ok 4 guini 2 be swimming???

We have a kiddie pool in our back yard , & i put my guini pig in to see if he likes it. He was a born swimmer! Does he really like to swim?? beacause soon he whould starlt to try and jump out. At his 3rd dip, I noticed someint white and gooey looking ozzing out the side of his eyes (he has black eyes) is that beacuse of swimming? should i stop his pool time? I think he gets great exersise, but that eye thing really bugged me! HELP! <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/embarassed.gif ALT="">

They can, but I wouldn't reccomend it, especially since that white stuff came out of his/her eye. Just keep an eye on it!



laura

Do u think that the white stuff is because of the swimming? Wht is it so bad for them to swim?

swimming should not be bad 4 piggies!it is somthing used for theriputic(sp) reasond like if it has an injered leg! as for weather he likes it or not i think he does and just wanta ground rest for a while!im not sure about the eyes though my piggies have not had swim time yet!

If they are paralysed they can sit in warm water, it's supose to help their leds heal. Other than that, they really not made to be swimmers. Most would sink and drown if you put them in the water. You have a pretty talented pig! I wouldn't reccomend it, especially if white stuff came out of his eye. It was probably an alergic reaction to the water. Read this thread for more info: pub25.ezboard.com/fcavyma...2222.topic

PS
It's not neccisarily "Bad", but not good either.

beleave it or not but all pigs are naterial swimmers! they are all born w/ the ability to swim! and me and my mom found proof of it but i'll find out where my mom found it! and proove it to u!

but they're not. They are domesticated, and even though some can, most will drown if you stick them in a tub of water. I would like to see the proof.

Laura

"All animals can swim by instinct. How much they enjoy it depends on their confidence in the water and this can be increased by gradual acclimatisation."
reference: www.natural-animal-health...herapy.htm

Peter Gurney's instructions for helping pet guinea pigs become accustomed to swimming for exercise:
www.oginet.com/pgurney/swimming.htm

"Like many other small mammals, Wild Cavies are accomplished swimmers. It is unlikely that they swim from choice but necessity, as when their territory is flooded, during which time they have been seen to swim several kilometres to dry land."
reference: www15.brinkster.com/efexo...ytext.html

Not that we should all run out and force our piggies to go swimming every day... but they can do it. Sometimes there are even good reasons to get your piggies swimming regularly.

I've seen a lot of people say their cavies couldn't swim.

Anyways, my point was that since his eye seemed irritated with the water, I wouldn't reccomend it.

Laura

I wasn't saying that it was "Bad", but I was saying that her eye seemed to have a reaction to the water, so I wouldn't do it anymore just as a precaution.

Laura

I'd wonder what that white stuff was too... maybe some chemical in the water, on the pool itself, something the pig picked up somewhere else and it stuck to its wet hair and dripped onto its eye? The advice to watch carefully is good.

Anyway, if a person does want their piggie to swim, they should probably follow Peter Gurney's advice on how to introduce them to it. I'm sure it could be very frightening for a pig to be suddenly dropped into a tub of water, and I wouldn't blame it for panicking. Many pigs won't enjoy swimming and probably shouldn't be forced to unless there's a good reason for it. But for those who do like it, go for it!

I heard "white stuff coming from the eye" is supposed to be a guinea pigs cleaning fluid that they use to groom themselves.

I think you're right... swimming is a safe enough activity. Grooming fluid coming from their eyes is nothing to worry about.

I learned from one of those nature shows that all rodents are great swimmers. Swimming is a wonderful form of exercise for all living beings capable of doing it.

On hot days in the summer, I fill the kiddie pool so my pigs can swim. I float some grass around in there, and make a brick patio for a shallow end. In the deep part, I put cinder blocks for an island. Two of my pigs love it and will jump off the cinder block into the water, and push grass to the shallow part to eat it. They like it and when they are done we dry them off until they are 98% dry and then put them in their covered outdoor play area to popcorn off the rest of the 2%. My pigs like water in the pool, but they hate baths! LOL Guinea pigs are relatives of capibaras who even have some webbing in between their twos to swim!!! Guinea pigs in the wild, swim across rivers to get to new pasture and such, mine even have the natural instict to close their ears so water cant get in.....Its kind of dumb that you would say it would drown when you put it in water. You obviously haven't tried swimming your pigs. MINE LOVE IT!!!

I meant to put toes not twos:smokin: :: 8o :| [center] |I 0] :evil: <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/embarassed.gif ALT=""> <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/grin.gif ALT=" >D"> :rollin:

YOU MUST READ THIS! It is okay for your guinea to swim ONLY FOR A FEW MINUTES AT A TIME; ONLY IN LUKEWARM-COOL WATER; AND ONLY UNDER YOUR SUPERVISION! You see, once a friend of mine, while in my company, put her guineas in the pool. She left them in too long, and the water was too cold, and they went into shock and became limp, as though dying. we had to revive them with a blowdryer. And also, you may want to know this: the white stuff coming out of your guineas eyes is perfectly natural and it comes out usually when they are grooming themselves, but it will also come out to protect their eyes when they are wet. PLease contact me at :siloam_hill@yahoo.com

[SuperCavyLover]

You have to remember, guinea pigs aren't dogs and don't particularly like the water like dogs do. Putting piggies in pools for a short while is fine, but they much rather be on fresh grass or on anything other than water!

I bathe my guinea pig's once a month, and they are quite used to getting wet, but they do not like to just sit in water for a long period of time.