Sick Is she too cold?

[xoLauraox09]

My guinea pig Tilly is acting weird.
It started about three days ago. She doesn't go into her hidey and just stays outside and stares into space. All of my other guinea pigs stay in their hideys to sleep. And she doesn't even run into her hidey when I look in at her, only when I put my hand in. She usally does because I only have her a few weeks and she is six months. I think its because the room is too cold. Its about -5 here in Ireland. And the room that she is staying in is the coldest room in the house. How can I warm the cage up? I don't have a mini heater to put beside the cage.She just sits there and shivers and heaves, you know like she is going to get sick. Can guinea pigs get sick? I'm really worried about her because we don't have cavy savy vets or 24hr vets in Dublin and its late at night. What can I do to help her now? Will I bring her to a normal vet tomorrow? Could she be pregant? I got her at 4 weeks and she was still with her brothers then. But I would have known by know, wouldn't I? Is she was pregant, wouldn't her tummy be really big by now? When I think of it, she has being eating more lately. But I wouldn't say she is pregant but I'm not sure. Would my best bet be, to bring her to a normal vet tomorrow? I just looked at her sister now(Alice) and her belly seems much bigger! :O Its nothing that you would know straight away but it still seems bigger. Should I bring them both to the vet? When I put food it, Tilly and Alice do be the first to come over but I think its just because they are young.Milly and Molly (8 months) don't eat as much as them.Tilly and Alice hate you picking them up but I think thats just because they are young and not used to me. Please help! What should I do?
Sorry for the long story.
Mods: Sorry if I put this in the wrong place.

 

[lissie]

Your post is a little confusing. You said you've had her a few weeks and she's now 6 months old. Then you said you got her at 4 weeks.
So how long have you had her? And how old is she? Have you been weighing her weekly? When I adopt a new pig, I usually weight them every day. Just to make sure they are not loosing weight. If you've only had her for a few weeks and got her from petstore or breeders, she could be sick.
Is she eating and drinking normally?
Are there other signs of illness?
See https://www.guinealynx.info/normal.html

Edit to add: What is the temperature in her room? You can give her cuddle cups or cozy sacs to keep warm. If you don't have those, you can give her extra fleece to cuddle with or frape blanket or towel over her cage.

 

[xoLauraox09]

Your post is a little confusing. You said you've had her a few weeks and she's now 6 months old. Then you said you got her at 4 weeks.
So how long have you had her? And how old is she? Have you been weighing her weekly? When I adopt a new pig, I usually weight them every day. Just to make sure they are not loosing weight. If you've only had her for a few weeks and got her from petstore or breeders, she could be sick.
Is she eating and drinking normally?
Are there other signs of illness?
See https://www.guinealynx.info/normal.html

Sorry I had her two months. It only felt a couple of weeks. She is six months. Yes I weigh her weekly. No, I adopted her and her sister because of a mistake litter. She is eating and drinking more than usally. So is Alice but not as much as Tilly. No other than what I said , she seems fine.

 

[xoLauraox09]

I don't know the temperature in her room but its under zero. I can't put a blanket over the whole cage because its a 2x6 but will I put a bit of fleece in and she can cuddle up in it? Thanks

 

[lissie]

Maybe she's more comfortable with you now. Sometimes my boys will sleep out in the open too. They sleep with their eyes open so it might look like she's staring into space.

 

[akstrohm]

How cold is the room? It needs to be at least 18C all day. There have been recent posts on how to keep pigs warm. For starters, make sure she has some extra fleece or towels to lie in/under. Is her fur sticking up?

Cold temperatures are stressful for pigs, and heaving is definitely not normal. I would get her to a vet as soon as you can. In the mean time, it is essential that you keep her warm. It will be hard for her to fight off an illness if she is so cold she is shivering.

I doubt she is pregnant.

ETA: Just saw you posted the temperature. That is far, far too cold. You need to move the cage to a warmer room and get the temperature up to 18C.

 

[lissie]

If you do a forum search, you should be able to find more ways to keep her warm.
0 degree Celsius? That's way too cold for her. Is there other room you could move her to? See Cage Location

The room should have a stable temperature range of 65 to 75 degrees F (18 to 24 degrees C).

 

[lissie]

Oh.. I missed the parts where she shivers and heaves.
Yes, please get her to a vet.

 

[xoLauraox09]

Thanks! Its well under 18C. Its about -8C outside and in her room its about -5C or -4C. I put in some extra fleece to keep warm in.But Tilly and Alice are still trying to decide weather to go over to it! Her fur isn't sicking up.
That could be it because Tilly is the bravest of all of them even though I had Milly and Molly much longer than her! She runs up to my hand if I keep it still or if I have food in it.

 

[akstrohm]

-4 or -5C is not okay, even with extra fleece. You need to move all of your pigs somewhere warmer. Give them some hot water bottles too.

 

[xoLauraox09]

I can't move the guinea pigs to another room because our dogs are sleeping in the sitting room and the heat is on but the house won't get any warmer! Its snowing outside and none of the houses will get warm. 18C would be a very warm day in Ireland.

 

[xoLauraox09]

I can't move them any where else! The whole house is like this. I searched every where for a hot water bottle aswell but I can't find any! Will any thing else work as a hot water bottle. They won't die, will they?

 

[akstrohm]

It's about -12C where I am, so I do understand that it's cold and hard to keep warm. But if your girl is heaving, she is probably sick. When pigs get sick, they go downhill really quickly, and the cold temperatures are far too stressful for her. You can put the pigs in a smaller cage if that will allow you to move them. At the very least give them some hot water bottles. I would hold the sick pig in some fleece on your lap if that is the only way you have to keep her warm. I'm not sure she's going to survive as is.

 

[akstrohm]

You can use just about anything for a hot water bottle. Obviously the better insulated it is, the longer it will retain the heat. You can warm up some water and put it in a thermos, plastic bottle, glass bottle, whatever you have. Wrap it in a towel so it's warm on the outside but not super hot. And make sure the pigs know where it is and that it's warm. Hope that helps.

 

[ppqppq]

pUT them on your lap under blankets. Use your body heat to warm them. Or in a box by your feet and cover them and you with a blanket. We lost heat in the winter in alberta and I had to keep my iguana warm all night when it was -20 degrees celcius.

 

[ppqppq]

Bricks or rocks can be warmed in an oven and wrapped in towels. They stay warm longer than a water bottle.

 

[xoLauraox09]

Oh no! I am trying to hold her in my lap in fleece but she won't stay still!

 

[xoLauraox09]

Yay! She is finally staying still.

 

[xoLauraox09]

Thanks so much everyone! I put hot water into a glass bottle and wrapped it in a towel and the piggies are taking turns in the fleece on my lap

 

[Cogni]

What about hot stones? It has been very cold here in Houston (below freezing the last 4 nights) and I was thinking about putting some river rocks I have in the oven until very hot, then wrapping them in towels. It is not freezing in my house but the piggies clearly prefer snuggling up to something warm than sitting in the open cage.

When I was a kid we used to be given hot stones to put in our coat pockets so we could keep our hands warm there. We had mittens on but it was great to hold the smooth hot stones outside the mittens (sometimes inside). They'd stay hot during the walk to school. Nobody had down coats then.