sneezing

[biscandmatt]

my new piggie chesney has sneezed twice since he has been here, once yesterday and once just now. it seems to be when the temperature drops but i have the heating on and he has a heatpad.

the day he arrived i noticed under one nostril it's pink but the other is like a grey colour. i can't describe it. it could just be his colouring but could it be because it's damp?

he's my first piggie so i don't really know what i'm looking for.

he is happy in himself apart from scratching a bit. he burrows in the hay so could be dust.

do guinea pigs get really cold? he has lots of fleece blankets and hay and a heatpad at night but he seems cold still.

 

[Briony_S]

Is he an inside piggie? what is he bedded on just fleece or does he have shavings too? Is the hay dust extracted?

Mine are bedded on vet bed but have little sleeping bags and beds they can crawl into if they feel cold. Maybe try something like that. There are a couple of websites, I got mine from cosy cavies!

An odd sneeze can be normal but if they sneeze a lot of times in a day something could be irrating them ie shavings can make then sneeze or dusty hay.

 

[biscandmatt]

he is inside and has fleece bedding, extra fleece to cuddle up in and a big pile of hay aswell. the hay is dust free. he has sneezed once yesterday and once today but it happy and running round etc.

his cage is on the floor though so maybe this is a problem? i could get a base for it. or just put in extra bedding and some little cosy beds aswell. i'm going to buy some in a minute!

 

[Laura-CCC4]

Unless there are draughts where the cage is situated, a cage on the floor is not a problem. Occasional sneezing is normal. It's when the sneezing is repeated and frequent (as a rough idea, sneezing 2-3 times every hour), and when other symptoms appear, that it is time to seek medical advice.

 

[Briony_S]

Yes if only a couple of times in 24 hours sounds normal to me also just keep an eye out (or should I say an ear ) to see if it is more frequent. Your setup sounds fine to me. I had george's cage on the floor for a few months and it didn't harm him at all.

 

[biscandmatt]

ok, thanks. it was one sneeze one day and one the next so that sounds normal then!

 

[Pigglywink's Rachel]

Mine sneeze when they get near the bottom of their food dishes... little bit of dust from the pellets, I think, they snort it up, and then sneeze it out, so it could be something as simple as that. I was completely panic stricken when it first happened, but then figured out what was causing it.