Lethal guinea pigs discussion - Page 11

**salana** · #**201** 08-11-06, 08:28 am

It may be that not every lethal is 100% blind. There have been a couple of recent reports of lethals that may have limited vision in one eye. There's a few tests you can do. One is the pupil reaction test.

You will need a bright flashlight. Put your lethal on a table or somewhere you can observe her eyes. Look at the size of the pupil in whatever normal ambient light you have in the room. Then watch as you shine the light right at her eye. If the pupil shrinks, then her eye can react to light and she might not be totally blind. If it doesn't, then she is probably blind in that eye.

Another test you can do is the startle test, although it can be misleading. Put your lethal on the table, again. Move something quickly near her eye and see if she blinks or backs away. This test can be problematic for the following reasons:

If you use your hand, she might smell it.
If she's not deaf, she might hear the movement of the object, and startle from that.
If you bump her whiskers, she might startle from that.

Oh, and Einy loved baby food as a flavoring agent. He got very picky towards the end of his life, and didn't want to have peaches in his mash twice in a row, so I'd have to alternate peaches with blueberries, for instance. Mangoes were always a hit. Baby food was also good for making mash more syringeable.

**Sabriel** · #**202** 08-11-06, 09:44 am

When I had to hand feed Spinel he was a fussy eater and did not like it when I used babyfood in his mash. I has to boil pumpkin and anise and mash it up myself. Then he would eat it off a spoon and out of a bowl.

**LobsterOverlord** · #**203** 08-12-06, 10:15 pm

Regarding eating habits. The previous owner of Piggly and Wiggly would feed them matchstick veggies. Ones that are shredded like for schezwan (sp) vegtables. Because they are shredded, about how much should I be giving them? Normally for two pigs in cage together it ends up being between two and three cups of fluffed veggies, but the shredded takes up less air space so is more condensed.

They get mostly a broccli slaw which has cabbage and carrots in it, as well as can eat hay. I have been mashing grapes which they love and tried green pepper tonight which i sliced thinly. It's definitely intensive work to make sure they can get the food as lengths, and I want to make sure they get the right amounts and types.

Their poo looks normal, and I need to set it up so that I can take stock of pee to make sure all is well, without just out right putting them on the rug long enough for them to let go.

Any help would be great.

John M.

**salana** · #**204** 08-13-06, 12:05 pm

I would start out with about a cup of shredded veggies. See how well they do with them.

Are you weighing them regularly? (Sorry I forgot, there's several new lethals recently.) Can they eat pellets?

**LobsterOverlord** · #**205** 08-13-06, 04:10 pm

Nope, I havn't started weighing them yet. I will be though starting this week. As for pellets, that's a yes. They can eat pellets. They suck them in with the tongue and push them to the molars. As long as the food is small, they can eat any solid food.

John M>

**LobsterOverlord** · #**206** 08-13-06, 11:39 pm

We did a lights on/lights off test with Wiggly tonight to see what she did. Motionless for most of the time with lights off, so we're going with the impression that she's mostly blind, but has the ability to see large/dark shapes, and that she is completely deaf too. Michelle sat with Piggly across the room, and petted her, which got her to squeek. Wiggly, who usually runs around the cage looking for Piggly when she's not in there, didn't react to Piggly's sounds at all when brought nearby.

I also discovered that the water bottle the previous owner used for them has a spring loaded tip. This makes it difficult to use. I'm sure she wasn't aware of their possible lack of strength as well. She stated she had the one she did because it was the only one she could find that didn't leak. I replaced it with the bottle from Herbie and Ichibods cage and their water intake has more than tripled. (Which also allowed for us to take stock of their peeing when they were out for floor time...got a few spots towards the end of it) H and I are having problems with it too, so I'm going to be purchasing another pair of the big ones like we already have on Monday.

The bottle is question is LIXIT. While good in theory, a small animal might not have the tongue/teeth strengh to push the pin back enough times to get enough water without getting tired out. It might be more specifically for rabbits too.

Because of all the help here, my wife and I are very confident in our knowledge of how to take care of them, that we've decided to keep them and not look to rehome them.

