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I'm very embarrassed to say

Lyndsay

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Last week I was looking at Smudgee from a weird angle in the cage when I realised that there was mushrooms growing in my cage. Now the first thing your going to say is well shouldn't you have seen them when you spot cleaned? Ok well they wern't there when I looked over the cage the morning before, they were very small when I found them. When I did I freaked out, ripped everything out of the cage, cleaned with vinager, and water, made sure every area was clean. It had only been 4 days since my previous clean, and I was disgusted.
Today before I was leaving for work, I reached down to pet Smudgee on the bum before I left, and there was a worm crawling behind him. Now I'm a bug freak, I hate bugs anywhere, and keep a fly swatter in my room to kill off anything that comes in. It has been exactly 4 days since my last total clean as the boys have a puppy pad, shavings, and hay bottom to the cage, as they destroy fleece on the bottom level. I pulled them out of their cage immediatly and put them in XZanders quarenteen cage which was set up in the basement, as it has been getting hot and the cage is too large to be moved to the basement, and it's much to dark down there.
The boys have an appointment to be wormed on friday, but I feel like an absolute horrible cavy keeper because I don't know why this is happening. My one and only thought could be the hay, because I recently bought from a different place. Someone please help me, find the source of my problem, and tell me that it will be alright, cause I'm a mess, and I feel like the worst care giver ever.
 

TipiDancer

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What brand of bedding do you have? Is it kiln dried, if it's carefresh, I heard you have to spray it down before you put it in. Where is your cage, is it very humid? Is the area of the cage familliar to mold?
 

Lyndsay

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I use pine shavings, the cage is in my room infront of a large window that is open on days that permitt nice warm weather, and a gentle breeze. There has never been mold in the cage, as I don't think the contents are in there long enough to create mould. I do have though a mould spot in my closet that has yet to be delt with. But that isn't really overly close to the cage. I'll bleach that tomorrow, but that can't be the entire cause of the problem.
 

Percy's Mom

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TipiDancer said:
if it's carefresh, I heard you have to spray it down before you put it in.
Where did you hear this? There is absolutely no reason to spray down Carefresh before you put it in a cage. Actually, that would probably cause it to break down and mold.

Have you considered a dehumidifier Lyndsay? If the mushrooms popped up, you had quite a bit of humidity around your cage.
 

Lyndsay

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I will run that tonight, ours is really loud, but it has been raining quite a bit lately, and maybe that has been a contributing factor to the mushrooms. But the worm? It's still living in my garbage can, just incase you guys wanted to see what it looked like. I'm so grossed out. I havn't touched the cage yet, the boys are trying to figure out where their freedom went.
 

Lyndsay

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Sorry I asked my dad if he thought it had been too humid lately, and since my room is right in the sun he said that it hasn't been. He is usually the first to detect humidity, I'm off to clean the mould spot right now. Please keep posting ideas, something has to be right.
 

TipiDancer

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Where did you hear this? There is absolutely no reason to spray down Carefresh before you put it in a cage. Actually, that would probably cause it to break down and mold.

I believe I heard this on this website. But then again it could have been another clump of soft foamy bedding...


Lindsay: I don't think you should have the cage by a window... Guinea pigs are very susceptible to upper respiratory infections and drafts are a major culprit.
 

PiggieMom

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What kind of worm is it? I mean does it look like an earth worm, or a parasite worm? Make sure you have a cavy savvy vet that knows the safe medication for the pigs.

I'd be freaked out too. But you are not a bad caregiver. If you were you'd say, "Piggies are dirty." and shrug it off.

I can't say where the worm came from. How recently did you buy the hay? A worm couldn't live that long in it. Is there any holes in the screen in your window?

I hope you figure this out. I'd be grossed out too. I hate bugs and mushrooms.
 

Percy's Mom

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The new hay could be a source I suppose. Have you noticed any worms anywhere else in the house? If you've had a lot of rain lately, they might be coming in from outside. I'm honestly a bit baffled on the worms.
 

