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Berry is bobbing his head a lot

Cherry Berry

Cherry Berry

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hello Piggie Parents,

I hope you and your little ones are doing great.

Berry is bobbing his head a lot for the past 1 hour. I gave him his abscess medicine before that and he was fine at that time. I also applied aniwell manuka honey near his genitals as he has an abscess there. This is my previous thread on that Post Neutering Abscess
He did chew a bit on a paper kitchen towel today.

Has he got something stuck inside maybe?

Best wishes
 
Cherry Berry said:
Hello Piggie Parents,

I hope you and your little ones are doing great.

Berry is bobbing his head a lot for the past 1 hour. I gave him his abscess medicine before that and he was fine at that time. I also applied aniwell manuka honey near his genitals as he has an abscess there. This is my previous thread on that Post Neutering Abscess
He did chew a bit on a paper kitchen towel today.

Has he got something stuck inside maybe?

Best wishes
Click to expand...
I am trying to attach a video in this zip file and he is getting aggressive with bobbing now
 

Attachments

It works! 👍
Hm it's not something I've seen before if I'm honest! I can see him chomping away a bit so perhaps it is dental?
 
They do sometimes get things stuck in their teeth. Some people have had trouble with a particular style of food that is shaped like an 'O' instead of a nugget... it's possible they can get them stuck on an incisor. Or a bit of hay wedged somewhere? Or a string from celery? It's quite tricky to persuade them to say Cheese but if you can get someone to hold him on their lap while you bend down and gently open his mouth you should at least be able to see the 4 front incisors quite easily. They should be 2 top and 2 bottom and all level, not slanted. It's the first thing to check. He might not let you have a look in his ears as these are very sensitive anyway but that would be the other thing I'd consider.
zara incisor root.webp Here's how we found my Rainbow girl Zara's bad tooth. See how her incisors are slanting to one side - she was trying to chew on one side because that tooth was catching and it meant the incisors wore in a wonky way. The bottom teeth are mainly hidden in a gum pocket which can be pulled down to allow you to see the base of the tooth (they're surprisingly big - it's a bit scary!) and sometimes things can get wedged in here too.

If you can't see anything obvious I'd be thinking about a vet visit if he keeps doing it. It is an unusual thing for them to do. Pigeons, yes. Piggies, no. ☺️
 
Piggies&buns said:
Do upload the video but if you are worried about him, the best thing is to contact your out of hours vet
Click to expand...

Free Ranger said:
They do sometimes get things stuck in their teeth. Some people have had trouble with a particular style of food that is shaped like an 'O' instead of a nugget... it's possible they can get them stuck on an incisor. Or a bit of hay wedged somewhere? Or a string from celery? It's quite tricky to persuade them to say Cheese but if you can get someone to hold him on their lap while you bend down and gently open his mouth you should at least be able to see the 4 front incisors quite easily. They should be 2 top and 2 bottom and all level, not slanted. It's the first thing to check. He might not let you have a look in his ears as these are very sensitive anyway but that would be the other thing I'd consider.
View attachment 221286 Here's how we found my Rainbow girl Zara's bad tooth. See how her incisors are slanting to one side - she was trying to chew on one side because that tooth was catching and it meant the incisors wore in a wonky way. The bottom teeth are mainly hidden in a gum pocket which can be pulled down to allow you to see the base of the tooth (they're surprisingly big - it's a bit scary!) and sometimes things can get wedged in here too.

If you can't see anything obvious I'd be thinking about a vet visit if he keeps doing it. It is an unusual thing for them to do. Pigeons, yes. Piggies, no. ☺️
Click to expand...
I checked that his incisors looked fine. He had a small piece stuck on his top two teeth and I removed it. Then I sent him back to his home. He started eating his hay and now he is sleeping. So maybe he might stop by tomorrow or else I will call his vet. It doesn't look like a breathing problem either as of now so hopefully it is something not to worry about 🤞
 
Hi,

I took Berry to his vet and got his ears, teeth, breathing and heartbeat checked. Everything was fine. The vet asked me what was triggering the bobbing and I mentioned that it was after his abscess medication he does it for a few hours so the vet believes as guinea pigs store some food in their mouth Berry is trying to get rid of the bitter medicine and is being annoyed. She suggested giving him a syringe of water to calm him down. I tried it today and it was better. So hopefully it is this and nothing to worry about. Hopefully, once his abscess is recovered he can be free from medicines soon. 🙏

Best wishes and many thanks everyone.
 
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