Niki
Senior Guinea Pig
Toddie lives with 5 girls in a 12ft x 2ft hutch, they each have a hidey & share 3 hayracks, 3 bottles & 2 double bowls - plenty big enough for them all to eat together if they so choose.
On 1st Sept Toddie weighed 1639g & has gradually lost weight ever since. 4th Oct he was 1500g altho' he has no outward signs of illness.
He is eating, drinking, acting as he always has.
Today was the first day one of the exotic vets was on duty & today he weighed 1393g.
Nothing has changed in the hutch bar the fact the 3 younger ones are getting older & Sunday i found Lark & Fable have bite marks on their backs, Lyric has one behind an ear. The other 2 girls & Toddie have no wounds.
Toddie was examined all over & nothing clinically could be found wrong with him altho' this past month he has become slightly impacted, not a large mass as you normally see but a clump of perfectly formed pellets but i clean his bottom daily.
The vet also examined Lark (she accompanied Toddie) & said her right ovary was active, meaning she was in season which could be why there is unrest in the hutch.
He said the situation was obviously unstable & that the stress of what was going on could be why Toddie has lost weight. He suggested i separate the group of 6 into 2 sets of 3; 1 group the youngsters & 1 group the adults.
I frequently sit in my shed just watching what's going on & i've never heard a squeak or a chatter in their hutch. There is never anyone stuck to anyone else to intimate someone is being bullied; they are always in different places, some are in hideys, others under hayracks.
At veggie time everyone can be seen eating, noone shoves anyone else away altho' i have seen the young ones run away if one of the older girls goes near them but they go back straight away to eat, just not near that particular pig.
I've never seen any aggression from any of them but obviously it's there or noone would have wounds.
I'm quite happy to split the hutch but i don't want to do more harm than good doing & i can't help feel that yet again, that the decision to add to his group was wrong.
The only reason i did so was because Lark was being left out. My intention was to add 1 female & then i thought what if they don't accept her, she will be on her own so decided to add 2 but there were 3 babies & i couldn't leave one alone so came home with them all.
Is there anyone with sow groups or neutered boar/sow groups who has experienced similar & if so what did you do?
Toddie & Lark are back at the vets next Wednesday & if he's lost more weight they will keep him in for a few days & observe him.
On 1st Sept Toddie weighed 1639g & has gradually lost weight ever since. 4th Oct he was 1500g altho' he has no outward signs of illness.
He is eating, drinking, acting as he always has.
Today was the first day one of the exotic vets was on duty & today he weighed 1393g.
Nothing has changed in the hutch bar the fact the 3 younger ones are getting older & Sunday i found Lark & Fable have bite marks on their backs, Lyric has one behind an ear. The other 2 girls & Toddie have no wounds.
Toddie was examined all over & nothing clinically could be found wrong with him altho' this past month he has become slightly impacted, not a large mass as you normally see but a clump of perfectly formed pellets but i clean his bottom daily.
The vet also examined Lark (she accompanied Toddie) & said her right ovary was active, meaning she was in season which could be why there is unrest in the hutch.
He said the situation was obviously unstable & that the stress of what was going on could be why Toddie has lost weight. He suggested i separate the group of 6 into 2 sets of 3; 1 group the youngsters & 1 group the adults.
I frequently sit in my shed just watching what's going on & i've never heard a squeak or a chatter in their hutch. There is never anyone stuck to anyone else to intimate someone is being bullied; they are always in different places, some are in hideys, others under hayracks.
At veggie time everyone can be seen eating, noone shoves anyone else away altho' i have seen the young ones run away if one of the older girls goes near them but they go back straight away to eat, just not near that particular pig.
I've never seen any aggression from any of them but obviously it's there or noone would have wounds.
I'm quite happy to split the hutch but i don't want to do more harm than good doing & i can't help feel that yet again, that the decision to add to his group was wrong.
The only reason i did so was because Lark was being left out. My intention was to add 1 female & then i thought what if they don't accept her, she will be on her own so decided to add 2 but there were 3 babies & i couldn't leave one alone so came home with them all.
Is there anyone with sow groups or neutered boar/sow groups who has experienced similar & if so what did you do?
Toddie & Lark are back at the vets next Wednesday & if he's lost more weight they will keep him in for a few days & observe him.
They do get it but that's one of the last things to go - he's there for the tasty green stuff first, follwed by whatever else takes his fancy 
