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beneatsfood posted:
No, it's not normal, and yes, he needs vitamin C rich veggies in addition to hay and pellets. Pigs who haven't been exposed to veggies can be neophobic about them at times, but you need to keep giving them till he learns to eat them. See http://www.guinealynx.info/diet.html. Three good items to try are romaine lettuce, sweet bell peppers (any color), and parsley, although parsley should be limited later in life as it contains a lot of calcium which is bad for bladder stones. The starter cage from Petsmart is way too small for one pig. See http://www.guinealynx.info/housing.html. A larger cage will stay cleaner longer, and will allow him to move around more, thus preventing bumblefoot, obesity, and anal impaction, if he's male. Switch from pine to aspen or Carefresh. The latter will especially help with any cage odor. See http://www.guinealynx.info/bedding.html. You can use fleece blankets instead of wood shavings with no problem, but you need to pick up turds daily, and probably change out the fleece every other day or two. I personally hate fleece because I hate doing laundry. With a large cage, I can spot clean (like 1 scoop of bedding) every day or two, and the cage is still nearly pristine after a week.
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Sep 9, 2010 01:11
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TLG James posted:Has anyone ever bought the sand for Syrian Hamsters? I was reading that some like it, just like chinchillas, but I was curious. I've never tried it with any of the Syrians I've had, but I've heard that on a whole, they don't "get it." However, I did give my Russian dwarf sand baths on occasion and he enjoyed them.
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Sep 9, 2010 03:51
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beneatsfood posted:This is my good pal hippo. He is my girlfriend's pig. For some reason he won't eat anything but his pellets and his hay... We've tried a bunch of different kinds of fruits and vegetables, but he just wont budge. Is this normal, or even healthy for him? It's not healthy but it is "normal", in the sense that pet store guinea pigs come from enormous breeding mills where they never bother to feed them vegetables so most of them have no idea what they are. I've had to force feed many a pig stalks of parsley and cilantro to get them to get the idea. Also those starter cages are poo poo and way too small which is why it's constantly a mound of turds. It's like keeping your dog locked in a crate all day. Check out http://www.guineapigcages.com. Once he's in a decent sized cage he won't constantly be swimming in crap. If you try to use fleece is one of those tiny cages it'll be filthy very fast.
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Sep 9, 2010 04:04
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TLG James posted:Has anyone ever bought the sand for Syrian Hamsters? I was reading that some like it, just like chinchillas, but I was curious. I bought my girlfriend sand for her dozen or so syrians and not a one of them figured out how to use it. They didn't understand it, they investigated, one peed in it. It was pretty much a waste of money. Your luck may vary, I've read that some of them like it. But when I was doing research there wasn't a single video online showing a syrian in a sandbath.
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Sep 9, 2010 08:26
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You'll notice I never said it was a surprise, that I'd read up on them, that nearly everyone in my family has kept a rodent of some description of another, and that I was merely asking for clarification on a few issues. What's with the hate? You'll also note I'm planning this out four months in advance, it's not exactly a last minute surprise because 'hey it's only a rodent' christ. edit: I do understand this is a concern, but just because I'm posting for the first time in this thread is no reason to just go on about not buying it as a surprise and how I shouldn't buy it because obviously my flat is tiny and not address anything I asked. Wootcannon fucked around with this message at 12:23 on Sep 9, 2010 |
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Sep 9, 2010 11:44
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Wootcannon posted:You'll notice I never said it was a surprise, that I'd read up on them, that nearly everyone in my family has kept a rodent of some description of another, and that I was merely asking for clarification on a few issues. What's with the hate? You'll also note I'm planning this out four months in advance, it's not exactly a last minute surprise because 'hey it's only a rodent' christ. Nobody said they hated you! It's just a bad idea to get it as a surprise, that's all, and so your boyfriend should know about it before it comes home. It's really not fair to him to get him a living, breathing, eating, pissing and making GBS threads responsibility for his birthday. ^  ^came to post this  
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Sep 9, 2010 13:52
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CompactFanny posted:
Christ they're crossing American Bullys with hamsters now
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Sep 9, 2010 14:49
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Wootcannon posted:You'll notice I never said it was a surprise, that I'd read up on them, that nearly everyone in my family has kept a rodent of some description of another, and that I was merely asking for clarification on a few issues. What's with the hate? You'll also note I'm planning this out four months in advance, it's not exactly a last minute surprise because 'hey it's only a rodent' christ. Your original question asked: Wootcannon posted:Other than JESUS CHRIST DON'T GET THEM WET, regular playtime and feeding them hay, is there any other things I should know about or that I'm wrong about? That's like saying "other than the fact that they need to be walked and fed, is there anything I need to know about owning a dog?" There's potentially hundreds of things you need to know about chinchilla care, so it came across to me, and maybe to others, that you didn't yet know anything at all about them. I think that's why we started with the assumption that you hadn't thought this through. If you haven't already, I'd recommend you check out http://www.chincare.com/ - this is the BEST resource on chin care and you can trust that everything on that site is pretty much 100% correct - and review their information on veterinary needs, signs of illness, social needs, housing size needs, dietary issues, and temperature needs, at a minimum. Maybe start with the myths and misinformation page. If anything you read there doesn't jive with what you learned elsewhere, you'll be able to come back and ask more specific questions, and you should get more useful advice.  With regard to the specific question you did ask - car travel is no problem for chins as long as you keep them cool. I personally wouldn't choose to travel with a chin during the summer, if I could help it.
