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Impaction Anal sacs

hunniechey

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So magic is about a year old. I have had him for several months now. His poops started getting really small and super hard. Part of that was probably because he had crappy food he wouldnt eat because he like oxbow. Well about a month after switching back to oxbow they got small and hard again. I looked in his anal sacs and they were FULL I watched the videos cleaned like they said he was really pleased :) took two days because it was soo bad and he started getting antsy so I let him have a break until the next day. Well now his poops are big and softer and its still pretty clean inside the sac. Its been about a week or two but now his bottom STINKS. his bed stays clean he stays clean and his gland is clean. My fingers stink after pushing the anal sac open so I think its that. Does that mean I should clean some more? And how often so I clean them anyways?
 

bpatters

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You clean them as often as it's needed, but a year-old male really shouldn't need to be cleaned too often unless he's getting bedding gunked up in his anal sac. it sounds to me like a diet adjustment might help things go through better. Exactly what do you feed him (what kind of hay, what kind of pellets, which veggies, and how much of each)? Does he drink water?
 

hunniechey

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He drinks about 8 oz of water a day. He gets oxbow pellets now (the only reason I switched to not good food is because it was given to me but after two weeks of him not touching it I gave up and got the oxbow again). He gets about a quarter of a bellpepper a day maybe a little less and leaf of buttered lettuce every day. Throughout the week he gets parsley, carrots, apple, spinach, berries, celery. Total is just over a cup a day and I always bring the veggie and fruit chart to the store and when im dividing up his veggies for the week. He is finishing the last of kaytee hay and he will be getting oxbow hay after that mostly because it may be more expensive but it only has the parts he likes so I will save money by not throwig half the bag away of parts he doesnt like.
 

bpatters

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Eight ounces is an awful lot of water for a pig to drink. Are you sure the bottle isn't leaking, or he isn't playing with it?

He needs a wider variety of vegetables per day. He could have a cherry tomato (or that sized chunk of a regular tomato), a chunk of carrot, a couple of green beans, a bit of summer squash, for example.

He also needs hay all the time. If you can find a local farmer who sells a long strand grass hay, you can buy a bale for what you pay for one of those bags in the pet store. If not, you can still buy it in bulk online and have it shipped to you for 1/4 to 1/3 of the cost of pet store hay. And it'll be better quality, too -- pet store hay is usually dry and dusty, and the pigs will eat a lot more of the fresher hay.

One thing that occurs to me -- are these smelly poops inside the sac sort of greenish in color? If so, leave them there. They're his cecal poops, and he needs to eat those to help his digestion.
 

hunniechey

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He plays with it alot so he probably isnt drinking all of it good point. And he gets different stuff every day only the bell peppers and lettuce are daily. And no there is nothing in the sacs anymore its clean it just stinks
 

hunniechey

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I dont know anyone who sells Timothy hay only grass horse hay but I read in here oxbow is second best. Once I move I can buy bigger amounts but currently I have no storage of any kind
 

bpatters

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I dont know anyone who sells Timothy hay only grass horse hay but I read in here oxbow is second best. Once I move I can buy bigger amounts but currently I have no storage of any kind

Grass horse hay isn't a kind of hay. It's apparently hay that's suitable for horses, and in many cases, what's suitable for horses is suitable for guinea pigs. But not all of it, so you have to be careful. Oxbow is also not a a kind of hay. Oxbow is company that sells several different kinds of hays. Other companies that sell hay are Sweet Meadow Farm, KMS Hayloft, American Pet Diner, Small Pet Select, and I'm sure there are others.

What you want for pigs is a long strand grass hay. That's what they need for nutrition, and to keep their teeth ground down, and their guts moving properly. The most common long strand grass hays are timothy, meadow, orchard, blue and brome. Alfalfa can be given to pregnant or nursing sows and young pups as a supplement to their grass hay, but it's not grass. It's a legume, like peas, and should not be the only hay they get.

Try feed stores in your area and see if they've got long strand grass hay. If not, try to find a horse farm and see what kind of hay they feed their horses. If you can find one, they'd probably be willing to see you a bale.
 

hunniechey

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Ok thank you. I got the oxbow brand timothy hay but I could not guarantee the horse hay i can get ahold of is good for pigs so I dont want to use it
 

MrWhistles

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horse hay is often perfectly healthy for pigs.
I feed TnA to my pigs. In my area it is 10% alfalfa and 90% timothy.
Other types of hay you can feed is Orchard, Bermuda, Coastal(if in good quality), Bluegrass.....here's a hay chart from Guinea Lynx: https://www.guinealynx.info/hay_chart.html
 
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