Hey guys,
I've received a rescue guinea pig yesterday evening and I have some questions about his health and overall behavior. My sister found him at a park yesterday afternoon, apparently someone had abandoned the poor baby and he was hiding in the bushes. I'd say it was about 60F yesterday and rainy, and I assume he hadn't been out long. He doesn't have a runny nose, and he isn't coughing or wheezing and his eyes look fine. However, he's extremely lethargic.
The only thing that I haven't seen since he's been under my care is him pooping. I'm not sure how big or what shape they're supposed to be, but I may be missing it due to the hay that I've put in his enclosure. I've seen traces of urine, though. He seems to be eating relatively well, I've been able to feed him a little bit of a carrot and he's ate from his food bowl once. I'm going to try to get some timothy hay into him to see how he'll respond to that.
He also.. oinked at me. That's the only sound I can think of that matches the sound he was making, the oinking of a pig, that low grunt. He did it for about twenty seconds until I gave him a pet and assured him that I was there, and that's when he stopped.
The enclosure that I've made consists of a plastic clothes basket, a towel on the floor of the basket, and hay sprinkled sparingly on one side of the basket. I've also placed a paper bag in the enclosure as sort of a improvised "hide away".
Right now, and through the night he's been having his nose in a corner of the enclosure and it almost as if he's trying to tuck his head under his stomach. It may be just from the angle that I'm looking at him (his back is to the room and his nose is in a corner), but I'm not sure.
So, I'm stumped. I'm thinking that it could be stress related and that he's trying to come to terms with what has happened, but I'm really not sure. I've removed all the stressors I can, I've placed him in my room (which I'm ALWAYS in), and I've kept the noise I've made down to a bare minimum. Right now, we're sitting in silence other than the clacking on my laptop keyboard.
What do you guys think? Is it a health problem or is he just stressed?
I've received a rescue guinea pig yesterday evening and I have some questions about his health and overall behavior. My sister found him at a park yesterday afternoon, apparently someone had abandoned the poor baby and he was hiding in the bushes. I'd say it was about 60F yesterday and rainy, and I assume he hadn't been out long. He doesn't have a runny nose, and he isn't coughing or wheezing and his eyes look fine. However, he's extremely lethargic.
The only thing that I haven't seen since he's been under my care is him pooping. I'm not sure how big or what shape they're supposed to be, but I may be missing it due to the hay that I've put in his enclosure. I've seen traces of urine, though. He seems to be eating relatively well, I've been able to feed him a little bit of a carrot and he's ate from his food bowl once. I'm going to try to get some timothy hay into him to see how he'll respond to that.
He also.. oinked at me. That's the only sound I can think of that matches the sound he was making, the oinking of a pig, that low grunt. He did it for about twenty seconds until I gave him a pet and assured him that I was there, and that's when he stopped.
The enclosure that I've made consists of a plastic clothes basket, a towel on the floor of the basket, and hay sprinkled sparingly on one side of the basket. I've also placed a paper bag in the enclosure as sort of a improvised "hide away".
Right now, and through the night he's been having his nose in a corner of the enclosure and it almost as if he's trying to tuck his head under his stomach. It may be just from the angle that I'm looking at him (his back is to the room and his nose is in a corner), but I'm not sure.
So, I'm stumped. I'm thinking that it could be stress related and that he's trying to come to terms with what has happened, but I'm really not sure. I've removed all the stressors I can, I've placed him in my room (which I'm ALWAYS in), and I've kept the noise I've made down to a bare minimum. Right now, we're sitting in silence other than the clacking on my laptop keyboard.
What do you guys think? Is it a health problem or is he just stressed?