What Is This?!

[GinaG]

Can anyone help me to identify these?! They keep appearing in the cage, they're small (pen for comparison) & squidgy with no odour that I can tell. One of my girls has had bladder stones in the past & I do find calcium smears on their fleece but both seem well, nice & fat & eating well. Any ideas?!

 

[Swissgreys]

Interesting.
If they were hard I would say some form of bladder stone, but clearly they are much too big to be passed without you noticing.
If they are squidgy could they be some sort of foam from one of their beds?
Maybe they are nibbling something in the cage?

 

[GinaG]

That's what I thought, it can't be something they've passed surely?! And anything calcium-like would be hard or chalky?!

 

[Reenie]

In the first picture it does look very much like small pieces of foam.

 

[Wiebke]

To be honest, I have never seen anything like this, and I have and have had lots of sows!

Are you sure that it is coming from your guinea pigs and not from some cosies etc?

 

[GinaG]

It's a mystery! I've checked the puppy pads under their fleece and the fleece and cosies & all are in tact...they did have one of those stuffed willow bells from pets at home and have eaten everything out of the middle so it might be something from that...it feels organic, it reminds me of those bits of cubed applied you can in some cereals...if I get to the bottom of this I will report back!

 

[Julie M]

I thought it looked like dried apple too. Maybe that was in the middle of the bell?

 

[Julie M]

Strange if it's the woodlands bell there's no apple in the ingredients

 

[Betsy]

? It must be something in the middle of the bell. Is there anything in the ingredients that can suggest what it might be?

 

[GinaG]

Oh my goodness I've worked out what it is! Guess what they've been eating....
http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/timothy-hay-with-carrot-and-apple-1kg
You can even see the squidgy bits of apple in the photo!

 

[Julie M]

Mystery solved. Glad it's put your mind at rest. :like: