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  • ONE THREAD per pig please!
    We really want your pig's history all in one place to help you. Please don't start a new thread for a new issue. Just reply to your old one. We can edit the title for you if needed.

Hair Loss Hair loss in her face :o

onibaku06

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The dried white urine can be a problem. It's excess calcium in the urine. Whether it is or not depends on a lot of things.

If the pig is young (under a year), we don't usually worry too much about it. They need the excess calcium for strong teeth and bones, and pigs don't usually develop urinary tract stone problems at that age. Powdery spots mean that the pig has a lot of urinary calcium, and that's definitely implicated in the development of stones. There's a controversy over whether that's a problem or not, and you'll find a lot of people saying that powdery spots are ok. Gritty spots are a step in the development of stones, and definitely MUST be addressed.

For about two years, I did an informal survey of pigs who had developed bladder stones -- probably 150-200 pigs. EVERY pig except one had excreted calcium in its urine, some gritty, some powdery. The one pig that did not had only been with its owner about three weeks when it showed stone symptoms, and she had her other pigs on a VERY low calcium diet, so it's possible that pig had developed the stone before she got him, but didn't excrete excess calcium in her care because she fed so little calcium.

To me, that says that ANY excess calcium is something to be concerned about. I don't think you can completely eliminate it, but I know from my own experience that you can greatly reduce the size and number of the spots by carefully controlling calcium in the diet. My own pig is now 18 months post-surgery for stone removal, and is doing fine. I recently had her x-rayed again to see how she was doing, and there's no sign of any stone recurrence.

Additionally, there's the genetic factor, and no one really knows how that figures in. One person I know fed her pigs a very low calcium diet, but had one pig that repeatedly developed stones. After three surgeries, and the last stones developing within three weeks after the last surgery, she reluctantly had to euthanize the pig.

In short, you may or may not need to worry about the powdery spots. How old is your pig? What exactly do you feed her (hay, pellets, vegetables) and how much of each?

That's really interesting. I'm not trying to hijack this thread, but that was really helpful information. Our piggies are about 6 months old, and they've had powdery urine since we got them. I'm really happy that I learned this now.

We've been feeding our girls lettuce and carrots for breakfast (mainly Romaine or Green/Red Leaf mixture, depends on what's available) and for their evening treat, we'll give them a different treat everynight (Green Bell Pepper, Snap Peas, Apples or Cilantro) We started with Alfalfa hay, but switched to Timothy after 1-2 months, and they have unlimited amounts daily. For pellets, we have been using Oxbow Essentials Young Guinea Pig Food. We usually give them a 1/2 cup every other day. I don't think it needs to be said, but they also have fresh water every day.
 

Alexaa

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Thank you all. I just find out that my baby is pregnant :\
I'm worried, I'm trying to inform me about the pregnancy to minimize the risks.
I need to know everything I can about precautions to take during pregnancy.
I read that I should not give too much lettuce to a guinea pig, because it contains a lot of water and can cause diarrhea. There are many contradictory information so it's hard to know exactly what to do.
 

onibaku06

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Thank you all. I just find out that my baby is pregnant :\
I'm worried, I'm trying to inform me about the pregnancy to minimize the risks.
I need to know everything I can about precautions to take during pregnancy.
I read that I should not give too much lettuce to a guinea pig, because it contains a lot of water and can cause diarrhea. There are many contradictory information so it's hard to know exactly what to do.

Oh wow she's pregnant. You poor thing, you're having the worst luck with your piggy.

Ok, so make sure you go through the info provided in the link below. It should help with the pregnancy issues.

(broken link removed)

In regards to lettuce, it's ok to give guinea pigs lettuce everyday. Just don't give them Iceberg lettuce, cause it's mostly water. For your piggy, I'm not sure because she is pregnant.

I know it can be frustrating to find the correct info, and a lot of it is contradictory. Make sure you make use of the other threads on the forum, to get the best advice. I've been happy with 98% of the answers I've received since joining almost 6-7 months ago.

Good luck.
 

Alexaa

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Oh wow she's pregnant. You poor thing, you're having the worst luck with your piggy.

Ok, so make sure you go through the info provided in the link below. It should help with the pregnancy issues.

(broken link removed)

In regards to lettuce, it's ok to give guinea pigs lettuce everyday. Just don't give them Iceberg lettuce, cause it's mostly water. For your piggy, I'm not sure because she is pregnant.

I know it can be frustrating to find the correct info, and a lot of it is contradictory. Make sure you make use of the other threads on the forum, to get the best advice. I've been happy with 98% of the answers I've received since joining almost 6-7 months ago.

Good luck.

