Advice please my girl is acting weird.....

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Lisajazz

Lisajazz

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Okay I have a guinea pig sow called Flopsy who is a peruvian girl. She's about 5 months old. It used to just be her and sister. She was boss and ruled the veggies bowl with an iron hand. I have since introduced another pair of sows and made them a big 3 storey cage with plenty of room.

I use the bottom floor for veggie time and feed them fresh twice a day. Flopsy carried on her dominating of the veggies bowl and all the other guineas just fell into place behind her.

For about 3 or 4 days now she hasn't ventured downstairs at all for veggies. VERY odd for her. In fact she set up camp in one of the igloos upstairs on the top floor and wont budge off the floor. She eats loads of super guinea and nibbles her fruit stick, she is eating loads and loads of hay and plantain leaves. If I hold her she eats coriander, parsley, basil, cucumber quite happily - in fact she seems well apart from the fact that she wont venture off the top floor and no longer goes to the food bowls in the bottom floor at all.... It's so out of character for her and it's foxed me big time.

OH she's drinking water like mad but that's probably as she's not getting any fresh veggies, or no where near the volume she used to.

Any ideas?
 
She kind of sounds like she's pregnant. Are you sure all the girls in the cage are all girls? Sometimes they can be sexed wrong. you better double check, or bring her to the vets to be extra sure. They get pregnant really easily. I'm not an expert. I'm sure the forum will help you.
 
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I have to agree... (although I only have males, but deff sounds like shes pregnant to me.)
 
Hiya - well I have rechecked the other piggies and they are all girls. Also I have had a good feel about her tummy and it's soft.

I have had her for 6 weeks now. Wouldn't I know if she was?

Lisa
 
if you have only had her for 6 weeks so could have been pregeant when you got her maybe, guinea pigs are pregs for 10 weeks by about 6 weeks they start to have a pear shape look about them. Good luck with her
 
Have you put a veggie bowl next to where she's camping and watched whether she doesn't want to eat or doesn't want to go downstairs?
 
She will eat it where she is. In fact when I feed the others downstairs now she comes over to her side of the bars for hers.

Fingers crossed she isn't pregnant!

Lisa
 
maybe you should post some pictures of her here, from all angles so that the guinea pig maternity experts on this forum can predict if she looks pregnant or not. it sounds to me like she is. wish you the best of luck x amelia
 
It's really hard to photograph her as she's peruvian and has so much hair!

I have been doing some reading and I am starting to be convinced that she maybe pregnant after all. OMG!

Right I have some questions. She has had baytril for 10 days as she had a URI about 2 weeks after I first got her

I have treated her with mites, fleas and stuff treatment just as standard as I was recommended.

If she's pregnant will these affect her?

Also she is larger than her sister, not lots but some. She has more weight on the sides than her sister, it doesn't feel pregnant if you know what I mean it's quite soft although i don't want to prod her so have only felt gently. Could she just be a bit fat from eating so much?

She's still not going up and down the ramps so I am just feeding her veggies on her own upstairs.

Also she seems stroppier and has been chasing the others away alot today. She wants her space.

ALL advice gratefully received.

I am going to take her to the vet tomorrow - our local one has been great dealing with the URI. Will they be able to give me a definitive answer? We were due to be getting a final guinea tomorrow but if she's pregnant I wont go ahead with this. I'd rather wait and see what babies she has and maybe keep one of her girls.

OH and finally - how risky is pregnancy / birth for young guineas (she's approx 18 - 20 weeks).

Thanks!
 
Okay been to the vets. he gave her a good feel and said he doesn't think she's pregnant. He said by now we would be able to feel something and he feels nothing.

I have to say he also said increased water drinking is not a sign of pregnancy. I'm not sure how much he knows about pregnant guinea pigs to be honest. Her tummy is very soft. Yes there are bulges on each side but he seems to think that they are flab not baby.

This is driving me mad!
 
Okay the little strange one has changed again. I cleaned them all out earlier and put the cage back just the same. Only she's decided that the ramp and other floors are okay now and is sleeping on the middle floor.

Go figure!
 
i am joining this late but i have the same behaviour with my sow
99% sure she is up the duff

drinking lots makes me think she may have an upst tummy

how is her poo?

just out of interest - how much did your vet charge?
 
The vet charged £20 for the consultation and diabetes test.

Her poo is fine - everything about her and now shes using the cage normally again even that's back to normal. She's still drinking loads. I am just going to watch and see.

What are your girls symptoms?
 
well they are all posted under a different thread
it was the fact i was given a male and female together that started it of

what i have founs if that we worry and nature tends to sort most things out

she could just be in a bit of a mood

dare i say it - GP PMT?
 
Lisajazz said:
Okay been to the vets. he gave her a good feel and said he doesn't think she's pregnant. He said by now we would be able to feel something and he feels nothing.

I have to say he also said increased water drinking is not a sign of pregnancy. I'm not sure how much he knows about pregnant guinea pigs to be honest. Her tummy is very soft. Yes there are bulges on each side but he seems to think that they are flab not baby.

This is driving me mad!
Click to expand...

My vet failed to confirm that Gerty was pregnant at about 6 weeks (mind you, after the day I've had at the vets - it's not really suprising) anway Gerty was treated for mites & had baytril whilst she was pregnant & it didn't seem to do any harm xx
 
Flab on the side is normal; it's the hard balls underneath that indicate pregnancy.

Having excluded pregnancy and diabetes, I don't know either what's the matter with your girl, except could she have ovarian cysts that account for her suddenly moody behviour? Some people on here have been mentioning behavioral changes in connection with them. http://www.guinealynx.info/ovarian_cysts.html

As I have never been confronted with them myself, I don't want to give you any tips or make you panic; except that the medically adept on here say that a spaying operation is not necessary.

An increase of drinking could be marking the beginning of a urinary tract infection (UTI). My usually quite reliable home check for that is letting her pee on some hay; if it turns bright yellow, her urine is infected.

Otherwise, I would just sit and wait to see whether things go back to normal by themselves.
 
Thanking you all. I am going to wait and see, she's running about like a mad one tonight after her veggies. She's up and down the ramps like she used to be.

I put them all in an open large run inside today as it was pouring with rain and I was cleaning their cage so couldn't put them in the outside hutch / run. They all seemed to spend some time reconnecting. They were doing the guinea pig train and popcorning all over the place. Maybe she's feeling more of a bond with the others? Her sister has switched her alliance to a different piggy recently. maybe that has affected her?
 
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