Sudden change in behaviour.

Abbie Brooks

Abbie Brooks

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Feb 14, 2018
Messages
186
Reaction score
114
Points
330
Location
United Kingdom
I have two female guinea pigs, (Acorn and Flapjack) I have recently noticed that acorn won’t sit and eat her veg in the mornings and evenings, instead she takes a piece to her tunnel or her bedroom and hides. She doesn’t want to be picked up and squirms out of my hands and seems twitchy when on my lap. Before this change she was very relaxed on my lap and enjoyed sitting there. They are both 4 months old and Acorn is gaining an average of 20-30 grams every other day. (Sorry for a long message)
 
I would reccomend taking her to the vwts just for s quixk checkup to make sure everythings ok x
 
Abbie Brooks said:
I have two female guinea pigs, (Acorn and Flapjack) I have recently noticed that acorn won’t sit and eat her veg in the mornings and evenings, instead she takes a piece to her tunnel or her bedroom and hides. She doesn’t want to be picked up and squirms out of my hands and seems twitchy when on my lap. Before this change she was very relaxed on my lap and enjoyed sitting there. They are both 4 months old and Acorn is gaining an average of 20-30 grams every other day. (Sorry for a long message)
Click to expand...

Hi!

I would recommend to have her vet checked to make sure that there is no medical reason (like skin parasites which make handling uncomfortable). Running off with food is perfectly normal behaviour.

It can however also be that your girl is starting to trust you enough to tell you how she really feels about being handled. But you can only know for sure that the second is correct if her health is OK.
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

I would recommend to have her vet checked to make sure that there is no medical reason (like skin parasites which make handling uncomfortable). Running off with food is perfectly normal behaviour.

It can however also be that your girl is starting to trust you enough to tell you how she really feels about being handled. But you can only know for sure that the second is correct if her health is OK.
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig
Click to expand...
Ahh ok thanks, I hadn’t considered that she might be more comfortable in letting me know. I will get her checked to make sure there are no underlying problems. Is there a forum section for skin parasites? Would they be visible in a health check performed by the owner?
 
Abbie Brooks said:
Ahh ok thanks, I hadn’t considered that she might be more comfortable in letting me know. I will get her checked to make sure there are no underlying problems. Is there a forum section for skin parasites? Would they be visible in a health check performed by the owner?
Click to expand...

Mites are not visible to the naked eye, but as mange mites start burrowing their eggs into the increasingly inflamed skin, handling can become very uncomfortable. It can be the very first symptom before you notice an outbreak.
Please do not home treat on spec with a low dosed bread spectrum shop product that can only suppress but not heal the problem. If it is a fungal issue, then parasite spot-on won't help.
Sorry, we don't have a section on parasites as we do not support home treatment on spec; too often we see piggies in a bad state as a result. We are not a medical forum and do not replace a hands-on vet visit (nor are qualified or legally enabled to do so).
We are a friendly pet owners forum that helps its members by telling them when to see vet, which avenues to best pursue with them and how to support your piggies during recovery as part of helping them to care for their pets to the best of their abilities. :)

Hopefully it is just your girl becoming a teenager and more confident.
 
I would take her to see a vet. Take along Flapjack too as a comfort companion. I've always taken 2 to the vets as it is less stressful with a friend with the exception of Christian when he needed an operation 18 days ago to save his life. I have to take him back tomorrow for what I hope will be a final check up so may take a friend then as he is much better now.
 
Betsy said:
I would take her to see a vet. Take along Flapjack too as a comfort companion. I've always taken 2 to the vets as it is less stressful with a friend with the exception of Christian when he needed an operation 18 days ago to save his life. I have to take him back tomorrow for what I hope will be a final check up so may take a friend then as he is much better now.
Click to expand...
That’s what I would do, that must have been stressful for you and I hope your piggie has made a full recovery
 
Wiebke said:
Mites are not visible to the naked eye, but as mange mites start burrowing their eggs into the increasingly inflamed skin, handling can become very uncomfortable. It can be the very first symptom before you notice an outbreak.
Please do not home treat on spec with a low dosed bread spectrum shop product that can only suppress but not heal the problem. If it is a fungal issue, then parasite spot-on won't help.
Sorry, we don't have a section on parasites as we do not support home treatment on spec; too often we see piggies in a bad state as a result. We are not a medical forum and do not replace a hands-on vet visit (nor are qualified or legally enabled to do so).
We are a friendly pet owners forum that helps its members by telling them when to see vet, which avenues to best pursue with them and how to support your piggies during recovery as part of helping them to care for their pets to the best of their abilities. :)

