B
boysmum
Hi everyone,
I've been reading with interest the topics on impaction. One of my boars has been really smelly lately and I decided to take the plunge and investigate his pouch. I opened up the folds (shaped like a half donut) and there was some soft greyish, light brownish matter. It was very soft. I gently swabbed around with a cotton bud and vaseline but no lump as such came out, , just smeary marks on the bud. My thinlking is that this was probably normal residue of the soft nutritious poop. I didn't want to stress him out too much, just wanted a quick look and to get familiar with the pouch. Thing is, my piggy (named Captain) is a self black and his skin is black so it makes it difficult to see inside anyway.
Looked at my other boar, Davey and he was as clean as a whistle. Not a trace of anything. His skin is nice and pale so I can see easily inside.
All the articies say that the pouch is quite deep. Is it? I could only see about 1cm of depth.
I would really appreciate some guidance as I am scared to poke too far. One more query, articles say to gently squeeze the lump out. Does this mean squeezing from the top or the bottom ie from underneath the lump or above the lump? Is vaseline the right thing to use? Books say mineral oil. Is this like olive oil? I found the vaseline a bit cloggy and wondered if the olive oil would be better. What lubricant is best for this type of job?
My boys are young, about 8 months old. I would be surprised if impaction was an issue yet, but I have never seen Captain reach down and take poops from his pouch whereas I always see Davey doing it.
I've been reading with interest the topics on impaction. One of my boars has been really smelly lately and I decided to take the plunge and investigate his pouch. I opened up the folds (shaped like a half donut) and there was some soft greyish, light brownish matter. It was very soft. I gently swabbed around with a cotton bud and vaseline but no lump as such came out, , just smeary marks on the bud. My thinlking is that this was probably normal residue of the soft nutritious poop. I didn't want to stress him out too much, just wanted a quick look and to get familiar with the pouch. Thing is, my piggy (named Captain) is a self black and his skin is black so it makes it difficult to see inside anyway.
Looked at my other boar, Davey and he was as clean as a whistle. Not a trace of anything. His skin is nice and pale so I can see easily inside.
All the articies say that the pouch is quite deep. Is it? I could only see about 1cm of depth.
I would really appreciate some guidance as I am scared to poke too far. One more query, articles say to gently squeeze the lump out. Does this mean squeezing from the top or the bottom ie from underneath the lump or above the lump? Is vaseline the right thing to use? Books say mineral oil. Is this like olive oil? I found the vaseline a bit cloggy and wondered if the olive oil would be better. What lubricant is best for this type of job?
My boys are young, about 8 months old. I would be surprised if impaction was an issue yet, but I have never seen Captain reach down and take poops from his pouch whereas I always see Davey doing it.
