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Lethals Are my pigs lethals?

cjbella

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Hello, I am a newish guinea pig owner- I rescued two pigs, a five year old male named Monte, and a nine month old female named Sophia about a year ago. (They are kept separated! We're still getting the hang of two pigs) In researching about guineas, I've seen a lot about "lethals", and I guess I am still not sure what exactly that term means. Can anyone clarify for me? I am guessing that it has something to do with a genetic mutation that manifests as white fur and health problems... Or not, I am totally in the dark lol.

I am really concerned about this, though, because both of my pigs have white fur. Monte is full white, in fact, though he has maybe five to ten black strands of fur scattered around his body. He has a fantastic personality, and eats and drinks well. As far as I can tell, he has healthy teeth and feet, too. His only problem is constipation, but I have learned how to help him with that.

Sophia is mostly brown with some large patches of white. She is not as easy as Monte. She is very resistant to being held, played with, fed by hand, or anything to do with being out of her space. She screams whenever we try to pick her up, occasionally bites, and wiggles like crazy. As far as I can tell, she is just fine when left alone, eats and drinks well and gets enough exercise and playing in. I don't know what could be the problem with her. We are trying to find a vet who will see pigs (small small town), but in the meantime, is there anything I should be looking for if she is a lethal? If not, is she just maladjusted? What can I do? Thanks!!
 

PiggieGuinea

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A lethal white is pretty much albino. With the same living chances as one. Very slim. They have little to no use of their front teeth,eyes or ears, and rely full on scent and touch. I forgot who it was, but she adopted a lethal and it had one eye sunken in, one eye was blind, and she thought her lethal was deaf. Your pigs are normal, the female just doesn't like being picked up.
 

MizzyMiz

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PiggieGuinea said it, but yes, I agree, I don't think you're pigs are lethals, there would be obvious teeth problems, and blindness, there are plenty of totally healthy white guineas. Good luck with your two :)
 

Melissa123

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A lethal white is pretty much albino. With the same living chances as one. Very slim. They have little to no use of their front teeth,eyes or ears, and rely full on scent and touch. I forgot who it was, but she adopted a lethal and it had one eye sunken in, one eye was blind, and she thought her lethal was deaf. Your pigs are normal, the female just doesn't like being picked up.

Lethal are not the same as an albino! A lethal will not have ruby eyes. Ruby eyes are normal in pigs- it's just an eye color. Sorry if I misunderstood your reply but I wanted to clarify this statement.

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/4192-Lethal-guinea-pigs-discussion?highlight=lethel

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/4190-Lethal-guinea-pigs
 
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PiggieGuinea

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Oops, I meant to say they LOOK like albinos. SOrry for the misunderstanding
 

Aleks

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Technically, there's no such thing as an albino guinea pig. There are PEWs and REWs (Pink eyed whites and Ruby eyed whites).
If I remember correctly, lethals are PEWs but not all PEWs are lethals, and lethal guinea pigs are completely white with no coloring. They are also born with birth defects like the ones in the link [MENTION=27623]Melissa123[/MENTION] posted.
 
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