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Do you know anything about Guinea Pigs? (1 Viewer)

MikeIke

MikeIke

Footballguy
My wife is house sitting for a family that has a Guinea Pig.  This creature has lower teeth that are INSANELY long .  It's not normal and I'm sure it's not healthy . 

I've been Internetting and it seems that this isn't uncommon .  Typically the treatment is to take the creature to the vet and have them cut and file the offending teeth.  However,  this is not my pet and I'm certainly not going to pay for someone to do it . 

Can you cut your own guinea pig's teeth ? Anyone have experience with this? 

 
Ignore it, I'm sure the owners will come back before it dies. If he worst happens, just say you thought it was normal

 
Ok that picture I posted earlier looks worse than it actually is.  What looks like a diseased,  runny eye is actually just a marking on his fur.  His eyes seem fine.  Here's a different angle .  The teeth are really the only concern. 

http://m.imgur.com/5WnUmPk

 
MikeIke said:
Ok that picture I posted earlier looks worse than it actually is.  What looks like a diseased,  runny eye is actually just a marking on his fur.  His eyes seem fine.  Here's a different angle .  The teeth are really the only concern. 

http://m.imgur.com/5WnUmPk
Click to expand...
Looks like they are pushing up into his nose in a bad way. If they don't get him to a vet it's not going to be good for him.

 
Hawks64 said:
Looks like they are pushing up into his nose in a bad way. If they don't get him to a vet it's not going to be good for him.
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I agree.  What I'd like to know from the all-knowing FFA is,  can you trim guinea pig teeth yourself,  or is it a job that must be done by a vet? I was wondering if anyone had experience with this before. 

Nothing is obscure in the FFA .  Someone always knows. 

 
MikeIke said:
I agree.  What I'd like to know from the all-knowing FFA is,  can you trim guinea pig teeth yourself,  or is it a job that must be done by a vet? I was wondering if anyone had experience with this before. 

Nothing is obscure in the FFA .  Someone always knows. 
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Unless you've been trained I wouldn't give it a go, that's just me though :shrug:

 
I'm almost to the point that I'd fork over whatever it cost to correct the obvious problem. Growing up, my family had many (more than 10 over the years) guinea pigs. I wasn't interested because we had dogs. But that never happened to any of them.

 
MikeIke said:
My wife is house sitting for a family that has a Guinea Pig.  This creature has lower teeth that are INSANELY long .  It's not normal and I'm sure it's not healthy . 

I've been Internetting and it seems that this isn't uncommon .  Typically the treatment is to take the creature to the vet and have them cut and file the offending teeth.  However,  this is not my pet and I'm certainly not going to pay for someone to do it . 

Can you cut your own guinea pig's teeth ? Anyone have experience with this? 
Click to expand...
No it's not normal. DO NOT DO IT YOURSELF. Just like you wouldn't take care of this on yourself..He should be taken to the vet to take care of it, and provide unlimited timothy hay 24/7 as that's what keeps teeth from overgrowing as well as their digestive track moving. Hay, the right kind, is the most important thing along with good quality pellets and appropriate veggies. You may want to pass along this forum where it spells out proper guinea pig care. People in pet stores have no clue and regular vets can be the same. I take mine to an exotic vet.

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/index.php

PS: I've had my girl for 4.5 years and have gained all my knowledge from the above site. There's even a tech on there to answer medical questions on gps..

 
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Mile High said:
On a hunch I went to youtube. I think I would let a vet do it.
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This. The teeth can be filed down, but those are very overgrown, and have grown into its nose. The issue goes beyond a simple trimming. Poor thing. I bet that really hurts. Hopefully it lives until the owners get back, but I'd just take it myself and give them the bill. The owners need to give it something to gnaw on and wear it's teeth down. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I will chip in $20 towards the vet bill. Get this taken care of.  Tell me when and where to send the paypal. 