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Sep 9, 2010 15:06
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CompactFanny posted:Nobody said they hated you! It's just a bad idea to get it as a surprise, that's all, and so your boyfriend should know about it before it comes home. It's really not fair to him to get him a living, breathing, eating, pissing and making GBS threads responsibility for his birthday. ^ sup yawning little buddy?   I miss these two dearly 
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Sep 9, 2010 19:15
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spiralbrain posted:sup yawning little buddy? The great mystery of guinea pigs, how can they eat so much with that tiny mouth?
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Sep 9, 2010 22:19
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Wootcannon posted:You'll notice I never said it was a surprise, that I'd read up on them, that nearly everyone in my family has kept a rodent of some description of another, and that I was merely asking for clarification on a few issues. What's with the hate? You'll also note I'm planning this out four months in advance, it's not exactly a last minute surprise because 'hey it's only a rodent' christ. Sorry, you said Christmas present. Most Christmas presents are surprises, so that's why I mentioned it. I also said "If", meaning if this applies to you, listen, if not, ignore.
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Sep 9, 2010 22:22
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cat with hands posted:The great mystery of guinea pigs, how can they eat so much with that tiny mouth? Ever watched one try to eat a blueberry? Hilarious.
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Sep 10, 2010 20:02
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We have mice in our house! And not the kind you get from a pet store. I just watched two mice run across my window sill, one of which jumped into our guinea pig cage. He ran into Crinkle's house, and I can only imagine, delivered a message from the mouse king, before ninja jumping over the walls out of of the cage and following his mouse buddy on a path leading under our couches. A rodent war has ensued. I will arm Crinkles with all he needs to defeat these mice. 
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Sep 12, 2010 04:40
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Hey. One of my guinea pigs has been very withdrawn today. I haven't seen him eat, come out his den of his own accord and when I picked him up he didn't seem to have the same strength he usually does. I'm afraid I'm over-reacting but I know guinea pigs can get ill easily. Is this worth going to the vets over?
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Sep 14, 2010 13:20
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SomeChump posted:Hey. Yes. As in do it right now if you can. Not eating, being less active than normal can mean a lot of things including gut stasis which can only be successfully treated if its caught immediately. Offer them a veggie that they usually like, if they show no interest at all then you have a problem. Run, don't walk, to a vet right now. Edit: As a sidenote, I've had enough guinea pigs over the last 10+ years that have developed gut stasis (for what seems like no good reason at all) that I've learned to just start them on antibiotics/reglan and force feeding of critical care rather than waiting and hoping I can get into the vet. They sure hate it but even if I'm wrong on the diagnosis it can't hurt them. Sirotan fucked around with this message at 13:58 on Sep 14, 2010 |
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Sep 14, 2010 13:52
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Well he's just eaten some food of his own accord and he's moving around and wheeking as usual now and the local vet is still open for over four hours so I'm thinking I'm going to give him another hour, see how he acts, because I think I may have just over-reacted. Either way I'll report what happened, thanks for the advice.
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Sep 14, 2010 14:14
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SomeChump posted:Well he's just eaten some food of his own accord and he's moving around and wheeking as usual now and the local vet is still open for over four hours so I'm thinking I'm going to give him another hour, see how he acts, because I think I may have just over-reacted. Either way I'll report what happened, thanks for the advice. Do you have a scale and/or weigh your pig(s) regularly? Knowing if they have lost any weight will be a good indicator to you if something is wrong. If you don't do it already now is a good time to start.
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Sep 14, 2010 14:20
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No, we never knew to do that, I'll start from today. And yeah, he eating plenty now and hopping about the cage. I think he might have just been feeling under the weather for a while and I panicked. I'll keep a close eye on him and if he seems ill again I'll definitely take him to the vet. Thanks for the advice Sirotan.
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Sep 14, 2010 14:33
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Ok so I am new to this thread and have 2 Skinny pigs. One of them always gets cuts and scabs on the top of his head. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas as to what is happening or to stop it from happening?
