Possible Guinea Pig Impaction But Not Sure.

[sofiakucera]

My guinea pig Winnie is a male. We got him almost 3 months ago. And I'm assuming he was about 8-12 weeks when we got him (not absolutely sure on his age). Anyways, I noticed just yesterday that the left side of his butt is a bit more larger than his right side, but when you look at Winnie when he is just standing and eating his hay etc, The butt looks even from behind and completely normal, but when he is up and running more and you can see more of beneath his butt (i’m kind of assuming it could possibly his balls area? Maybe his balls are dropping now?) But the only thing is that it’s more of the left side than the right side. This morning I also noticed his butt kinda stunk up my blanket when he was on it as well. But he’s always kind of had a stinky butt (super minor smelling tho nothing abnormal) so i’m wondering if it’s just cause he just pooped (which he did before he came onto my blanket) or maybe sign of impaction? But anyways i googled last night to try and see what the cause may be and discovered impaction is pretty common in older male guinea pigs. But Winnie isn’t really that old. And I looked up the causes and Winnie has a very good diet, drinks a lot of water, eats plenty hay etc. And also most of the pictures showed both of the butt cheeks as enlarged. But winnie only has the left side enlarged and it’s kinda more undersided not really noticeable from the back. Any thoughts on if this is normal? Possibly his balls dropping? or if it may be an impaction? Thank you. Also I don’t want to have to take Winnie to the vet and scare him and get him all worked up and nervous there if it is something very minor. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Siikibam]

Testicles descend from four months onwards, so they should already have dropped. If he looks swollen I would take him in for a check.

 

[Piggies&buns]

We can only guess and go by your description, but you can see their testicles from behind - some are much larger than others and much more noticeable. If one of them hasn’t fully descended, then he will need to be checked by a vet.
He had probably scent marked the blanket - very normal for piggies to mark their territory
Impaction is when the muscles weaken in older guinea pigs and they cannot expel caecotrophs properly.
Does he live with another piggy? They are highly social animals and must never be kept alone ( boars can only be kept in pairs)

 

[Wiebke]

My guinea pig Winnie is a male. We got him almost 3 months ago. And I'm assuming he was about 8-12 weeks when we got him (not absolutely sure on his age). Anyways, I noticed just yesterday that the left side of his butt is a bit more larger than his right side, but when you look at Winnie when he is just standing and eating his hay etc, The butt looks even from behind and completely normal, but when he is up and running more and you can see more of beneath his butt (i’m kind of assuming it could possibly his balls area? Maybe his balls are dropping now?) But the only thing is that it’s more of the left side than the right side. This morning I also noticed his butt kinda stunk up my blanket when he was on it as well. But he’s always kind of had a stinky butt (super minor smelling tho nothing abnormal) so i’m wondering if it’s just cause he just pooped (which he did before he came onto my blanket) or maybe sign of impaction? But anyways i googled last night to try and see what the cause may be and discovered impaction is pretty common in older male guinea pigs. But Winnie isn’t really that old. And I looked up the causes and Winnie has a very good diet, drinks a lot of water, eats plenty hay etc. And also most of the pictures showed both of the butt cheeks as enlarged. But winnie only has the left side enlarged and it’s kinda more undersided not really noticeable from the back. Any thoughts on if this is normal? Possibly his balls dropping? or if it may be an impaction? Thank you. Also I don’t want to have to take Winnie to the vet and scare him and get him all worked up and nervous there if it is something very minor. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi and welcome!

If his testicles have dropped unevenly/only one testicle has descended, please see a vet.

Please accept that we can only guess based on your own guesses without any access to your piggy, nor are we qualified to replace a hands-on vet examination. Be aware that online research has some massive drawbacks.

More information on testicles and other boar issues to be aware of and to check regularly in this illustrated guide here: Boar Care: Bits, Bums & Baths

What your boar most definitely does NOT have is impaction.