 
The Football Freak said:
This. The teeth can be filed down, but those are very overgrown, and have grown into its nose. The issue goes beyond a simple trimming. Poor thing. I bet that really hurts. Hopefully it lives until the owners get back, but I'd just take it myself and give them the bill. The owners need to give it something to gnaw on and wear it's teeth down. 
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Timothy hay, orchard grass, bluegrass hay and some others that are on the site I posted is what prevents this problem. If the owners are making this hay available 24/7 then there's something else going on. If it was your kid, would you just do it yourself if you could or take him to the doc to make sure there isn't anything else causing it. But the most common cause is not providing adequate appropriate hay.

 
Nugget said:
I will chip in $20 towards the vet bill. Get this taken care of.  Tell me when and where to send the paypal. 
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I'll chip in too. I recommend if you can find a vet specializing in exotic animals (birds, reptiles, rodents...). I started with a regular vet and quickly found when she misclassified the type of gp I have that she didn't know much but acted like she did because she used to have one. Yah, ok. Poor gp.

 
CurlyNight said:
No it's not normal. DO NOT DO IT YOURSELF. Just like you wouldn't take care of this on yourself..He should be taken to the vet to take care of it, and provide unlimited timothy hay 24/7 as that's what keeps teeth from overgrowing as well as their digestive track moving. Hay, the right kind, is the most important thing along with good quality pellets and appropriate veggies. You may want to pass along this forum where it spells out proper guinea pig care. People in pet stores have no clue and regular vets can be the same. I take mine to an exotic vet.

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/index.php

PS: I've had my girl for 4.5 years and have gained all my knowledge from the above site. There's even a tech on there to answer medical questions on gps..
Click to expand...
I KNEW there would be someone here with experience ! Thanks,  curly. 

I know rodents need to constantly chew or their teeth will grow too long,  this is just the first time I've seen it in real life.  From what my wife says the owners had stuff to chew on in the cage but the thing never did chew,  so they removed the chew toys from the cage.  :eyeroll:

 
@MikeIke You can post where you are on that forum and maybe someone who lives where you are can tell you a good vet to use. Dental stuff is tricky, even though it sounds straightforward. You want someone who has done gps to do it.

 
Thank you ,  @Nugget and @CurlyNight for your offers to help pay.  I don't think it will come to that , though . 

However,  since I just paid $550 to have my kitten vaccinated and spayed ,  maybe it will ! Very generous of you both .  thank you . 

 
MikeIke said:
I KNEW there would be someone here with experience ! Thanks,  curly. 

I know rodents need to constantly chew or their teeth will grow too long,  this is just the first time I've seen it in real life.  From what my wife says the owners had stuff to chew on in the cage but the thing never did chew,  so they removed the chew toys from the cage.  :eyeroll:
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Tell them to not waste their money. Chew toys is a scam other than for play. Hay is THE only thing that will keep their teeth grinded down. That's it. I don't buy that #### even for play as it just sits there. Go on the site I posted, under diet and nutrition, and read about hay. People there are very knowledgable and have saved me many vet visits that were to come had I not found that forum.

 
The urgency in this is the fact that the gp is basically starving right now. He can't chew/eat. Time is ticking. Move on it yesterday or he may die.

 
CurlyNight said:
The urgency in this is the fact that the gp is basically starving right now. He can't chew/eat. Time is ticking. Move on it yesterday or he may die.
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I was watching him tonight and somehow he did manage to eat and drink. It looked like he used his back teeth to chew,  and he put the water bottle down his throat past his front teeth to drink.    I guess he's lived with it so long that he's gotten used to it .  

But yes,  I do realize it could turn into a life-threatening situation. 

 
MikeIke said:
I was watching him tonight and somehow he did manage to eat and drink. It looked like he used his back teeth to chew,  and he put the water bottle down his throat past his front teeth to drink.    I guess he's lived with it so long that he's gotten used to it .  

