I have recently adopted 2 skinny pigs and one (Peaches) seemed to grow a lump over night. She is a female and approximately 7 weeks old just in her neck.We have had her for approximately 1 week. She is being fed pellets (no fried fruit) Timothy hay and water. She did try romaine lettuce, a strawberry top and a tip of a green bean but no large quantities of fresh veggies as I was told not to serve fresh veggies in quantities until 2 months. I would appreciate any feedback. Being new to guinea pigs I did not realize my current vet does nothing do small animals and am currently researching specialty vets. I will be calling 1 recommendation today. In the mean time if someone could help me not freak out. I am a bit worried.
Hi!
Unfortunately, any lump needs to be seen and assessed by a vet; there is too much of a variety to make any guesses. The faster a lump is growing, the quicker it needs to be seen. If the lump continues to triple or quadruple in size within 24 hours, you are dealing with an emergency that should be seen within a day. Otherwise, it can wait until Monday.
How Soon Should My Guinea Pig See A Vet? - A Quick Guide
Guinea Lynx :: Lumps
The mainstay of any piggy diet is unlimited hay and - when in season - fresh growing grass (about 80%). Dental growth and the whole digestive process are totally laid out to cope with the vary abrasive silica in any grass fibre and the gut microbiome is geared towards breaking down the tough but nutritious fibre in two runs through the gut.
Please do not overfeed veg (ca. 15%), which - together with 1 tablespoon of pellets per piggy per day (Ca. 5%)-
replaces the supplementary role that wild forage would have had.
Take the time to read our comprehensive diet guide, which looks at diet as a whole but also in practical detail at every food group. You will find it very helpful:
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Babies will nibble on hay within hours of being born; they switch from mainly milk to mainly eating an adult solid diet during the second week of the life. Soon after, the gradual weaning process will start which is usually finished around 4 weeks. Youngsters don't need a special diet. They usually learn what is safe to eat from their elders by example, sniffing and snatching foods from their mouths. If you don't have a companion who can give them cues and if they obviously come from a background with no or very little vet, you will be struggling much more with that learning process and will also have to introduce any new foods in small quantities at first to give the gut microbiome time to adjust; normally traces in the mother's milk will automatically do this.
You will find this article series here very interesting as to guinea pig development. It follows a guinea pig life from birth to death:
Journey through a Lifetime: The Ages of Guinea Pigs
You may find our extensive New Owners information collection very helpful. We have included all the areas that we get the most questions and concerns about. The guides are very practical and as precise as we could make them to avoid any confusion. You may want to bookmark the link, browse, read and re-read at need:
Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides
All the best!