John M.

**kathmom26** · #**207** 08-25-06, 10:54 pm

What is a mirco?

Kathy

**Matt & Guins** · #**208** 08-26-06, 02:13 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by kathmom26

What is a mirco?

If you read this entire post everything you need to know should be answered

**kathmom26** · #**209** 08-26-06, 08:27 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt & Guins

It is a common myth that micros are sterile - unfortunately you have found out the hard way here.

Hopefully she will not have any complications in the birth (being such an older age, and also being a micro).

Matt

This is where I see it mentioned. It does not explain to me what it means.

Kathy

**Matt & Guins** · #**210** 08-26-06, 10:00 am

Micros are basically just another name for a "lethal" baby. The correct terminology is "microthalmic" or "micromathalmic".

An "opthalmic" baby is a 'lethal' born with no eyes.

Matt

**cavy craze!** · #**211** 08-27-06, 10:41 am

I looked up roan on Google (images) and they all looked like regular piggies. I was reading a thread a couple of minuets ago about lethal guinea pigs and it was all very confusing. How can you tell if you have a roan? And what is so bad about roans and dalmatians? What is bad about a roan x dalmatian cross? Also, if you have a roan, does that mean if it is a female and it is pregnant, she can have blind pups?

**daftscotslass** · #**212** 08-27-06, 10:50 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by cavy craze!

I looked up roan on Google (images) and they all looked like regular piggies. I was reading a thread a couple of minuets ago about lethal guinea pigs and it was all very confusing. How can you tell if you have a roan? And what is so bad about roans and dalmatians? What is bad about a roan x dalmatian cross? Also, if you have a roan, does that mean if it is a female and it is pregnant, she can have blind pups?

Read this thread, look at the pictures and also the pictures on the other link I gave you on the other thread. That will answer everything you asked here.

**cavy craze!** · #**213** 08-27-06, 11:27 am

Daftscotslass: Ok I read part of this thread and saw the pictures and I sort of understand now. I have a few questions that where not answered though. Are Dalmatians and Roans breeds? I still don't see characteristics of Roans.

Quote:

Originally Posted by salana

Typically, the head will have more color and less roaning, and sometimes the rear will be colored as well, as with Doom.

My female guinea pig looks a lot like Doom in the picture. Does that mean she is a Roan? She has a big patch in the front and a big one on her back that has a golden color and brown mixed. It looks as if ever hair was a different color.

**daftscotslass** · #**214** 08-27-06, 11:58 am

Can you post a picture of her? Roans and dalmations are not breeds, they are a variety of colour. Breeds refer to the type of coat (short hair, abyssinian, peruvian etc) but not the colour.

If she looks like Doom there is a good possibility she is a roan. Roans have a coloured head (either solid colour such as black or agouti as you see with Doom) and a body with white hair mixed with the same colour as the head. Often roans can be poorly marked so the white mixed with colour is just white, such as Salana's Suzi.

**Ly&Pigs** · #**215** 08-27-06, 12:00 pm

Quote:

Ok I read part of this thread and saw the pictures and I sort of understand now. I have a few questions that where not answered though. Are Dalmatians and Roans breeds?

You need to read the entire thread to get a good understanding of lethals. Dalmations and Roans are not breeds, they are color varieties. When crossed with each other or themselves they can produce lethals.

We'd have to see a picture of your pig to know if it's actually a Roan or not.

**cavy craze!** · #**216** 08-27-06, 06:49 pm

OK I have a good picture of her but, I don't know how to post it. Can someone tell me how to do that?

**cavy craze!** · #**217** 08-27-06, 07:09 pm

Sorry I'm in a bit of a hurry and I will finish reading the whole thread later. But for now I will post my questions so I don't forget them. What does the type of hair coloration have to do with the pig being a lethal? If you breed dal x dal or roan x roan each pup will have a 25% chance of being lethal. If you breed a dal x roan what will be the percentage of getting a lethal pup? Does this mean that if you breed any 2 pigs with the same hair coloration you will have a 25% chance of a lethal? For example, a self agouti and a self aouti?

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