clarification from a vet. and i changed my details.
 
MinnieZvonar said:
Thank you for the advice. I have been constantly checking on them and the bloating has gone down significantly, still booking a vet appointment though.
My mum and I have been fishing through the internet and comparing pregnant guineas symptoms to the ones we have. We have been feeling around their stomach and everything feels ‘squishy’? So i’m assuming their not pregnant? (although don’t know how this is possible if they have been living with a male). and i haven’t seen him have any sort of funky behaviour to the girls at all. I’m still going to treat them as if they are pregnant before i can get clarification from a vet. and i changed my details.
Click to expand...

Hi! A guinea pig pregnancy takes about 10 weeks; you notice signs only in the last 2-3 weeks (about a week earlier if it is a large litter). DO NOT dig into bellies; you can easily injure or kill any embryos.
PLEASE read the links I have parsed into my previous post. We have got extensive pregnancy advice specially written for new owners without any experience that covers the whole time plus additional pictures and videos.
 
Welcome to the forum and well done for rescuing the piggies.
I hope you get them treated and restored to full health.
They are going to need all your time and patience.
It sounds as if they’ve landed on their paws with you
 
So we went to the 24/7 emergency vet (only vet open on the public holiday) and this is what happened: The bloating is luckily not fatal, it was due to them not being fed by previous owners, and then finally getting some food by me. They were given some shots for it and the vet advised me that the bloating should not occur again. We got given extra mange treatment and hopefully it should clear up in about 3 weeks. The piggies were also lacking vitamin C, and were dehydrated, so had more shots for those. As for pregnancy, unfortunately non of the vets had ever delt with a pregnant guinea pig before (i found that super surprising), and they didn’t offer ultrasounds for small animals. So the pregnancy question still has a question mark on it.

On the other note, i have been reading some other posts and forums about pigs with ringworm. one of them has hair loss around the nose (which i thought was mange) but now i am starting to worry that it is ringworm instead. 😩
 
Lucky piggies to have someone so caring take them in :).

Are you 100% confidence on the sex of all four new pigs? Given how lacking the other care seems to have been I'd put a big question mark over anything previous owners told you :(.
 
Tangle said:
Lucky piggies to have someone so caring take them in :).

Are you 100% confidence on the sex of all four new pigs? Given how lacking the other care seems to have been I'd put a big question mark over anything previous owners told you :(.
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surprisingly, that was the one thing the previous owner was able to get right. I checked and the vet also checked, so I am certain that we have 3 girls and 1 boy.
 
Another update: So they went to a different vet today who confirmed my suspicions about ring worm. unfortunantly they were out of the worm medicine but said she would call me as soon as it is restocked (sometime this week). But she gave me instructions to bath them in dandruff shampoo, put anti-fungal cream on the sores, and then spray them down with a lice and mite spray (they have lice aswell 🙄). Which i have done as soon as i got home. The vet believes that the girls are pregnant, but is unsure on how many weeks, so i’m really hoping all this ringworm/mites/lice clears up before birth. I really don’t want to deal with sick babies!
 
It never rains but it pours!
You’re getting it in bucket loads.

Hope you can clear the ringworm quickly.

The pregnancy guides on the forum will be very helpful for you.
 
E3EF0C4B-0E3C-4F63-839B-CA573DA83B2E.webpE3EF0C4B-0E3C-4F63-839B-CA573DA83B2E.webpHere is the little boy having is anti-fungal bath!

I am SO mad i didn’t take photos for before and afters. The girls are doing AMAZING! everything is clearing up and their hair is starting to grow back! 😍 And everyone is finally putting on some much needed weight! I am so happy and proud of them!
 
Great job. You are doing so well at caring for your piggies. So glad that things are improving for them all. 💕
 
4CC6AC6F-588D-4594-BA3B-9F9C83043CA6.webpHere is a bad pic of the girls (they are wet because they had their anti-fungal bath, and the white stuff is the anti-fungal cream). I have been feeling around gently, and I think that the white one has 1 baby, the brown one has 3 babies, and the black and white one has 2. To be honest, I really don’t think that the babies are going to survive :no:. So really hoping that these mama’s can pull through, I haven’t felt any sort of kicking. And as for the boy, I have separated him from the girls, and i can’t add him in with my existing boys because i don’t want them to get ringworm either. he is very sad and i really do feel for him. Poor !
 
Well done you on rescuing these poor piggies!

As for the little boy I suggest leaving him alone for now. A nice baby safe teddy (plushie) would be good for him as some sort of company. If your girls do manage to give birth to some little babies, he can eventually be placed with the baby boys once they are old enough so he's not alone.

The poor girl in the middle seems to have the ringworm(?) quite badly.

Good luck with taking care of them. They are all adorable!
 
Julesie said:
Well done you on rescuing these poor piggies!

As for the little boy I suggest leaving him alone for now. A nice baby safe teddy (plushie) would be good for him as some sort of company. If your girls do manage to give birth to some little babies, he can eventually be placed with the baby boys once they are old enough so he's not alone.

The poor girl in the middle seems to have the ringworm(?) quite badly.

Good luck with taking care of them. They are all adorable!
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Yes, they do have ringworm. All four of them. They are all currently getting medication for it and it seems to be healing up quit well. The White one actually has it the worst 😩
 
Good luck with them. Now these piggies are getting the right food and care they may produce healthy babies. Please try not to feel their tummies as this can damage the babies or cause miscarriage.
You are doing a great job and they are lucky to have found a home with you.
 
Aw, poor little mites. You are doing an amazing job. The previous owners need at the very least a swift talking to by animal welfare group, how can they treat animals like this? It beggars belief!
 
I went in to feed the girls and put on their anti-fungal cream tonight. Two of them are doing amazing and everything is almost cleared up! Execpt the little white one :no: She has been scratching at herself and made a pretty big open wound. I really don’t know what to do, i have found she does this after i put the cream on. SO, looks like I am booking ANOTHER vets appointment tomorrow. Poor little . I went in to feed my other guinea pigs (the happy, fat and healthy ones i didn’t get from the horrid person off gumtree), and as soon as they saw me started screaming and popcorning. Can’t wait for the day ALL my guinea pigs will do this.
 
Poor little girl.
Hope you can find a way to help her, but glad the others are healing well.

I'm sure they will all be pop corning and wheeling at you before long
 
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