But yes,  I do realize it could turn into a life-threatening situation. 
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It's possibly a slow starvation thing if he's working around it. Nonetheless it's not healthy and could lead to other issues. Hay is that critical. He needs to be seen by an exotic vet who has delt with gps to make sure "he's ok." I'm betting he'll be getting a good trim job. Their teeth continue to grow as in forever. Just like our nails and hair. The longer it gets, the worse it will be.

 
The person on that forum that is a medical expert on gps is bpatters. I just looked in the vet forum and can't find teeth. It's people asking questions of all sorts and he/she answers. Maybe sign up and send him/her a pm.

 
CurlyNight said:
It's possibly a slow starvation thing if he's working around it. Nonetheless it's not healthy and could lead to other issues. Hay is that critical. He needs to be seen by an exotic vet who has delt with gps to make sure "he's ok." I'm betting he'll be getting a good trim job. Their teeth continue to grow as in forever. Just like our nails and hair. The longer it gets, the worse it will be.
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I don't disagree with you .  The minute I saw his teeth tonight I was disgusted by his owners and sad for the little guy. It's obvious that they're a giant problem. 

 
CurlyNight said:
It's possibly a slow starvation thing if he's working around it. Nonetheless it's not healthy and could lead to other issues. Hay is that critical. He needs to be seen by an exotic vet who has delt with gps to make sure "he's ok." I'm betting he'll be getting a good trim job. Their teeth continue to grow as in forever. Just like our nails and hair. The longer it gets, the worse it will be.
Click to expand...
Totally read that wrong :bag:

 
MikeIke said:
I don't disagree with you .  The minute I saw his teeth tonight I was disgusted by his owners and sad for the little guy. It's obvious that they're a giant problem. 
Click to expand...
It's a good example of people getting a pet without finding out first what the proper care is. GPs, birds, basically all exotics are cool to have so people get one. They don't bother to research correctly what it takes to keep it healthy, happy- emotionally, socially, mentally, physically. I won't say how much I spent on Mooshy my girl as I made the mistake and got her from a pet store instead of adopting from a reputable gp rescue nearby. You get a living creature, you need to be just as responsible for it as you are your own kid. Otherwise get a stuffed animal. Exotics are not like dogs and cats and should not be taken in because they are cool or look like they don't require much. In fact, they require more attention. I used to have birds for many years and it was not easy at all. Then you have people who just give their pet away because now it's too much. That's traumatic for the pet. You could have avoided this buy doing in depth research from a reputable source/expert before taking yourself and that pet down that path.

 
In Peru, a large version of the guinea pig, cuy, is a delicacy that dates back almost 5,000 years.  It's served flattened and fried, or roasted.

 
"You should start weighing your pig every day, first thing in the morning before he eats. Record the weights, and if he's steadily losing weight, it's likely that he does have a problem with his teeth. You can get a kitchen scale that weighs up to about five pounds in both ounces/pounds and grams/kilograms at Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Walmart, Amazon, etc. for less than $15. It's the best thing you can have in your piggy medical kit, because loss of weight is often the first noticeable sign of an illness.

If he's showing any of those signs of tooth problems, you'll need to get him to a good exotic vet, preferably one with rodent dentist experience. Do NOT take him to a small animal (dog and cat) vet -- they're not educated in exotic care, and even exotic vets can have trouble with guinea pig teeth. He'll need skull x-rays to see if the problem is an abscessed tooth, or a cyst, or elongated roots, or some other problem. Some of those problems can be treated by planing down the molars. Others don't have as good a prognosis -- elongated roots are very difficult and expensive to treat."

@MikeIke- found a post on teeth from bpatters.
 

 
CurlyNight said:
It's a good example of people getting a pet without finding out first what the proper care is. GPs, birds, basically all exotics are cool to have so people get one. They don't bother to research correctly what it takes to keep it healthy, happy- emotionally, socially, mentally, physically. I won't say how much I spent on Mooshy my girl as I made the mistake and got her from a pet store instead of adopting from a reputable gp rescue nearby.
Click to expand...
I love all animals and would chip in to help this animal with its teeth and my wife donates way too much of our money to various animal charities and care foundations and the like, and my pets mean the world to me, so with all that out of the way, I have to tell you that Guinea Pigs are absolutely not in any way cool.

