What to do? I already have pigs!

[xoLauraox09]

Hi everyone.
So I really need advice!
My Aunt has a guinea pig and a rabbit ( well had ). She got them both in a petshop.
She kept them out in her garden. She feed them both rabbit pellets and an apple and a carrot sometimes. At night she kept the rabbit in this tiny hutch ( like I mean, the size of a hamster cage! ) The rabbit and the guinea pig had one moldy water bottle and no hay!
Her and her kids never wanted the guinea pig but the man in the petshop told her that they had to have a friend.
Anyway the rabbit got sick. She/he was bleeding when he/she went the pee.
My aunt took the rabbit to the Blue Cross. The vet said that the rabbit had to have an op but she had to take it to a normal vet. She said ( to us ) that she couldn't afford the op.
So she let the rabbit into the 'wild' (aka the field beside her )!!!
She let a rabbit that she got in a petshop into the 'wild'!

The poor little rabbit is probably at of being eat! Or knock down. Or just starved.

Anyway....the poor guinea pig is left. She said that if me or none of her friends want it (none of her friends want it ), she is taking it back to the petshop she got the poor piggie and rabbit in.
I already have six sows and she thinks the guinea pig is a boar. But she is just guessing.
At first my mam said no but then I told her the horrors of the petshop and she said yes.
I worked out where he/she would stay if I got him/her. I would take the loft down off my pigs cage ( and use other stuff ) to make a 2x3.

I really don't know what to do! Please give me some advice!

[lissie]

Poor rabbit. I feel so sad reading this.
If you take the pig, don't forget to quarantine in a separate room for 3 weeks.
If it's a boar, is there a vet who can neuter him?

[xoLauraox09]

Poor rabbit. I feel so sad reading this.
If you take the pig, don't forget to quarantine in a separate room for 3 weeks.
If it's a boar, is there a vet who can neuter him?

I have an old petshop cage for quarantine.
Hmm... there is an extoic vet ( she does mostly rabbits and a lot of people go to her to get their rabbit neutered ) but I don't know if she neuters guinea pigs.
And I would feel soooo bad if he ( if 'he' is a he ) dies getting neutered.
I went to that vet when my guinea pigs were sick but the only thing I didn't like about her is that she told me to give the pigs Vit C drops in their water.

[akstrohm]

The first thing I would do is find out the sex of the pig.

If its a sow, you could quarantine her and introduce her to your herd. If it's a boar, you could get him neutered. Make sure you find a vet who has done many recent successful guinea pig neuters. If you can't find a vet you're comfortable with, you could keep him in a divided cage (with a lid!).

Don't forget that you shouldn't take in more pigs than you and your family are able and willing to care for. You can still help by finding this pig a new home. Screen potential adopters carefully and ask a rehoming fee.

[xoLauraox09]

The first thing I would do is find out the sex of the pig.

If its a sow, you could quarantine her and introduce her to your herd. If it's a boar, you could get him neutered. Make sure you find a vet who has done many recent successful guinea pig neuters. If you can't find a vet you're comfortable with, you could keep him in a divided cage (with a lid!).

Don't forget that you shouldn't take in more pigs than you and your family are able and willing to care for. You can still help by finding this pig a new home. Screen potential adopters carefully and ask a rehoming fee.

I will ring the vet tomorrow and ask.
The thing is that she doesn't want to wait because she is out of rabbit pellets ( ) and she doesnt want to go and 'waste' money buying more.And the petshop is paying her 20 euro for him/her back because they are out of guinea pigs.

[Cogni]

I agree with the others. If it is a boar, you can foster him for a while, while looking for a good home for him. The poor unfortunate little piggie! Don't let her keep him a moment longer, or he will end up back at the shop OR let loose in a field only to be lunch for a stoat or fox!

[xoLauraox09]

Ok , I took him. ( And yeah, its a he )
I named him Sir Edward the first ( Edward for short )
He is a white abby with a little bit of black/grey on his nose. He has red eyes.

I don't know how old he is but he weighs 700 grams. He isn't eating,drinking or doing anything really. He isn't pooping. He went a tiny pee in the box coming home but that was it.

He doesn't know what to do with the hay. I have him in a suitcase with the lid open. ( I couldn't find the petshop cage, must of thrown it out )
I have a hamster bowl with water in it for him because I can't figure out a way to put the water bottle on the side. Help,anyone?

I couldn't ring the vet because it is closed today. I love him already. It would break my heart to rehome him.


EDIT: Also, what is a grease gland?

[Cogni]

You can hold the bottle up for him every couple of hours.

I have been doing this with one of my piggies who does not seem to
drink out of the bottle when it is hanging up, but will drink well if I
give it to him. Just like a baby who wants mommy to hold the bottle!! Sigh.
I don't do it every couple of hours but a couple of times a day. But your poor
little tyke is extremely stressed from bad conditions and bewildered from the big
change.

Poor thing! I hope he starts eating veg and hay soon. And drinking of course.

[Molly75]

Oh good, I'm so glad you have him and he can be on his way to good health and happiness Look up in your local Craigslist for a petshop cage, it's always good to have one on hand anyways for emergencies! Especially with so many pigs. Just keep on giving him love and always have the hay and food available. Do you think it's possible that his teeth are overgrown from having nothing to gnaw on? I would get him to a vet asap to have this checked.

