Sleeping more, hiding food and boar leadership?

[naguya]

Today is Sunday, since Thursday-Friday I started to notice that my Momo (boar) has been sleeping more than usual. I don't know if this is normal or not...?

I noticed a difference in behavior regarding food, he grabs any kind of food in his mouth and runs off to his hidey (once it is greens, he doesn't do this to pellets). He didn't do this before, he ate in the middle of the cage without hiding, now he just takes the food and hides himself.

I also noticed that he has been eating less hay, in the cage there are 2-3 places with hay, I have been putting one of the places next to his hidey where he stays the most to see if he eats more. But I didn't see any difference.

I have been weighing him daily in the morning before eating since Friday and so far the variation has only changed by 5-10g for more or for less. He is drinking water normally.

I also noticed that on Friday and Saturday night, that the other boar fought with him (there was no blood), It wasn't really a fight, it was more that Momo was in a hiding place and Bijou wanted to stay in that place and Momo didn't want to go out, then Bijou kicked him out. But I didn't see a real fight at any point, just Bijou kicking him out and Momo screaming a lot.

This has happened about 3-4 times, also when Momo was in a hay spot, Bijou kicked him out and again he screamed a lot, and since then I've noticed Momo sleeping more and eating less hay. He became less active since these interactions.

I was advised that this would happen, regarding Momo screaming because Bijou would take the leadership. But I am concerned about him sleeping a lot more, eating a lot less hay and being less active. Is this normal? I thought that Momo might be a little down or upset because of the change in leadership, is that it?

 

[naguya]

Just forgot to tell, he normally eats lots of greens (he takes one by one to his hidey), it is only the hay he isn't eating much at all. Also, normally I would find him in the middle of the cage walking or staring at nothing or doing some popcorn, but now most of the day I see him in the same hidey spot sleeping, like, almost the entire day - or just laying awake in the hidey, he didn't do this before. I am concerned about his health

 

[naguya]

Sorry for spamming. I just gave him greens (lettuce+escarole+green pepper+chayote) and he stays like this when eating, is this also normal?

 

[weepweeps]

It’s good you are weighing him daily and he hasn’t lost any weight. The dominance you are describing sounds normal to me.

You say above that you are concerned about his health. I would say get him checked out. As you know him the best. Even if it’s only for peace of mind that he is ok.

 

[naguya]

It’s good you are weighing him daily and he hasn’t lost any weight. The dominance you are describing sounds normal to me.

You say above that you are concerned about his health. I would say get him checked out. As you know him the best. Even if it’s only for peace of mind that he is ok.

I would take him, but the vets here for guinea pigs aren't good probably they would say he is already a sick guinea pig because of his tilt head and they would prescribe metacam. No vet here really understands guinea pig behavior... What makes me worried the most is his change in behavior regarding eating much less hay and also staying almost the entire day in his hidey spot.

 

[naguya]

OMG, just found him NOW, finally eating hay after all this time in the spot I put close to his hidey! I am sorry for the sudden post here on forum, I just got really worried about his hay intake because it was close to none since Friday during day time. Now I will just keep an eye on his activeness routine, since he isn't active and just keeping in his hidey almost all the time.

Now I am truly starting to think it isn't a health matter, it is more related to the leadership interaction, but of course, I can be wrong.

 

[Piggies&buns]

In terms of eating less hay, the reality at this point is that his weight is absolutely stable (5-10g difference means he has not lost any weight) so he is eating enough and as yet you can’t conclude that he is eating less hay. 50g is the point at which you can know he isn’t eating enough.

Be careful not to use the word fight if there is not an actual furball, rolling around blood drawing fight.

If momo is dominant and is unwell then he may not be able to hold his position against bijou. Bijou could be taking his opportunity knowing momo is unwell and can’t/won’t defend.
Whether the change in momo’s behaviour is because he doesn’t feel well (is he recovering or does he appear to be worsening?) or because he doesn’t hold position anymore is not possible for us to answer. It’s a case of monitoring and seeing what happens
We always need to advise to have any health angle checked first though as we can’t know which one it is. I appreciate a vet is not easy for you to find though.
I would suggest you weigh him daily so you can monitor his hay intake closely.

 

[naguya]

In terms of eating less hay, the reality at this point is that his weight is absolutely stable (5-10g difference means he has not lost any weight) so he is eating enough and as yet you can’t conclude that he is eating less hay. 50g is the point at which you can know he isn’t eating enough.

Be careful not to use the word fight if there is not an actual furball, rolling around blood drawing fight.

If momo is dominant and is unwell then he may not be able to hold his position against bijou. Bijou could be taking his opportunity knowing momo is unwell and can’t/won’t defend.
Whether the change in momo’s behaviour is because he doesn’t feel well (is he recovering or does he appear to be worsening?) or because he doesn’t hold position anymore is not possible for us to answer. It’s a case of monitoring and seeing what happens
We always need to advise to have any health angle checked first though as we can’t know which one it is. I appreciate a vet is not easy for you to find though.
I would suggest you weigh him daily so you can monitor his hay intake closely.

What I have noticed so far (a week ago) is that when Momo is going to eat hay, any spot, Bijou follows him, and sometimes tries to kick him out wherever he is. Sometimes this happens to greens (but hardly). He stopped completely eating hay during day time since Friday (I was at home these days entire day, so I kept a close look during day time and he didn't touch his hay any time), and then just now, returned eating it a little bit, about two minutes and went back to sleep. He also didn't used to pick his food and hide, now he is doing this.

The biggest difference in Momo's behavior is that he is sleeping more than normal and being in a hidey more than normal, he is much less active. I have checked Wiebke's guide for body health spots and everything is normal (on outside) for him, except I need to clean and comb him because he isn't able to do it normally because of the tilt head.

Yes, it wasn't a fight, sorry for the misspelled of words, it was more of a "hard push" with Momo screaming and running and this is happening often since Thursday - Friday. I will keep monitoring his weight daily.

Recently, last month, went to a vet with him to get an x-ray and check for CBS, but, The vet said there was a risk of him dying during the anesthesia during the process, I didn't really understand why. He just said he was a sick guinea pig because of his crooked head and it would affect the anesthesia. So I decided not to do it.

Thank you ! !