Very underweight gp

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TanCharlie

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Hi all, so we recently got 3 new gp's, we were told they were all 8 months old. 2 of them weight 500-600g and are quite ligand appear healthy. 1 is very small and only weighs 265g, we suspect he's not anywhere near 8 months in age. We did take him to a vet and the vet said he appeared to be newborn and taken away from his mum, but didnt actually give us much advice on what to do. His teeth do not appear to be fully grown and he is struggling to eat much. He eats the stalks on spinach leaves and will eat hay. We have tried mashing the pellets in warm water, but he refuses that. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
Welcome to the forum

So the vet has confirmed that this piggy is just a young baby and not that there is anything medically wrong?
If so, then he should grow in his own time with a good hay based diet (unless there are health issues).
If there are health issues with him then you must step in with syringe feeding him as well as seeing if there is an actual diagnosis for any illness.

(At his weight it is correct that he should have been removed from his mum - baby boys can get their mothers pregnant from 3 weeks of age or 250g).

Wiebke

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Wiebke

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Other factors to consider going forward - spinach is too high in calcium so should only be fed once a week.

As you mention three piggies and mention ‘he’, I assume all piggies are male?
In that event, please prepare that they may not be able to remain together permanently. Sadly boar trios are highly unstable and usually end with fights and separations.
If they are ok for now and assuming the little one isnt being subjected to bullying (not allowed to eat by the other two, loses weight etc) then leave them together for now but as I say, prepare that it unfortunately may not last.
Boar trios require a huge amount of space - a cage measuring 300x100cm at least.

Wiebke

Thread 'Adding More Guinea Pigs Or Merging Pairs – What Works And What Not?'

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Wiebke

Thread 'Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets'

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Hi, thank you so much for your reply.
When we first took him to the vet, he was a little sniffly and wheezy- the vet suggested that this was because they had sawdust in their cage in the place we got them from. He's not at all wheezy now, since having no sawdust, so the vet confirmed it was allergy related.
Thank you for the info about spinach, I wasn't aware of this.
They have plenty of good quality hay.
Yes, that's correct, we have 3 males and they are in a very large cage. However, we have just ordered a c&c cage, as one of the larger males has become increasingly dominant over the small piggy- constantly chasing and humping him. We haven't had any bullying issues over food, it's simply just the constant chasing and humping. He literally will not give him a second of peace. The middle male now tries to protect littlun and often squares off to the biggest piggy and shelters the littlun.
I really appreciate you taking the time to reply and add all the information. Thank you 😊
 
The constant chasing and humping can unfortunately be bullying so you’ve done right by preparing to separate.

The two who remain will need to reestablish their bond as a pair (whether you choose to keep the middle and small pig together and separate the dominant all comes down to who is going to be the best character match to form a long term bond).
Moving environment (a new home, changing cage size in an existing home etc) will cause them to reestablish their bond which takes around two weeks.
Even cleaning the cage will cause an increase in dominance so to that end we don’t recommend the full cage is cleaned in one go. A full clean removes all scent and can really upset them so only clean half the cage at a time.

The pair need a 180x60cm or 5x2 c&c cage.
A single needs a minimum of 120x60cm or a 3x2 c&c cage.

Piggies generally don’t get allergies.
Some can be sensitive to some things though - hay and bedding dust included. I’m glad his symptoms have eased.

Wiebke

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Thank you so much for all your advice.
We have a very large run aswell and have been putting them in there, when we have been cleaning out their cage. We will try cleaning out half at a time next and see how that goes.
I fear that the biggest boy has burnt his bridges with the other 2 now.
 
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