Help, I am very confused! - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

**punkygizzylover** · #1 11-19-08, 07:37 pm

I looked into my female 9 week old guinea pigs cage tonight and seen something that looked like a cross between a worm of some type( I dont think it is a worm it was pretty big and hollow), some kind of a mucus type plug, or something she ate that looks really weird( probably from the hay). She is acting fine and everything and is growing quick. Does a guinea pig emit some type of plug or something when she is in heat or something. I really cant see it being a worm because she has never been outside and her poop is fine. I'm hoping this is me being paranoid yet again it was lying on her pillow with a normal piece of poop! I am so confused.

**starshine123102** · #2 11-19-08, 07:58 pm

Can you post a picture of it?

**punkygizzylover** · #3 11-19-08, 08:01 pm

I flushed it down the toilet before I thought on it. I wish I had. I am starting to think its a mucus plug of some sort. Ive read a few other peoples posts about this sort of thing and it sounds pretty close to it. Thinking back she did have a sort of whitish thing on her genitals now its gone. Maybe that is what it was.

**krittercrazy** · #4 11-19-08, 10:27 pm

Guinea Lynx :: Topic - Discharge from a Sow - Is this a mucus plug?

Here is a link to a discussion on Guinea Lynx. Could this be what you saw?

**punkygizzylover** · #5 11-20-08, 01:18 pm

YES omg it is what I saw!!! Except it was white and slimy and no bloody stuff..... I honestly thought it was a HUGE WORM parasite of some sort and I got stomach sick. This is my first time having a young sow and this was frightening to me and I am 28 with three kids! Traumatic! Thank you so much for showing me this link I seriously appreciate it. I was so worried! I love this forum!

**krittercrazy** · #6 11-20-08, 09:02 pm

Glad I could help. And I am really glad clotho posted it to begin with and was able to get a picture of it.

**clotho** · #7 11-21-08, 06:13 am

Hey LOL I'm glad that my picture helped someone! It was very gross when it happened but my first impulse was to take a pic of it so I could show people and try to find out what it was. I also saved it in a baggie in the fridge and a vet saw it and confirmed it was a mucus plug.

I have never seen it happen again, so maybe it's a one time occurrence - I figured it was Twinkie's first heat because she was quite young. She did spot blood (a tiny bit) when she went into heat for the next few cycles, but then it seemed to stop and I haven't seen it since. She was checked out by a vet and deemed to be just fine (thank goodness!).

I thought it was huge too - for having come out of such a tiny piggie - but the pics I took make it look bigger than it really is. It's really quite scary when you find something like that - I'm glad you can feel better about it now.

**punkygizzylover** · #8 11-21-08, 01:11 pm

Yes, thank you so much. I really had no idea what it was. I think this is Kiwi's first heat too, she is only about 9-10 weeks old. It is excellent when people take pictures for reference on these sites, that pic really calmed my nerves. I seriously thought it was a huge worm because the bottom of it looked mouthlike! Thank God for pics and mucus plugs that aren't worms!LOL

**Ly&Pigs** · #9 11-21-08, 01:41 pm

When a pig goes into heat the mucus plug normally disolves but sometimes it doesn't fully dissolve and what's left is expelled. Once they go out of heat, a new plug starts to form. This cycle is repeated over and over. Most of the time you will never see the plug or what's left of it.