Injury Bite!

[wetherill]

My sweet baby Lionel(5) and his brother Marcel(1) have recently had a falling out with their younger brother, Bercy(8mo), who has since been separated. They are housed beside each other, but no longer are together. For floor time, though, I have let them play together, as they have the whole kitchen to themselves and have no issues due to all the space. Today, though, that changed. Bercy bit Lionel pretty bad on the lip. I have cleaned it with saline solution and a q tip and plan to do it again later. Is this enough? I have some neosporin and have been told by a past vet that when used sparingly it is effective. Should I hold off? Anything more I can do? I’m a newly unemployed college student and as awful as it sounds, I’d like to avoid the vet especially since he has been around 5 times within the past month because of his hyperthyroidism diagnosis. I’ll attach a photo. Thanks for any advice!

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

He will likely be just fine. Monitor the wound for redness, swelling and heat. I wouldn't bother with the neosporin unless it's really necessary, as the wound is in an area where he can ingest it which isn't a great idea.

I hate to be the one to break the bad news to you, but three boars together in a cage is a no no. It almost never works out. Everyone always feels like they will hopefully be the exception, myself included. But it's exceedingly rare. I would leave the youngest boy separated and if you plan to keep him, find him a new cagemate roughly the same age. Also make sure your cage size at the very least meets or exceeds our guidelines.

And one last thing. Stop the shared play time. Guinea pigs are hard wired to establish dominance whenever they meet a new pig, and doing a shared playtime like this just continues the problem.

 

[wetherill]

He will likely be just fine. Monitor the wound for redness, swelling and heat. I wouldn't bother with the neosporin unless it's really necessary, as the wound is in an area where he can ingest it which isn't a great idea.

I hate to be the one to break the bad news to you, but three boars together in a cage is a no no. It almost never works out. Everyone always feels like they will hopefully be the exception, myself included. But it's exceedingly rare. I would leave the youngest boy separated and if you plan to keep him, find him a new cagemate roughly the same age. Also make sure your cage size at the very least meets or exceeds the our guidelines.

And one last thing. Stop the shared play time. Guinea pigs are hard wired to establish dominance whenever they meet a new pig, and doing a shared playtime like this just continues the problem.

That’s why I didn’t give neosporin, i was worried he’d have it as a snack, haha…

Their trio lasted a good eight months, which isn’t too bad. They shared 26 square ft but it’s now divided. Shared play time wasnt an issue until yesterday and now it’s over.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

My boar trio lasted about 5 months, until something similar happened. 5 month old Punkin decided he wanted to be the boss and began attacking 5 year old Sly. I feel your pain.