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Toby Is Behaving Weirdly And We Are Getting Concerned

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AbiS

AbiS

Adult Guinea Pig
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For the last couple of days now Toby has ignored us when we have shouted him for treats - normally he would be the first out and wheeking for whatever might be on offer. He has also stopped chutting when he is walking around - he is usually my vocal pig so we are really noticing the silence.

He is still eating his nuggets and hay as normal and will have the treats if we take them to him. He is still drinking water and eating poops. He did a couple of popcorns this evening. He isn't appearing puffed up in pain and moves around normally when he feels like it. He is maintaining his normal weight (1350-1380g).

He just seems very quiet and not himself at the moment. If there was anything noticeable I would take him to the vets but at the moment all I can say is that he just seems to be sad.

It is all just very vague. Any ideas?
 
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Weigh him daily at the same time and keep an eye on him. It is always a difficult and frustrating time for any very observant mummy when something is not quite right, but there is nothing that you can put the finger on. As he is still popcorning and eating normally, I would not be too worried. If necessary, see a vet for general check.
 
Thanks @Wiebke - the logical side of me knew that really but the mummy side of me needed someone else to say it! Even taking him to the vets worries me when there is nothing obviously wrong as when I lasttook them for a health check they were so freaked out it took me over 2hrs to get them to eat again!
 
I agree to get them checked if there is no change in a few days and you are worried, nothing beats piggy mum intuition.
 
I also hope he's just having a bad day or something like that.
 
I think everyone has given sage advice- watch for a few days and see if his behavior goes back to normal. If not, it's worth getting him checked out. I know for Linney this kind of behavior is common when she has a low-grade infections (usually urinary tract infection, she seems to get them more often now that she is a senior pig.) However, there have also been other times when they just seemed to have a couple off-days and then returned to normal, so hopefully that will be the case!
 
Update on my little man:

I put some readigrass and dried dandelions (Toby's favourite) in the run last night - Barney jumped straight in but Toby just stayed in the bedroom - normally just the sound of the bag opening is enough to get him to come running. I went to bed feeling really worried. This morning I dreaded coming downstairs just in case..... I looked over the bannister on my way to the bathroom and couldn't see either of them. Imagine my happiness and relief when I came out of the bathroom to find Toby sat at the side of the run waiting to be let out for breakfast - the last few mornings I have had to beg him to get out of bed.

After breakfast he had a wander around and, although quieter and not as frequent as normal, there was definitely some chutting and he did a little zoom!

He is definitely appearing brighter this morning and more active. So I don't know what has been going on but he has definitely felt out of sorts - seems to have turned a corner now though much to the relief of mummy and daddy!
 
I think we have worked out what was wrong with Toby and I feel so bad about it. I took our live Christmas tree down on 6th and loads of needles fell on the floor. Toby started scoffing them at which point I thought I should check if they are ok to eat. I don't know how many he would have had while I looked on the forum but you can imagine my horror when it said they could be poisonous. The advice to someone else was to keep an eye but just a few shouldn't cause a problem. I cant remember when exactly it was that he started being weird but it was either that night or the following day. I cant believe I had totally forgotten about the tree and it has taken until now to put 2 and 2 together. He must have been feeling really poorly. Thankfully it didn't put him off his food - just made him quieter than normal. The good news is that he is back to his normal bullying self now - I got chased and chattered at for dinner tonight so it must be out of his system. We don't know for definite that this was the case but it is all too coincidental. Its funny because they normally don't eat things that are bad for them - wont go near shop bought treats etc.

I had been saying to my family that I was thinking of getting a fake tree as real ones don't have the same 'Christmas' smell - wish I had acted on that in the sales as I will have to pay full price for one this year!
 
AbiS said:
Update on my little man:

I put some readigrass and dried dandelions (Toby's favourite) in the run last night - Barney jumped straight in but Toby just stayed in the bedroom - normally just the sound of the bag opening is enough to get him to come running. I went to bed feeling really worried. This morning I dreaded coming downstairs just in case..... I looked over the bannister on my way to the bathroom and couldn't see either of them. Imagine my happiness and relief when I came out of the bathroom to find Toby sat at the side of the run waiting to be let out for breakfast - the last few mornings I have had to beg him to get out of bed.

After breakfast he had a wander around and, although quieter and not as frequent as normal, there was definitely some chutting and he did a little zoom!

He is definitely appearing brighter this morning and more active. So I don't know what has been going on but he has definitely felt out of sorts - seems to have turned a corner now though much to the relief of mummy and daddy!
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Let's hope that was it & it's out of his system. I have 2 boys who are very fussy eaters & don't normally scoff down anything they haven't been fed by me for the last 3-4 years, except Peanut Butter has a fondness for foam. I hung a Xmas treat in their cage that they'd never had before, left it there for 3 days & neither touched the stuff. On the other hand I have my 2 recent boys from rescue who will eat anything & everything so I have to watch them. They not only scoffed down their Xmas treat but ended up eating the one untouched by the other 2.
 
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