VoodooJoint

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Lyndsay said:
I realised that there was mushrooms growing in my cage.
The spores for the mushrooms were most likely in the pine shavings. Add a little moisture and they grow quickly. A few years ago I added cypress mulch to some of my gardens and had a very healthy crop of shaggy brown mushrooms come up. They were delicious (I DO NOT recommend you eat mushrooms you find growing wild- I was able to accurately identify them and I would never eat mushrooms growing in my animal's cages-yuck).

Lyndsay said:
there was a worm crawling behind him.
What did the worm look like?
 

VoodooJoint

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TipiDancer said:
if it's carefresh, I heard you have to spray it down before you put it in.
Where are you hearing this stuff and why are you spreading this nonsence on this forum? I swear Tipi I've about had it.
 

JennG

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Could the worm have gotten in from the window? I'm with ya on the gross out part. I hate bugs as well. It sounds like you have an extreme amount of moisture coming into the cage. Maybe you should give the fleece another chance to minimize the chance of sprouting anymore mushrooms? I use bricks in the corners of my cage to keep my fleece in place. The girls don't bother it. If you think they like to hide under it, get a scrap piece to put in there just for that purpose.
 

TipiDancer

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VoodooJoint said:
Where are you hearing this stuff and why are you spreading this nonsence on this forum? I swear Tipi I've about had it.

Well, I'm not saying that I'd do it. But I remember right when I joined that someone said something about spraying it. But it may have been a different foamy bedding stuff.
 

Buggie_00

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Oh my a worm? That's odd. I have no idea where a worm would come from other than maybe through your screen. If it's been raining or anything lately it might have snuck in to find a place to hide and found the jackpot in piggie poo as food too. The mushrooms are probably from the bedding, that's the only thing I can think of. Hope you figure it out and the piggies are ok.
 

Lyndsay

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I'm going to take a picture of the cage's location just so everyone understands. I'll be back in a few, and with a picture of that ucky worm..
 

Susan9608

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Tipi, you're treading on thin ice here. You obviously don't have enough accurate knowledge about guinea pigs, their health, their care, and/or their supplies to be offering advice to people. You need to keep your speculations and guesses to yourself. I, for one, am getting tired of having to step in to correct the information you keep posting.
 

Lyndsay

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Ok so because the picture wont show up, my window is almost 6 feet off the ground.

Here is where my cage is located, it can be relocated, but only to different places in my room. If you think that this would help a little bit please let me know.
https://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc027891jf.jpg

Here is the worm thing, that looks more like a caterpillar, which would make more sence as to why it was in the cage, it might have crawled in as opposed to grew in there.
https://img89.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc027927pp.jpg

The idea of going back to fleece on the bottom is greatly appreciated, but just not something I want to re-consider, they have fleece on the top, and that is a mess already. My pigs love to drag hay all over the place, and with fleece I had a heck of a time trying to have them keep it on the bottom, and with my parents not letting my use the washing machiene to clean my fleece, hand washing isn't really fun. I do the top because it's easy, and a smaller piece. Do you suppose if I changed the shavings everyday, and placed something underneath the really wet spots, like fleece that it would help any?
 
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JennG

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Maybe the worm was in one of your plants and fell into the cage. I noticed the plants on top of the cage. It could've gotten in through the window and was attracted to the plant.
 

Lyndsay

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Heh looking at that picture makes my room look like a disgrace, sorry about the mess, after I found the worm I kinda ripped my room apart to clean the mould spot (thats why the chair is where it is) The garbage bag is where I keep my shavings because they spill all over the place. The laudry basket is where my hay is, and the empty now uncleaned cage...

I'm going to inspect my plants right now, just had a hunch. I doubt they are the cause though.
 

VoodooJoint

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That's not a worm. I think it's a larvae of some sort of beetle. Like a Meel Worm.

It could very well have been in the pine along with those mushroom spores.

Do you buy Pine in huge bags from a feed store or something? While the deal is great they can be a little more "infested" with strange things. Often the feed stores keep the bedding and hay bales in an outbuilding or drafty back room where critters can easily come and go.

Not saying you shouldn't buy it but be prepared for the occational visitor.
 
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