Hi everyone! This is my first post but I could really use some help so I thought I'd give it a try.
I have three guinea pigs, all females, and all between 4 and 8 months old. About four days ago, my boyfriend was holding my oldest pig, Sheik, and she jumped out of his arms. She only fell from about a foot, but right after it happened she stopped using her back right leg. (Only the right one-- the left one is working just fine). I have taken her to the vet, who x-rayed and said there were no broken bones, just a bad sprain. He ruled out a spinal injury as well since she has full mobility with her back left leg. Sheik limps very badly and won't put any weight on the right leg, but other than that she gets around fine and doesn't seem to be in any pain. (I know this might not mean anything because guinea pigs don't like to show when they are in pain anyway). I've given them all Vitamin C and fresh veggies since day 1, so I don't think Vitamin C deficiency is an issue in this case.
Here's my question: I have isolated her from the other two guinea pigs because all three are very active and I wanted to give the leg time to heal. When she is alone, she seems depressed and won't even react to my hand in her cage. She usually nibbles on my fingers but won't even do that now. My regular cage is the kind with dividers inside, so when I clean her temporary cage I put her in a section without the other two, but where she could see them through the bars. She seemed so much happier! The other two did as well. Do I need to keep her alone until the leg heals, or is it okay to put her back in with the other two piggies? I want her to be happy, especially since she's hurt, but I don't want to risk her injuring her leg even more. What should I do? If she does need to stay by herself for awhile longer, is there anything I can do to make her happier?
I have three guinea pigs, all females, and all between 4 and 8 months old. About four days ago, my boyfriend was holding my oldest pig, Sheik, and she jumped out of his arms. She only fell from about a foot, but right after it happened she stopped using her back right leg. (Only the right one-- the left one is working just fine). I have taken her to the vet, who x-rayed and said there were no broken bones, just a bad sprain. He ruled out a spinal injury as well since she has full mobility with her back left leg. Sheik limps very badly and won't put any weight on the right leg, but other than that she gets around fine and doesn't seem to be in any pain. (I know this might not mean anything because guinea pigs don't like to show when they are in pain anyway). I've given them all Vitamin C and fresh veggies since day 1, so I don't think Vitamin C deficiency is an issue in this case.
Here's my question: I have isolated her from the other two guinea pigs because all three are very active and I wanted to give the leg time to heal. When she is alone, she seems depressed and won't even react to my hand in her cage. She usually nibbles on my fingers but won't even do that now. My regular cage is the kind with dividers inside, so when I clean her temporary cage I put her in a section without the other two, but where she could see them through the bars. She seemed so much happier! The other two did as well. Do I need to keep her alone until the leg heals, or is it okay to put her back in with the other two piggies? I want her to be happy, especially since she's hurt, but I don't want to risk her injuring her leg even more. What should I do? If she does need to stay by herself for awhile longer, is there anything I can do to make her happier?
