Do guinea pigs get stuffy noses?

[Henry]

I noticed last night that Henry had a little bit of snot around one nostril. Then a little bit ago, I took him out for a little bit of floor time and he didn't want to walk around or anything. He has been eating well and drinking a lot of water. Could it just be the cold weather or should I be worried? I have only had him since saturday, which would be 5 days.
Thanks in advance.

[Hansel]

Snotty noses are a sign of an upper respiratory infection. Did you buy him froma pet store? It is not unlikey that if you did, he is sick. You need to find a cavy savvy vet in your area and have him checked out and have medicine prescribed for him asap. If he does not get seen by a vet, he will go down quick if it is a URI and he is not medicated. Good luck!

[Himino]

Please take action quickly. This is not just a cold so it is important that you find a vet that is cavy savy, and fast. I just recently lost a guinea to an URI. It's no joke so keep a close eye on him. And get him to a vet asap!

[grEEEn]

Take your pet to the vet RIGHT AWAY! After having Apollo for about a month and a half, I came home from work one night and noticed a little bit more than just a bit of green around 1 nostril, his faces was COVERED in green crunchies, as though he had been sneezing all day. I also noticed the same green crusties all over his paws, he was trying to wipe his poor little piggy nose, but it wasn't enough to clean his whole face - and I remembered I had seen him washing his face a lot in the days before that.

Well, we took him to the vet ASAP, and she told us he was VERY SICK and that his chances of surviving weren't very good We were given medicine and a syringe, and we did everything we could for him but he still died after being on meds for a week That was the first and only time a piggy has gotten sick and died on me.

a few months after Apollo died I was ready for a new piggy, and after THOROUGHLY cleaning his cage, completely replacing water bottle, toys, and food dish, I brought home Cupcake. 2 weeks later I came home from work, and once again I had to deal with a piggy with a bit of a crunchy nose. I just couldn't take it, he was much too cute and sweet of a piggy to die on me. I sat there holding him and crying until my boyfriend got home (he left work early - IT'S THAT SERIOUS to me...) and we took Cupcake to the vet asap - fortunatly we got him there in time, and he wasn't as sick as Apollo was when we took him in - we got medicine and syringe, and after a week of medicine he was all better. We were still watching him and didn't let him play with Dante for another MONTH after recovering.

The only thing I advise you check before you can visit the vet, is his oinker working? Apollo made a raspy "arf" sound, while Cupcake always made a very crisp "OOOIIINK!" noise. Their lungs don't work very well when they're sick, so do whatever you need to to check if his lungs are ok right now, when I want to check Cupcake's oinker I open the veggie crisper in the fridge and he knows he's getting a treat if he sings for me.

[this_lil_piggy]

Just echoing everyone here. Fluid from his nose is classic sign of a URI. It is good that he is drinking and eating, but being a bit lethargic and inactive is a big huge warning sign. Pigs are prey animals and don't let on that they are sick, unless they are VERY sick. He could deteriorate very quickly, seeing a vet as soon as possible is vital.
Please see this before you take him in, so you will know what meds are safe:
Guinea Lynx :: URI

[Henry]

Ok, I just wanted to check in with you all about Henry and his stuffy nose. I called the pet store where I bought him, and they said I could bring him in tomarrow to get him looked at for free since I have only had him for a week. And if he dies before I can get him looked at, they will give me a new one for free. But, my hubby just got home a little bit ago, and said that he took Henry out of his cage and there were no boogies anywhere on his nose or face or anything, and he put him down and gave him about 30 minutes of floor time and Henry was wandering around and playing with a toilet paper roll and a little ball with a bell in it. Also, last night, I gave him 2 carrots and he ate them both over the night, and this morning I gave him a little piece of orange and a carrot and when my hubby got home he said that they are both gone. So either he is hiding them or he ate them. I am glad to see that he is a little better, but also still worried and still going to get him checked out. Thank you all for your advice.

[VoodooJoint]

Don't take him to the petstore to be seen. Take him to an independent, exotic vet and submit the bill to the pet store.

There are 3 basic ways that petstores deal with sick animals.

-take back the animal and offer you a new one. They have already offered you this in a fashion and believe me you do NOT want another animal from them. If you exchange the animal not only are you treating it like defective merchandice they will likely either place the animal in a small cage in the back room with mo medical help to play the wait and see, live or die game or they will send it back to the breeder where it will be treated as badly, if not worse.

-The store staff sees the pig and gives you or sells you some sort of useless vitamin crap. Sometimes they will even give you useless or dangerous antibiotics. These treatments will not help your pet and may kill him.

-they have it seen by their vet which normally knows nothing about GPs and will often give the wrong medicine or not treat aggresively enough. Usually they make you sign over the GP to the petstore saying you can buy them back when/if they get well. DO NOT DO THIS!!!! Many people have done that and regretted it.

[fourbwabbys]

Please, please, please do not take them to a pet store vet. You bought him at a big chain store like petco or petsmart right? They do not have exotics vets, the vets there barely know the basics for dogs and cats. Their protocol with guinea pigs is give them baytril, no matter what the ailment is, and keep them in an aquarium because it's easiest to clean until they get better. Then you will have to buy him back if he lives. It is extremely common for pet store pigs to have URI's. They are fatal if not treated.

This is a great list of exotics vets. Guinea Lynx :: GL's Vet List

You most likely will never see him again if he gets treated by the pet store. Bring him to your local vet and make the pet store pay the bills.