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Newbie With A Few Questions

GuitarGuy

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Hello, my name is Conner. I just adopted a female guinea pig and we named her Sweet Pete. I think she's about 1-2 months old. She seems healthy and loves to be held. She loves fruits and veggies, hay, etc. Her bowel movements are normal. But one thing I noticed is that she had a little bit of crust around her nose. I got a little worried and did some research online and I didn't find anything but extreme cases of URI. She "wheeks" and has no other signs of a sickness (hair, eyes, etc.). She no longer has the crust around her nose but it seems like if you tell someone online that your guinea pig isn't flawless than they have URI (and I completely understand why they need good vets and immediate attention). Please let me know if your guinea pig has ever has a slightly crusty nose and sneezes maybe 5-10 times a day. Keep in mind that she's a baby and does not have a runny nose or eyes. She seems REALLY happy too. I'm kind of paranoid due to all of the answers I read on many forums. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this! :)
 

mdodge

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Hello and welcome. have you looked around to see if you have an exotic vet near you? If she's not showing any signs of difficulty breathing or noise when she breaths I would just keep n eye on her.but it can never hurt for a wellness check as well but make sure you have a vet lined up one that deals with small animals just in case.good luck and welcome again
 

GuitarGuy

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Yeah, I think I'll have to schedule her a checkup just to be safe. Thanks. :)
 

Mowgs

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It wouldn't be a bad idea to get her checked out since she has the history of crusting (may indicate that her nose was running before or even something else). However, piggies ,like other animals, can also have allergies or be irritated by dust. What kind of bedding do you have her on? Woodchips in particular are pretty dusty and certain chips (pine/cedar) have oils that can cause respiratory issues. You could always switch to something like fleece or Carefresh (although I think that's still kind of dusty) and see if that helps at all.

That being said, I have a piggy that sneezes a bunch and always has for the 2 years that I've had him. His previous owner did have him on pine bedding so I wonder if it's chronic irritation from that. He's been on a trial course of antibiotics with no improvement. My vets pretty much said my next options were head radiographs or a bronchiolar lavage to get a sample from his lungs to see what's going on in there. But since his weight has been stable and he's eating/drinking/pooping normally, they've never made it sound super urgent (and these are completely respectable vets --they're clinicians at my veterinary school). He's due for his annual in the next month or so, so we'll re-evaluate whether we need to pursue anything then.
 

GuitarGuy

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I have her on pine wood chips. I've read what you said about causing dust so I'm gonna look into new bedding. I'm glad to hear the sneezing isn't too out of the ordinary. Can you recommend a good spot to have her little cage at in the house? I've read that bedrooms cause a lot of dust. Right now I keep her in a little hall outside of my room during the day. BTW, I hope your Guinea continues to have stable health and continues to live a long and happy life. :) Thanks.
 

NicholsS10

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Can you recommend a good spot to have her little cage at in the house?

A good place would be somewhere that has some foot traffic (if she's an only guinea pig it'll be helpful to have her in a place to have her get use to people and sounds more quickly, and there will naturally be more interaction between you and her), a place that's not drafty or can be protected from drafts, and a place out of constant direct sun light (or you could just cover a portion of her cage to give her the option of not being in the sunlight if she so chooses, but some pigs also love to lounge in sunlight).

As for a bedding, I would highly recommend a fleece/towel combination (towels on the bottoms and a layer of fleece on the top, there is a forum on this website that talks about this type of bedding). It can be costly to start up, but is much cheaper in the long run, and if she's sensitive to dust, fleece and towel would be great for her to live on.

Enjoy your new family member!
 
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