i should have known something was wrong :(

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Spishkey

Spishkey

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i came in from work around midnight to find all the piggys wheaking their hearts out, it was pitch black (hadnt even turned on a light) and so very eerie.
i flung off my coat and went straight to them, they all came running over but never stopped making a noise, they were reaching up to the sides of the enclosures, i just thought they were after attention, yes i found it strange so late at night but put it down to them hearing me come in.
i sat with them for a while trying to calm them down my fella and kids were asleep in bed and probably had been for hours, didnt want to wake them.
after half an hour they seemed settled, id given them all a treat of peppers and they were happily munching. light off and away to bed myself.
i got up this morning to carnage. 2 dead, 2 injured and the others looked terrified.
something must have got in last night, they had been warning each other, and me, and i just gave them a treat to shut them up. I'm mortified, i should have realised that squeaking/shouting/wheaking was not normal. I'm just back from the vets with the survivors, two males have bite marks from what is either a very large rat or some other rodent type things, they arent severly injured but theres is every chance of an infection so they have to be cleaned 3x daily with a salt solution? surely thats gonna hurt? i knew rats could scare gp's but never thought they'd kill them? i built the indoor enclosures inside the house so they would be safe, obviously i was wrong.
ive bought 3 large cages this morning and shall sadly be confining the rest in cages until i figure out what to do.

thats 5 piggies ive lost since august now :( ive also had to say goodbye to my cockeral, a chicken and a baby chinchilla. all since i moved to this house. I'm beginning to think I'm cursed.:(

so, a lesson to all, if your piggys are making a noise or acting out of charcter, please dont dismiss it like i did :( they behaved that way for a reason and i ignored it :(
 
Don't beat yourself up you weren't to know! That is awful, wonder what it was that did that! Infairness I probably would have done the same as you! Thats horrible I'm so sorry for your loss 8... RIP little guys!
 
Oh my thats so sad. Bless you for going through this and them of course.

That's very scary that they are so vunerable isn't it.

I hope hope hope your injured boys don't get an infection. What are the vets thoughts on their prognosis?

How was their pen before? Could you fashion a large closed top c&c so they still have maximum room but are totally enclosed?

Something to think about once you get yourself back together though not now.

HUGS to you.
 
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Well if you see whatever it was, please kindly hit it with a spade. :0

I am so sorry to hear what happened but you weren't to know. It isn't something that would cross your mind.

Poor piggies. :(

Hope you're ok.
x
 
oh bless you, I'm so sorry for your loss. to be honest though unless you wrote this, i would never even imagine a rodent to be in the house if mine were acting like this! so thankyou for taking the time to warn others even though you are upset yourself! what a shame. was it deffinatley another animal? or do you think they may have turned on eachother out of fear from fireworks or something? because my dog was beside herself lastnight because of the noise. again, I'm so sorry, thinking of you, and hope your poorly piggies get better soon.gemxxxx
 
BIG HUG

It so easy to misinterpret the signs! Rats DO kill guinea pigs, if they have a chance.

I send my best wishes to the survivors; hopefully, they will recover well from their ordeal! Saline solution may sting a bit at first (as long as the wound is open), but it also acts as disinfectant.
 
Wiebke said:
BIG HUG

It so easy to misinterpret the signs! Rats DO kill guinea pigs, if they have a chance.

I send my best wishes to the survivors; hopefully, they will recover well from their ordeal!
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Oh my gosh I just thought it would be easy for a Rat to get to my piggies. How often do Rats come in your house... Thankfully I've never seen one, I think I may get a top for mine too! 8...

Is it possible they could have did that to one another?!
 
p.s-sorry, didint realise that youd put that the bite marks were large! its just fireworks were on my mind a lot last night concerning the animals, because my dog was so scared! and i agree-whack it with a large spade!!! gemx
 
I'm so very sorry,i know nothing i can say will help but as long as you understand this was not your fault!
2 nights ago all 13 of mine were wheeking non-stop after there veg and very late at night which is strange,i was worried but brushed it off,thankfully nothing happened but i could just as easily woke up to what you did,in future i shall keep a better eye on changes.
i dont know what to say other than I'm sending you and your babies so much love and wheeks from my boys.
I had a run where in 6 months i lost 2 dogs,1 cat,4 rats and 2 budgies,i know its strange but the second i moved from that house i have only had a few animals pass so maybe its something mysterious with the house,i dont think you have bad luck at all,you are a wonderful owner, much love to you all.
RIP sweet piggies xxxxx
 
gembob said:
p.s-sorry, didint realise that youd put that the bite marks were large! its just fireworks were on my mind a lot last night concerning the animals, because my dog was so scared! and i agree-whack it with a large spade!!! gemx
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I never seen that either! That is so scary! 8...
 
vet says the boys should be fine as long as no infection sets in,they were lucky, but theres always that chance with bites that something nasty got underneath the skin. he is reluctant to give anti b's because they are not good for a guineapigs gut? but at first sign of infection I'm to go straight back in with them. on the up side they got given something for their bad skin while we were there so i dont have to wait for the xeno 450 now.
without knowing what did it i dont know what traps to set :( i cant put poison down obviously because of the other animals. chances are its rats, we live on a river bank and now its getting cold the beastys from outside are all trying to come in :( no fireworks here either they dont celebrate guy fawkes night over here. havent managed to locate c+c panels in belgium yet, i did try at the start as they looked so great, but ended up building the pens ourselves in the end for maxiumum room, they are all 'open' enclosures (theres some piccys on here somewhere) and it would be impossible to close them up. i thought they were safe in that room obviously not.
 
