Small/medium Bite Wounds On Indoor Guinea Pigs, Not Bleeding But Gaping

[little_buttons]

Hi, long story short is I have five male guinea pigs living together, due to being misold a mother and two baby daughters. Turns out we accidentally bought a pregnant guinea pig and two baby boys who were no relation to her whatsoever. Lo and behold my pregnant piggy gives birth to all boys meaning we have five boys who have live together - far from ideal!

The two baby boys who were bought with Olive, the mum, do not get on at all and although we have taken steps to improve their relationship (buying a bigger hutch, keeping them and their hutch as scent free as possible) after making considerable progress, last night they had somebig fights.

This morning I went to bath them to try to calm everything down and discovered the two boys who fight both have gaping wounds that aren't really bleeding but are definitely somewhat hanging open. Pumpkinhas one on his bum and Pixie has one on his left side. They aren't big but are bigger than just little scratches. pixie also has a cut on his lip and leg and both have smaller cuts on them and sore red bits.

As they are indoor guinea pigs (who are cleaned out daily) is infection improbable? Would vets be able to do much more than we could at home? What would you suggest I do? It would be a struggle to get to the vets today but obviously if need be it will happen.

The cuts haven't really scabbed or changed at all since I discover the first one four hours ago

the boys are currently seperate and showing no signs of calming down so I'm heavily considering making it permanent although no idea where we could put another hutch :/ thanks for any help you can give me!

 

[Wiebke]

Hi, long story short is I have five male guinea pigs living together, due to being misold a mother and two baby daughters. Turns out we accidentally bought a pregnant guinea pig and two baby boys who were no relation to her whatsoever. Lo and behold my pregnant piggy gives birth to all boys meaning we have five boys who have live together - far from ideal!

The two baby boys who were bought with Olive, the mum, do not get on at all and although we have taken steps to improve their relationship (buying a bigger hutch, keeping them and their hutch as scent free as possible) after making considerable progress, last night they had somebig fights.

This morning I went to bath them to try to calm everything down and discovered the two boys who fight both have gaping wounds that aren't really bleeding but are definitely somewhat hanging open. Pumpkinhas one on his bum and Pixie has one on his left side. They aren't big but are bigger than just little scratches. pixie also has a cut on his lip and leg and both have smaller cuts on them and sore red bits.

As they are indoor guinea pigs (who are cleaned out daily) is infection improbable? Would vets be able to do much more than we could at home? What would you suggest I do? It would be a struggle to get to the vets today but obviously if need be it will happen.

The cuts haven't really scabbed or changed at all since I discover the first one four hours ago

the boys are currently seperate and showing no signs of calming down so I'm heavily considering making it permanent although no idea where we could put another hutch :/ thanks for any help you can give me!

Hi and welcome!

Please disinfect the bite wounds with hibiscrub or saline solution and keep an eye on them in the next few weeks for abscesses. Guinea pig mouths are anything by clean!

I am very sorry that you have been landed in this mess and are paying such a high price for it. Unfortunately, trios, quartets and quintets are about the most unstable combination for boars; they do OK either in pairs or in larger bachelor herds with plenty of space to gt away from each other. I guess that your boys have now hit the teenage months which are characterised by massive testosterone spikes and which put every relationship to the test.
Please take the time to read through this very detailed guide: Boars: Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

Would it be an option for you to split your boys into two pairs of boys that get on and have the fifth boy neutered to live mommy and any sows? Neutering is not a quick fix solution, as you need to find a good vet to minimise the risk of post-op complications and have to factor in a 6 weeks safety wait, but it may be the way forward for you to being able to keep all your boys in the long term.

In order to being able to help you best, it would be great if you added your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so it appears underneath your username in every post you make. We have got members from all over the world. Please click on your username at the top, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. Thank you!

 

[little_buttons]

Thank you very much for your reply and advice! Yes the youngest 3 were born on June 23rd 2016 and the older 2 were most likely born in late May 2016 so they are slap bang in the middle of testosterone spikes - although to be honest the 3 smaller ones seem to have inherited their mothers chill vibe and thankfully only have the occasional bickering to deal with! we considered neutering one before but we heard it was a very high risk operation - do you know if this is true? I don't know if this is because I'm from the UK where guinea pig specialists are less common making the operation more risky?

I think I have added this to my profile but just in case, I am from Norfolk in the UK!

Thank you for all your advice!

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you very much for your reply and advice! Yes the youngest 3 were born on June 23rd 2016 and the older 2 were most likely born in late May 2016 so they are slap bang in the middle of testosterone spikes - although to be honest the 3 smaller ones seem to have inherited their mothers chill vibe and thankfully only have the occasional bickering to deal with! we considered neutering one before but we heard it was a very high risk operation - do you know if this is true? I don't know if this is because I'm from the UK where guinea pig specialists are less common making the operation more risky?

I think I have added this to my profile but just in case, I am from Norfolk in the UK!

Thank you for all your advice!

It very much depends on finding a good vet; otherwise the ratio is not bad at all. I have just had a boar neutered in January, and he is doing absolutely fine! What you are looking for is either a general vet with lots of experience in guinea pig neutering or an exotics vet with practice in small furries ops. The key is experience with GA, being able to work quickly, but efficiently to keep the time unter as short as possible and a good nurses team for the recovery.

We have got a vet locator on the top bar, but other Norfolk member may able to give you more tips.

 

[little_buttons]

So glad your pig is doing well! Thank you I will definitely consider this possibility

After bathing them in hibiscrub, Pixie's cuts aren't as bad as I thought when I first saw them thankfully