Apologises for not updating this blog as often as I would have liked to. Unfortunately, within the last few months I have had some common and weird problems with my piggies, and I’m sure the remedies would have been useful to you all. I was, in fact, looking to get a camera to show you the problems, but have yet to get one.
Anyhow, I now have a seventh guinea pig, Fudge, who I adopted from the RSPCA – my third one to date. He has ruffled hair, is black and ginger and is about a year old. I will get round to putting his profile up soon.
As with most male guniea pigs that come from the RSPCA, he was not neutered, so I have recently had him done. Obviously, the vets warned me about the problems surrounding piggies under anaesthetic – of which I only know too well – but he recovered quickly. I think they used some sort of skin glue to seal his wounds, which have healed well.
The only problem I face now is putting him in with a set of pigs. I didn’t initially want to neuter him because of the potential complications, but after trying him with the two less fiesty guys, I was forced to do so. I wanted him to live with George and Fred, but Fred reacted badly to his arrival and kept chattering his teeth. I did the old box trick – where every time they chatter you put them in a box and walk around with them and shake it gently if they fight (I think this is supposed to almost scare them in to friendship) – but this required a lot of patience and I would need a whole day for it to only possibly work. And who knows how they will react when I’m not around?!
As he only had the operation done two weeks ago – and you are now supposed to wait eight weeks before putting him with females, so his tubes can clear - and I was keen for him to forge a friendship with at least one of the pigs, he has now been placed with George, and it seems to be working well. Fred is with Hol and Carrie, and Arch and Elly are together.
I might rearrange it when I know that no “accidents” can happen if I was to place Fudge with the girlies, but for now it’s working. I have just got to be careful of the introductions, as you know. I’m hoping his new hutchmates will ignore him rather than chatter as soon as he is placed in front of them.
I hope to place him with Hol and Carrie and have been getting them all used to one another’s scent by putting their runs close together – so hopefully that will work.
When he arrived he was a very scared piggie and he wasn’t used to being handled. After two weeks, he is much better, although he still doesn’t eat in front of me. He also has to get used to his new diet. I think he used to be fed on just nuggets and a little veg, once a day. I tend to feed them three times a day with a variety of fruit and veg, but he’s adjusting quickly.
Sadly, I was adopting another guinea pig instead of him, named Speedy. She was female, but had ulcers in her mouth. I got the adoption approved, but as is required, I had to wait until she was off her medication before I could take her home. However, I received a call from the RSPCA stating that the ulcers were still present and were most likely cancerous – even if they did remove them, there was an incredibly high chance that they would return. So the decision was made to put her out of her discomfort. That is when I adopted Fudge. I didn’t really want another boy because of the risks of fighting and having to get him neutered, but he is proving a great addition to the guinea pig family.
