General My youngest boy passed. I never thought he could be a lethal. But now im doubting.

[Zoop5]

I heard about lethal whites but since I felt that I didnt have oone, I never thought about it. He has probably been in heaven for a couple of months now and only recently did I think that maybe he could be? He had a little brown on the nose that the breeder said was himalayan but idk.

Theres no adoption for guinea pigs in my country as much and buying in pet shops is a definite no. Its really worse than other countries. So breeders is the only option.

I got 5 boys from this one breeder theyre all prettt okay, exceexcept for the youngest which passed a little after his first birthday.

I dont thinj hes blind or deaf due to the fact when he sees me he screams loud as heck for food. He isnt deaf because if im in a different outside putting keys in the door he squeaks cause he knows its dinner time. I dont think his teeth are bad cause he eats fine. But he is the smallest and after a year hes sill the smallest that almost seems he didnt grow. But his hair got fluffier.

He has a bad back. He was bullied badly when he was with the breeder by other pigs, but my pigs like him. Hes the only one all of them tolerates. Like if baby boy wants to snuggle with any of them, its fine. If another tries to cuddle with someone else, they leave or fight.

But this is his picture. Maybe someone can shed some light on my confusion? Thank you

*MORE PHOTOS IN THE IMGUR*

(broken link removed)

Oh to note. All i know is that his back is weird? His spine pops up and he walks on tip toes. I also believe thats the reason why he doesnt sleep like other guinea pigs. Other pigs can lay flat or on their side like fetal. He only sleeps in one position: feet firmly on floor.

Its a weird question im sorry, but i just wanted to know even if its too late.

For parents. Im not sure about the mom. The dad is a brown agouti, his siblings are gray and black and he is white so a monochrome set.

 

[Soecara]

From looking at the photos on your imgur I can say that no your boy wasn't a lethal white. Lethal whites have no pigment on their body at all, and your boy did have some pigment on his nose and ear margins. On a side note about his hair, it looks like he may have been a texel guinea pig, which would explain why his coat got fluffier.

Lethal whites are also always mostly or completely deaf and blind, some have missing or smaller eyes (the eyes are not always affected equally, so one eye may be present while the other is missing, or one eye may be larger than the other). Lethal whites also typically have teeth issues such as missing teeth, and can have internal issues like digestive issues. Most lethal whites will die within the first few weeks of their life due to complications from their birth defects.

While your boy was not a lethal white, it does sound like he had lifelong health issues that could have been present from the time he was born.

 

[LittleSqueakers]

Agree with @Soecara Guinea pigs unfortunately just aren't a very genetically robust species to begin with, and they can have lots of other genetic and congenital issues besides just being lethal white.

 

[Zoop5]

Yeah I was sure lethals had it a lot worse. But I also saw some photos wherein they look normal PEW but had underlying unseen/non noticeables. I guess I just wanted to see if an ache could be better to know if he was lethal since he did pass so early. He was the best boy out of the five. The only one who really was the life of the party so to speak and the loudest. (I realized it was usually the youngest of the group who would perk up and announce to everyone else it was food time)

I thank you for your reply. I wish i saw signs sooner. I knew he was having problems but going to the vet was too late. It was very late, when I realized his super arched back prevented him from eating the green poops too.

Hay. Again thank you. Guess I have yet to come to terms of his passing. A one in a million that baby. (Gets along with four other boars cause the other four have issues with each other, so it was super surprising and their house was especially made so that he was the only one who could go to all four freely and receive friendly bonding with the other territorial boars.)