Possible ear issue?

[LMPigs]

Hello,

One of our boys has got quite a lot of earwax in one of his ears - more than usual. It is dark coloured, but I understand from my daughter who is in charge of teeth and ear check ups that it always is (other threads on the forum seem to agree that guinea pig ear wax comes in a variety of shades).

He may also have spent a but more time hiding in his bedroom and less out and about today than usual, although its hard to say whether this is factually true or if its just that we are spending much more time thinking about what he is doing than we usually would. In any case, he's eating normally and I saw him having a good wonder around the run earlier so if he's feeling under the weather, I think it can only be slight.

Given that this doesn't seem like a serious issue and with the difficulties getting to a vet (or anywhere) at the moment, I was going to keep him under observation for now and see if we notice any change for the better or worse. However, it would be good to get input from more seasoned guinea pig owners as to whether this could be a sign of something worrying or if we're getting unnecessarily stressed about an ear wax build up?

Thank you.

 

[LMPigs]

In case relevant, he's nearly two and a half.

 

[Siikibam]

@PigglePuggle @Piggies&buns @Wiebke

 

[Wiebke]

Hello,

One of our boys has got quite a lot of earwax in one of his ears - more than usual. It is dark coloured, but I understand from my daughter who is in charge of teeth and ear check ups that it always is (other threads on the forum seem to agree that guinea pig ear wax comes in a variety of shades).

He may also have spent a but more time hiding in his bedroom and less out and about today than usual, although its hard to say whether this is factually true or if its just that we are spending much more time thinking about what he is doing than we usually would. In any case, he's eating normally and I saw him having a good wonder around the run earlier so if he's feeling under the weather, I think it can only be slight.

Given that this doesn't seem like a serious issue and with the difficulties getting to a vet (or anywhere) at the moment, I was going to keep him under observation for now and see if we notice any change for the better or worse. However, it would be good to get input from more seasoned guinea pig owners as to whether this could be a sign of something worrying or if we're getting unnecessarily stressed about an ear wax build up?

Thank you.

Hi!

As long as he doesn't have a sudden head tilt or is showing discomfort in his ear (head shaking, scratching), this can either wait or you could ask your vet for a suitable product via messaging/email.
Earwax is always the colour of the skin.

 

[LMPigs]

Thank you that's reassuring and good to know what to look out for as well. He is holding his head normally and not shaking or doing anything else strange with it so we will see how it goes. We can email our vet too so we'll contact them that way since its not too urgent.

 

[LMPigs]

Hello again,

Just wanted to update on this one. Toasty's ear seems to be clearing up without any help from us and he's been much more upbeat again in the past few days.

Thanks again for the advice and reassurance.

Here is a bonus picture of Toasty (and Marshmallow's bum!) chilling out after a busy day of eating grass and hiding in boxes!