 
Unlimited grass hay is what they need to have available 24/7 in unlimited supply. I listed types as I forgot the general class of hay..

 
CurlyNight said:
"You should start weighing your pig every day, first thing in the morning before he eats. Record the weights, and if he's steadily losing weight, it's likely that he does have a problem with his teeth. You can get a kitchen scale that weighs up to about five pounds in both ounces/pounds and grams/kilograms at Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Walmart, Amazon, etc. for less than $15. It's the best thing you can have in your piggy medical kit, because loss of weight is often the first noticeable sign of an illness.

If he's showing any of those signs of tooth problems, you'll need to get him to a good exotic vet, preferably one with rodent dentist experience. Do NOT take him to a small animal (dog and cat) vet -- they're not educated in exotic care, and even exotic vets can have trouble with guinea pig teeth. He'll need skull x-rays to see if the problem is an abscessed tooth, or a cyst, or elongated roots, or some other problem. Some of those problems can be treated by planing down the molars. Others don't have as good a prognosis -- elongated roots are very difficult and expensive to treat."

@MikeIke- found a post on teeth from bpatters.
 
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Thanks,  curly .  Very kind of you .  I have some experience with exotic pets ,  I have a snake, a gecko,  and two turtles.  But with this not being my pet,  there's a limit to what I'm willing to do .  And I know from experience that a simple trip to the vet can turn into a $500+ bill,  I'm not doing that for an animal that isn't even mine . 

 
Northern Voice said:
I love all animals and would chip in to help this animal with its teeth and my wife donates way too much of our money to various animal charities and care foundations and the like, and my pets mean the world to me, so with all that out of the way, I have to tell you that Guinea Pigs are absolutely not in any way cool.
Click to expand...
They do make funny noises,  though .  That's kind of endearing. 

:oldunsure:

 
Northern Voice said:
I love all animals and would chip in to help this animal with its teeth and my wife donates way too much of our money to various animal charities and care foundations and the like, and my pets mean the world to me, so with all that out of the way, I have to tell you that Guinea Pigs are absolutely not in any way cool.
Click to expand...
Well for some they are. We all have our opinions on this. I am amazed how much personality and how smart they actually are. I am by no means advocating anyone to get one. I tend to be the opposite, that don't. It's work just like birds are, though birds you have behaviour problems because they are being "asked" to behave like a human and scolded when they aren't, so they "fight" back. My girl has kept me somewhat sane as I battle cancer. Birds would have been too much effort as would be dogs and even cats at this time. Thank God I didn't go that route or I wouldn't be able to take proper care of them. Taking a vacuum to the fleece and wiping down her large pen, changing the litter in her kitchen, food stuff, etc is much easier to handle when you are weakened when it's all in one spot, the pen. That is cool. :)

 
MikeIke said:
They do make funny noises,  though .  That's kind of endearing. 

:oldunsure:
Click to expand...
Oh wow, yup! Mine can be asleep and she hears the refrigerator door open and it's wheek wheek wheek! When she hears the vegetable bags rattle, she runs around her pen. It's so cute!

 
MikeIke said:
Thanks,  curly .  Very kind of you .  I have some experience with exotic pets ,  I have a snake, a gecko,  and two turtles.  But with this not being my pet,  there's a limit to what I'm willing to do .  And I know from experience that a simple trip to the vet can turn into a $500+ bill,  I'm not doing that for an animal that isn't even mine . 
Click to expand...
Oh tell me about vet bills. Another reason why anyone looking to get any pet needs to really research what they are getting themselves into, including vet bills which you'd think for a small animal like a gp or parakeet would be cheaper than a large dog, but no it's not.  To say you won't take care of your pet if it becomes ill is horrible. Don't get it. Give it a chance at a good healthy life and pass on getting it.

 
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