[xoLauraox09]

Okay, I will try the water bottle thing.
I will have to bring him to the vet , to get his teeth checked and because his ears are dry and scaby and his back paws are dry. His skin is fine though. I don't think its mites. Does anybody know what it is?
Sorry, I don't have pigtures. ( I really need to get a camera! )


Should I hand feed him if he doesn't start eating?

[Molly75]

If his teeth are overgrown then he could have a hard time eating. I would keep food in his cage at all times, but also do lots of lap time where you try to hand feed him. Use a veggie peeler and peel some carrots into thin peels and try those. Also, my exotic vet gave me vitamin c to feed my piggies via syringe...I'd suggest you do that too. You can also feed water via syringe as well.

Was he in a wire bottom cage before? If so, I bet that is the foot issue. Dry ears could just be a sign of dehydration and the scabs could be from scratching. He doesn't have any black "dirt" on his skin, underneath the fur, does he? If he does, that's a sign of fleas. The dry and scabby ears could also be a fungus. So definitely get him into a good vet asap, even tell them that it's an emergency and explain your situation. Good luck.

[xoLauraox09]

If his teeth are overgrown then he could have a hard time eating. I would keep food in his cage at all times, but also do lots of lap time where you try to hand feed him. Use a veggie peeler and peel some carrots into thin peels and try those. Also, my exotic vet gave me vitamin c to feed my piggies via syringe...I'd suggest you do that too. You can also feed water via syringe as well.

Was he in a wire bottom cage before? If so, I bet that is the foot issue. Dry ears could just be a sign of dehydration and the scabs could be from scratching. He doesn't have any black "dirt" on his skin, underneath the fur, does he? If he does, that's a sign of fleas. The dry and scabby ears could also be a fungus. So definitely get him into a good vet asap, even tell them that it's an emergency and explain your situation. Good luck.

He lived free range in my Aunts back garden. Even in the freezing weather. I'm so sorry I didn't know about this sooner.

Still no poop. But the good news: Edward nibbled a tiny bit of parsley/cilantro! Yay! ( Sorry I can't tell them apart when its in the cage )
Yeah, I'm thinking its fungus. Also I think Edward has fleas.
I have Crital Care ( sorry if I spelt that wrong ) and two syringes from the last time my pigs were sick.
The poor little thing nearly has a heartattack when I move the hidey to see if he did any poops.


EDIT: Will I wait until in the morning to syringe the water into him or now?
Its hard to tell if he is drinking the water when I'm out of the room.

[xoLauraox09]

Look up in your local Craigslist for a petshop cage, it's always good to have one on hand anyways for emergencies! Especially with so many pigs.

I had like three petshop cages when I only had two pigs and I just put them in the bin! Why on earth did I do that?!

Also what is a grease gland on a boar?

[Animals548]

Omg! I feel so sorry for him! I am sorry I don't know what a grease gland is on a pig. look it up on wikipedia. Thats my best bet, I only have one female,( trying to get another piggie ) Best of luck! We wish you good luck!!
From me and Buttercup!

[xoLauraox09]

Its weird having a boar now. I only ever had sows!

[Cogni]

I think you need to take him to the vet as others say, but also, search around on the guinealynx site which has a lot of medical info. You might also post your specific piggie symptom questions on a different thread, because this one is not classified under medical/health issues and people who know a lot might not see it.

Non-expert answer to your question: I think the grease gland is a spot low in the middle of the back, about where the tail would be if they had one. It is a flat spot, with special sebaceous gland(s) where the oil they spread over their fur comes out. I have seen something like that on my piggies and I picked up this info from other posts on this site. Others please correct me if I am wrong!

[Molly75]

My first pig was a boar, but I haven't heard of a grease gland before so I looked it up. Here is a link from guinealynx. It doesn't explain exactly WHAT a grease gland is/does, just how to clean it. Not sure why:
http://www.guinealynx.info/grooming.html

Here's another link about it, scroll to the bottom:
Guinea Pigs - Rodents with Attitude | Bathing

This link is from this very website, someone's post about it:
http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...se-glands.html

You might want to just start a new thread in the medical and vetinary forum to get some insight. I had a boar but he never had a grease gland issue, therefore I didn't even know they had it.

[leyley904]

Here is a article about the grease gland. http://www.guinealynx.info/grooming.html

[xoLauraox09]

I found Edward's grease gland. Its not too bad.
Okay, I'll start another thread.
Thanks everyone!

[xoLauraox09]

Edward ( in other words: 'My little heart attack waiting to happen') escaped for three hours today and I couldn't find him!
I was moving his hidey to check on him and he got a fright and jumped out of the suitcase!
His 'cage' is in my mams room and ( we just moved moved rooms ) there are bags everywhere.
He escaped behind all of the bags and I couldn't find him!
I looked everywhere for three hours.

But then I found him! He was under the locker and didn't even move for three hours!

But then when I picked him up ( he was acting very calm. I should of know he was up to something! ) he jumped out of my arms onto the floor again!

Now he is back in his suitcase/cage. Thank goodness!

I am going to take down the loft off the 'main' cage and make him a 2x3 until I decide what to do with him. ( Neuter him, rehome him or get him a friend )

Tip: Never get a guinea pig! They are just a heart attack waiting to happen!


Edit: I worked it out: Edward is around four months. (Maybe less)