:( I'm trying to minimize risks, doing everything I can.
I'm struggling to find what is Iceberg lettuce here in Portugal...Maybe is the more common lettuce, probably that's why appears in a lot of portuguese sites an information to do not give lettuce to guinea pigs.
I saw there: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAAAABB0/UeI0oII1h7c/s1600/PiggieMenu-2.gif
Written with red letters: " Toxic foods: Never give them: figs, potatoes, raw potatoes, beans, broad beans, peas.
Lettuce: it does not contain vitamin C, but can be given as "dainty" in small quantities. Too much can cause diarrhea, and consequently death."

My biggest doubts are now about the postpartum measures. Is there something I can do to prevent complications?
 

Soecara

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Rywen

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Just to clarify we mean green beans are okay to feed, legume beans (black, pinto, etc.) are a no-no for piggies.
 

Alexaa

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I found it strange that the peas were toxic to them. Because I bought a bag of feed for guinea pigs, where peas are part of the ingredients. Other Ingredients: alfalfa pellets, oats, rabbit pellets, wheat, peas and barley micronized, extruded corn, micronized wheat, carob.
 

PiggieWigglies

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Pigs don't need alfalfa pellets over 6 months. I don't think they need any of that stuff in those ingredients. How is your piggie? Did she overcome the fungal infection?
 

Alexaa

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Pigs don't need alfalfa pellets over 6 months. I don't think they need any of that stuff in those ingredients. How is your piggie? Did she overcome the fungal infection?

She is 3,5 months old. She's fine now, thank you :) Here she is: https://instagram.com/p/oVaK2UH22Z/ <3
Well, I never know if it is enough quantity of nutrients that I give her for the pregnancy goes well.
I saw her eating her own poop. But from what I read, is something normal. :\
 

Alexaa

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I just woke up and..my guinea pig just gave birth two babies. They seem fine, mother is eating a lot. Is there anything I should do now? :S
 

Princess_Piggie

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Once the mother has cleaned them off, weigh them and record it. Continue weighing them for about 7-8 days. You may see a drop in weight tomorrow, and the day after, which is normal as long as it goes back up again the next day. Watch them and check that they're both nursing from the mother.

In regards to lettuce, they need it daily. Iceberg is a 100% nono. You might try ruby gem, little gem, or round leaf. The two 'gem' lettuce are from the cos family, and are safe for daily feeding, and the round lettuce is a butterhead, which is also safe for daily feeding. If you are unsure about a lettuce, google the lettuce name in the US to reference the food chart [MENTION=24757]Soecara[/MENTION] linked you. Vegetables are often called different things in different countries, and people don't realise this and think they can't buy them, when really they just don't know the name for it in their country.

Also, those pellets don't sound very good for your pigs. They contain a lot of unsavoury ingredients, the wheat and barley particularly. Do they contain vitamin C? Check the ingredients list and see if there is any.
 

Alexaa

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Once the mother has cleaned them off, weigh them and record it. Continue weighing them for about 7-8 days. You may see a drop in weight tomorrow, and the day after, which is normal as long as it goes back up again the next day. Watch them and check that they're both nursing from the mother.

In regards to lettuce, they need it daily. Iceberg is a 100% nono. You might try ruby gem, little gem, or round leaf. The two 'gem' lettuce are from the cos family, and are safe for daily feeding, and the round lettuce is a butterhead, which is also safe for daily feeding. If you are unsure about a lettuce, google the lettuce name in the US to reference the food chart @Soecara linked you. Vegetables are often called different things in different countries, and people don't realise this and think they can't buy them, when really they just don't know the name for it in their country.

Also, those pellets don't sound very good for your pigs. They contain a lot of unsavoury ingredients, the wheat and barley particularly. Do they contain vitamin C? Check the ingredients list and see if there is any.

I bought alfafa hay, I hope it's good for them.
One of the babies still didn't breastfeed. Mom is eating a lot, and she moves so much that the babies are struggling to nurse.
They are 6 hours old :p
 

bpatters

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Don't switch them totally to alfalfa hay. They still need the grass hay, but it's fine to supplement with alfalfa.
 

Princess_Piggie

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Your hay rack should be about 70% normal hay and 30% alfalfa.

If the pup that hasn't nursed yet still hasn't by tomorrow, I'd try putting them in a smaller space together for a little bit just to see if he/she will nurse when they're alone with the mother.
 

Rywen

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The babies are very cute!
 

Alexaa

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:) Yeh I love my babies and mom.
Mom looks tired, she fell asleep 2 seconds while the babies breastfeed..and then quickly she woke up to eat.

PS: I think the sentence of my topic is not correct. Some moderator are free to fix it. lol (sorry, English is not my first language) :s Thank you
 

Alexaa

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Hello again!

My babies are now 2 weeks old.From what I've read, I have to separate them by sex next week.
I don't know if it is normal, but I observed that one of my pups is trying to mounted on top of his/her mom and of the other baby.
I need help to determine their sex:
2014-06-08 19.22.18-1.jpg


I'm going to try to take better photos :|
 
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