Sneezing.

[raining.ashes]

I recently, a week ago, adopted two new guinea pigs. One is a mother, who gave birth just over a month ago, and the other is her daughter, a month and a half old. Since introducing them to their new cage, they have been sneezing quite a bit.

They came from an owner who did not clean their cage often, and they were practically living in their own feces. I am a little worried that they might be in the early stages of URI, even though they have no other symptoms.

At first, they would only sneeze once or twice every hour or so, but just after cleaning their cage with distilled vinegar diluted in water, the mother, in particular, started sneezing a lot more than usual. I use fleece bedding for the majority of the cage, recycled paper bedding for the litter box. The hay that I use is the super cheap kind from wal-mart, which I suspect to be the most likely source of the possible allergies.

I was wondering, does this sound more like allergies, URI, or just the stress and sensitivity of moving to a new environment?

 

[DM030819]

@raining.ashes It could be an allergy so it would be worth changing your hay and then the washing powder for the fleece.

Whenever I get new pigs I always take them to a vet for a wellness check. That would rule of a URI.

 

[Wiebke]

My advice is the same as @Jaycey 's: Please see a vet to rule out a potentially fatal respiratory infection first.

Guinea pigs can be very sensitive to hay dust, dusty or pine bedding, pollen, dry air from air conditioning units or radiators, or scents from air fresheners, scent sticks or perfumes (including some highly perfumed body care products).