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Sep 15, 2010 02:04
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MasterSplinter posted:Ok so I am new to this thread and have 2 Skinny pigs. One of them always gets cuts and scabs on the top of his head. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas as to what is happening or to stop it from happening? Post a picture of their cage, if it's environmental we can't tell without seeing how they are housed. Are they males or females, intact or altered? And when were they last treated for mites, and using what medication?
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Sep 15, 2010 14:38
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SomeChump posted:No, we never knew to do that, I'll start from today. And yeah, he eating plenty now and hopping about the cage. I think he might have just been feeling under the weather for a while and I panicked. I'll keep a close eye on him and if he seems ill again I'll definitely take him to the vet. Thanks for the advice Sirotan. Weighing your pig regularly (at least once a week) is incredibly valuable as a way to keep track of their health. Since you haven't been doing it, and his health is in question, I'd recommend weighing every day for a couple of days to make sure he's not dropping weight, if you don't end up taking him to the vet tomorrow. Sometimes they can scare the piss out of you, though. My Shivani used to have the most terrifying coughing/sneezing fits that would last exactly long enough for me to dial the last number of the vet's 24-hour emergency line, then vanish completely without any trace whatsoever. Had her checked out multiple times, never found anything wrong with her, so we chalked it up to her eating too fast and getting a pellet in the wrong pipe.
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Sep 15, 2010 22:37
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Piggy (Chewie) seems fine. I just weight both him and his brother (Bertie) and they're both 400g/3lbs, is that a good weight? He's been fine ever since, I think I just panicked, with guinea-pig illnesses being both rapid and deadly and Chewie seeming out of sorts. Anyway, thanks for the help with them, I really appreciate it.
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Sep 16, 2010 00:04
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SomeChump posted:Piggy (Chewie) seems fine. I just weight both him and his brother (Bertie) and they're both 400g/3lbs, is that a good weight? He's been fine ever since, I think I just panicked, with guinea-pig illnesses being both rapid and deadly and Chewie seeming out of sorts. Anyway, thanks for the help with them, I really appreciate it. I think your scale is broken. 3 pounds is 1300g. 400g is stupidly small for an adult pig, and 3 pounds is pretty big.
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Sep 16, 2010 00:22
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edit: Weighted both the piggies: Chewie (the one I was worried about) and Bertie (his brother) andn they're both 1.4kg/3lbs. They're a bit chubby yeah, but after half an hour outside thye'll just chill out under a tree and wait to be picked up. Other than underfeeding, is there any realistic way of controlling their weight?
No Dignity fucked around with this message at 00:34 on Sep 16, 2010 |
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Sep 16, 2010 00:26
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SomeChump posted:edit: Weighted both the piggies: Chewie (the one I was worried about) and Bertie (his brother) andn they're both 1.4kg/3lbs. They're a bit chubby yeah, but after half an hour outside thye'll just chill out under a tree and wait to be picked up. Other than underfeeding, is there any realistic way of controlling their weight? What's their diet like now? What size cage are they in?
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Sep 16, 2010 01:15
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They have a constant supply of guinea-pig nuggets and and rotation of lettuce, chicory, carrots, spring greens and cucumber, of they always have carbs and vegetables. With their cage, we deliberately bought a small rabbit cage rather than a guinea pig cage for extra room, and they go out into the garden three to four times a week.
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Sep 16, 2010 02:01
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SomeChump posted:They have a constant supply of guinea-pig nuggets and and rotation of lettuce, chicory, carrots, spring greens and cucumber, of they always have carbs and vegetables. With their cage, we deliberately bought a small rabbit cage rather than a guinea pig cage for extra room, and they go out into the garden three to four times a week. That's why they're fat, they shouldn't have unlimited pellets. An ideal diet for an adult pig is unlimited grass hay (timothy, orchard, etc), around a cup of fresh vegetables a day (you're doing good on that), and then a very small amount of pellets, around 1/4 of a cup per pig. Measure the cage and figure out how much space they've got. Even "big" rabbit cages are often far too small to allow them to really do much but stroll around and fatten themselves. Generally the bare minimum recommended is 7.5 square feet, but 10+ is really better.
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Sep 16, 2010 02:24
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Okay, I'll keep that in mind feeding them. We did some research when we bought them, but I was a bit over-enthusiastic making sure they didn't go hungry. For two young adult males what is a good weight to aim for?
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Sep 16, 2010 02:33
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SomeChump posted:Okay, I'll keep that in mind feeding them. We did some research when we bought them, but I was a bit over-enthusiastic making sure they didn't go hungry. For two young adult males what is a good weight to aim for? Anything between 800-1200g is pretty ideal. It can vary a lot by guinea pig though, I've got three females right now and one is around 1250g while another is 900g. You just need to weigh them weekly to find out what is a baseline for each pig. Heres some more info: http://www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html Feeding them unlimited grass hay is the most important part of their diet. Greens are of course important but should take a backseat to hay. Read around on GuineaLynx, most of the info there is very helpful.
