I got my baby boy, Max, on August 23, 2009, it has been almost a month and I don't expect him to think of me as his best friend quite yet. He is still
quite skiddish and runs as far away as possible or tries to hide when I go to pick him up. So anyway usually at night I'll give him a handful of hay and
try to straighten out the mess he has made in his cage and then chill in bed before I go to sleep. Well every night without fail he comes out of his igloo and
runs laps around his cage. He runs around his igloo, around his bed and just makes the biggest mess. While he is doing this he sometimes stops and takes a few
bites of hay, sometimes he will just stop and stare at nothing, and sometimes he will popcorn in the middle of his running (it might not be popcorning but it
looks an awful lot like it). I was wondering what the deal is. It seems like a little bit of happy to me since he also does this when I let him out of the cage
and let him run around the house for a little while. He will just run in circles. It amazes me. I just want to make sure though that he is alright, I don't
want to think he is just happy when it is really that he is ill, or is being driven crazy by a bad case of fleas or something. Can you maybe give me some
ideas.
0 Kudo
my kind of new guinea pig
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 apeace90 |
my kind of new guinea pig |
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Posts: 5 09/15/09 10:53 PM |
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PooksiedAnimals |
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Posts: 4114 09/16/09 06:11 AM Moderator |
That would be a combination of the "zoomies" and "popcorning." A really good fit of popcorning can look like they're having a seizure.
It can be freaky to watch, unless you realize they're just having fun.
Sounds like a happy pig. He's got more energy than he knows what to do with, so he's burning it off. Enjoy it while you can -- they don't do this as often when they grow up. As long as he's not scratching often, or getting bald spots, this is not a case of parasites. A bad case of mites would cause them to seize, but there wouldn't be the running around, and there would be scratching all the time. |
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apeace90 |
another question | #2 | ||
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Posts: 5 09/16/09 02:04 PM |
I also had another question... I had two smaller dogs, and I was wondering what your thoughts were on letting the guinea pig and the dogs co-mingle. Ive tried
letting my dogs out when he is out, but they get so excited when he is out without me holding him that im afraid they are gonna jump on him and hurt him. Plus
they like to eat his poo and it grosses me out. But my dog will sit at teh end of my bed and stare at the cage which is across from my bed and he will whine.
And I don't know if he is whining because he wants to eat Max or sniff Max or play with Max. I really don't want to let the roam freely because I
don't want any of them to get hurt, because I don't have a pal for Max because I don't really have the room, so maybe the dogs could be a
reasonable partner for the guinea pig for now, but it doesn't seem to likely. What are your thoughts?
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PooksiedAnimals |
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Posts: 4114 09/16/09 03:24 PM Moderator |
It really depends on the dog. Some dogs have been bred to kill rats -- and guinea pigs fit the bill. I would never allow a guinea pig near a terrier, for
example, because of this. I don't think its wise to leave a dog with a guinea pig. "Play" and "eat" are often the same thing. I've
read too many tragic stories of a dog getting into the guinea pig room, and getting to the cage -- even if the dog had never shown any aggression towards pigs
before.
Guinea pigs really should another guinea pig for company. They are herd animals, and even if the dog was gentle and got along with your guinea pig, its just not the same kind of companionship. In general, dogs are not a good animal to partner with a guinea pig. |
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