Hopefully it is just your girl becoming a teenager and more confident.
Click to expand...
Yes I would never home treat any illness, I just wondered if there was somewhere with some information about parasites. I would never let my pigs come to any harm
 
Hope all goes well when you see a vet.
It’s even better if the vet reassures you nothing is wrong. I hope that will be the case.
Running away with food is normal - mine do that with certain favourites like cucumber so that they don’t have it ‘stolen’ by one of the others.
 
Abbie Brooks said:
That’s what I would do, that must have been stressful for you and I hope your piggie has made a full recovery
Click to expand...
Thanks Abbie Yes Christian has made a full recovery and is on AB's until Tuesday. If you want to read about our journey it is here https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/dont-know-what-to-do-about-christian.159303/ and here https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/christians-abscess-being-cut-open-warning-do-not-watch-if-you-are-squeamish.159587/re
 
Merab's Slave said:
Hope all goes well when you see a vet.
It’s even better if the vet reassures you nothing is wrong. I hope that will be the case.
Running away with food is normal - mine do that with certain favourites like cucumber so that they don’t have it ‘stolen’ by one of the others.
Click to expand...
Hehe, guinea pigs are so cute! I’m hoping it is just her becoming more comfortable to be herself around me.
 
Abbie Brooks said:
Yes I would never home treat any illness, I just wondered if there was somewhere with some information about parasites. I would never let my pigs come to any harm
Click to expand...

There are thankfully only three species specific guinea pig parasites, mainly skin burrowing mange mites (trixacarus caviae) which are by far the worst, hay/fur mites (chirodiscoides caviae) which live off debris on the skin/hair and fix their egg cases to the hairs and lice which are blood sucking.
It is best to hit them hard with a good quality ivermectin treatment as soon as they are diagnosed so that they never become more than a nuisance if they make an appearance. They are usually kept under control by a fully operational immune system. Treating with a low dosed product as a prevention will not necessarily prevent an acute outbreak in a frail guinea pig and can lead to any dormant mange mite eggs in the skin developing resistance to ivermectin.
It is also worth noting that fungal skin infections and mange mites can look very similar in the early stages and happen outside the textbook areas; textbook pictures can be rather misleading in that respect! ;)

A couple of transmittable parasites generally require contact with the species they are specific to and are correspondingly much rarer in our experience.
Guinea Lynx :: Parasites
 
Wiebke said:
There are thankfully only three species specific guinea pig parasites, mainly skin burrowing mange mites (trixacarus caviae) which are by far the worst, hay/fur mites (chirodiscoides caviae) which live off debris on the skin/hair and fix their egg cases to the hairs and lice which are blood sucking.
It is best to hit them hard with a good quality ivermectin treatment as soon as they are diagnosed so that they never become more than a nuisance if they make an appearance. They are usually kept under control by a fully operational immune system. Treating with a low dosed product as a prevention will not necessarily prevent an acute outbreak in a frail guinea pig and can lead to any dormant mange mite eggs in the skin developing resistance to ivermectin.
It is also worth noting that fungal skin infections and mange mites can look very similar in the early stages and happen outside the textbook areas; textbook pictures can be rather misleading in that respect! ;)

A couple of transmittable parasites generally require contact with the species they are specific to and are correspondingly much rarer in our experience.
Guinea Lynx :: Parasites
Click to expand...
Ah ok, I’ve got an appointment with out local vet for tomorrow around lunch time so will update when I hear more. They seem quite comfortable at the moment and don’t seem too in pain or anything. Thanks for all the infomation and links. I will give them a read.
 
Abbie Brooks said:
Ah ok, I’ve got an appointment with out local vet for tomorrow around lunch time so will update when I hear more. They seem quite comfortable at the moment and don’t seem too in pain or anything. Thanks for all the infomation and links. I will give them a read.
Click to expand...

Hopefully she will get a clean bill of health!
 
Clean bill of health for both my little baby piggies. Not so small anymore though if this change is due to them being teens now! They are 4 months and 1 week old on Sunday!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top