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Sep 16, 2010 03:16
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Ah, sorry should have mentioned, they have tons of hay. Every time their cages are cleaned I build them little mazes and dens out of it for them to run about/sleep in. Hay definitely isn't an issue.
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Sep 16, 2010 03:37
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SomeChump posted:Ah, sorry should have mentioned, they have tons of hay. Every time their cages are cleaned I build them little mazes and dens out of it for them to run about/sleep in. Hay definitely isn't an issue. Then you'd don't have to worry about them going hungry. Pellets are what packs the weight on them, and hay should be the bulk of their diet.
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Sep 16, 2010 23:27
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Noticed today that my Panda Hamster has a round scab above his eye. Originally I freaked out because the scab was black and it looked for a moment like it was his eye bulging out. The scab is completely circular and has what looks like some dried puss around it. Its directly above his eye so he can't open his eye while its there. I know antibiotics is the best bet for clearing it up but on my budget spending money on a vet for a $10 hamster just isn't realistic. I've been keeping the scab and the eye moist by dabbing some water on it with a Q-Tip. Also put a bit of peroxide above the scab and on it. My mom suggested I dab a little vaseline on there as well to keep it moist through out the night. Any idea what could be causing it and how serious is it? Edit: Pretty sure my hamster is on its last legs. It hasn't touched its food or water tonight and when I open the cage to hand feed it or give it a treat it just curls up and makes moaning noises. I've had the Hamster for almost two years now which I understand is the average life span. Gordong Dongbay fucked around with this message at 05:12 on Sep 19, 2010 |
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Sep 19, 2010 03:41
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So last month I adopted a dwarf russian hamster, and a miscommunication led me to believe that I was picking up a robo, but whatever its adorable and loves me. The problem is the little guy has gotten noticeably chubbier, and is in general a lazy bum. Are there any ways to get him to use his wheel more or should I just put his food bowl and everything else he loves above a ladder?
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Sep 19, 2010 18:05
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Update on my Panda hamster: He has been making screaching noises quite a bit. He was running circles around his cage while making this noise and then when I would reach in to pet him and see what was wrong he stops dead in his tracks like he is paralyzed almost. He has been doing this over and over again this morning.
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Sep 19, 2010 19:32
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Jesus Christ, take your Hamster to a vet. Your hamster is clearly very distressed and in pain and saying 'well, it only cost ten bucks, medical care would be a bad investment' is just hosed up. Even if it needs to be put down, it's a drat slight better than letting it die a slow and painful death.
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Sep 19, 2010 19:54
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SomeChump posted:Jesus Christ, take your Hamster to a vet. Your hamster is clearly very distressed and in pain and saying 'well, it only cost ten bucks, medical care would be a bad investment' is just hosed up. Even if it needs to be put down, it's a drat slight better than letting it die a slow and painful death. Well when you literally have absolutely no money to your name right now tell me how I'm supposed to scrape together enough cash? Its very easy to sit from a high horse and judge people isn't it? You are acting like I'm taking the thing out back and beating it with a hammer. Jesus Christ dude, I've done all I can do and all I can afford to do. I was simply asking if anyone else has gone through the same and what can be done outside of a vet visit to solve or at least make the problem a bit less painful.
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Sep 19, 2010 20:07
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Well, if you literally can't afford to take your pet, sorry for having a go, and I really hope something can be done for your hamster. But in the future, bear in mind having a pet is a privilege and not a right, if you can't afford to look after in prehaps you should reconsider owning one.
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Sep 19, 2010 20:18
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LAWLandMine posted:Update on my Panda hamster: As SomeChump said, your hamster is clearly distressed and there may not be much that can be done. Depending on where you live, I believe small animals can be put to sleep very inexpensively- some vets may even do so without charge. It may be worth asking around.
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Sep 19, 2010 20:52
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LAWLandMine posted:Well when you literally have absolutely no money to your name right now tell me how I'm supposed to scrape together enough cash? Its very easy to sit from a high horse and judge people isn't it? You are acting like I'm taking the thing out back and beating it with a hammer. Jesus Christ dude, I've done all I can do and all I can afford to do. I was simply asking if anyone else has gone through the same and what can be done outside of a vet visit to solve or at least make the problem a bit less painful. If you can't afford to take it to the vet, try calling around and explaining your situation. I know my vet doesn't charge to euthanize small animals, in order to encourage people to put them out of thier misery instead of letting them suffer.
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Sep 19, 2010 21:16
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The hamster sounds elderly and is probably going. I would see if you can't put it down for a low cost (if at all) from area vets, but I know that mine charged $150 to put down my ailing rat. Please don't judge people for not having mountains on funds on hand at all times for small animal veterinary care, people. It is some of the most expensive out there, and a lot of vets know that they can charge out the rear end because of it.
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Sep 20, 2010 02:47
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