Lisajazz said:
Oh my thats so sad. Bless you for going through this and them of course.

That's very scary that they are so vunerable isn't it.

I hope hope hope your injured boys don't get an infection. What are the vets thoughts on their prognosis?

How was their pen before? Could you fashion a large closed top c&c so they still have maximum room but are totally enclosed?

Something to think about once you get yourself back together though not now.

HUGS to you.
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its unfortunant but if it was a rat they can fit through the tiniest of gaps even C&C grids especially if they arent fully grown yet.
If rats are an issue i know you can buy grids that have extra small spaces,they are known for being very vicious with piggies,i myself have two pet ratties but they are safely caged well away behind closed doors from my pigs,sadly horror storys like this are getting more common and I'm not sure how piggy owners can protect there baboes from them:(xx
 
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Are Rats common in houses?!

Living near a river I imagine you would have alot but how common are they in the city? That is so scary! Please keep an eye on the survivors incase the nasty beastie comes back! 8...

C & C panels you could maybe get them off ebay!
 
I'm so sorry. That must be dreadfully upsetting. Try not to punish yourself too much, sometimes things happen that we just can't foresee.

I spent a great deal of time and effort fox-proofing my piggies cage only to have a badger come along and pull apart something that would challenge a grown man with a crowbar! At that point I decided no more piggies until I could keep them indoors.

So upsetting, I hope your surviving piggies make a full recovery.
 
I had a similar experience hun :(
I was looking after two rats for a friend and one of them got out and attacked two of my pigs - one just got a bite mark but it savaged my then couple of week old piggy baby Jensen - he survived though - I have no clue how, he now has tonnes of scar tissue but he is a gorgeous and very loving pig
he did get infections in his wounds and hated me cleaning them but I always gave him a treat after which he loved.

good luck with your survivors hun
xxxxx
 
just gone to clean the wounded and found rex has died ...... :( he was alive 2 hours ago. rest in peace little buddy :(
 
JoanneG111 said:
Are Rats common in houses?!

Living near a river I imagine you would have alot but how common are they in the city? That is so scary! Please keep an eye on the survivors incase the nasty beastie comes back! 8...

C & C panels you could maybe get them off ebay!
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Rats aren't common in houses as such, esp in the UK, but then it all depends on where you live. I live in a town and we used to get mice frequently, but then we live next door to a restaurant so there is always food around.

Sorry for you loss Spishkey :( Try not to get too upset over misreading them, chances are that you wouldn't have found the animal if you had known as it would have hid when it heard you come in.

You can get humane traps that are like wire boxes that once they go in, a bit flips either up or down to contain them. You might have to ring around as I noticed you are in Belgium. xx
 
azura_maemi said:
Rats aren't common in houses as such, esp in the UK, but then it all depends on where you live. I live in a town and we used to get mice frequently, but then we live next door to a restaurant so there is always food around.

Sorry for you loss Spishkey :( Try not to get too upset over misreading them, chances are that you wouldn't have found the animal if you had known as it would have hid when it heard you come in.

You can get humane traps that are like wire boxes that once they go in, a bit flips either up or down to contain them. You might have to ring around as I noticed you are in Belgium. xx
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Thanks Azura... so scary to think a beastie like that could get in a house 8...!
 
My vet said 1 tablespoon in 1 pint of warm water, that way it wont sting them so much if not at all. Also don't put yourself down too much, you don't speak guinea and they calmed down because you were there. Rats can be very big animals and if he tried to steal some food and the guinea pigs tried to stop him they can get aggressive (the wild ones) how about calling out someone to see if you have a problem with rats in your garden or whereever you keep them?
 
r.i.p rex, what a dreadfull thing to happen, i havent been able to get it out of my mind scince i read your post this morning! gemxx
 
I cannot believe the what is happening with your guinea pigs!!
I didn't realise that guinea pigs would at risk of being attacked or killed by rats!!
Scarery to think that I had a few rats in my garden a few years ago.they were after Spangle the hens food.....:{
sending lots of love and hugs to you and your guinea pigs!
 
Aww no I'm so sorry to hear about your losses RIP little ones! xx
 
still havent caught whatever attacked the piggys, but we're beginning to think its bigger than a rat, perhaps a stoat or a weasel, due to the damage its causing! surviving piggies seem to be doing well...but dont seem to approve of their prison style cages now :( but their safty is more important than luxuries right now! thanks all for the kind wishes x
 
Pine martens (which are very rare in Britain, but widespread on the continent) can come into a house.
My mum in Switzerland had one nesting in her attic just above her bedroom and it has been driving her nuts!. They will kill whatever they can get hold of. Rabbits, sleeping geese (got my mum's neighbour's and bit her whole head off), and guinea pigs are just a nice sideline for them.

Best check the breaks of your car before you drive off in the morning!
 
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Oh i am truly sorry for you and your little piggies and i hope the rest of them will recover from the shock. I am sure they will readjust to their new cages as long as they get lots of supervised running free and cuddles from mummy. Not sure what to do to get rid of the evil pest! was going to suggest borrow a cat but not sure a cat would attack anything bigger than a rat! RIP little piggies
 
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