# Am so riled up!!



## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

I can't believe what's happened this morning. I was so tempted to lie about this I have to be honest because it is something that I swore I would never do again. But I have built up a lot of trust on this site and do not think it is fair on you or me to destroy that.....so bear with me.

I went into a local pet shop...one I try to avoid...but I'd forgotten hamster food in town! Anyhow I went in and couldn't help but be drawn to a cage with three baby bunnies in....very very cute...about six weeks old.  Oh except hiding behind one of them there was a TINY bundle. I had to look twice and there was the tiniest guinea pig I have ever come across in the same cage as three bounding bunnies  !! I was immediately cross. I asked the age and he said 6-8 weeks! I explained about rabbits and piggies not going in together and he said it was just for company. He showed me mum and dad. Apparently they had had a litter of four and killed three. This baby has been attacked too, apparently, and has a gash down his nose which the guy says he has been treating with sudocrem and seems better now. Anyways...I asked could he not been put in with others...he said he was happy in with bunnies....hence the cowering I guess  

So I explained I have a lot of experience in baby guinea pigs...and have a litter at the moment just a bit younger than him. I said with the state of him I would need to get him checked out by a vet etc. So I said if I bought some food for a fiver...a little more than the asking price...could I take him. The guy said yeah...he wasn't even sure how much they went for anyways as it was his girl friends shop. He then started showing me another mum with her two one week olds...I think he was trying to get them too!! 

I also got a new camera today so will take some pictures....if people wish to see 

However...I lied...I have no experience with a piggy under 10 weeks. This little man is tiny...so will need help with guessing age. He is supposedly male. Do I need to supplement his diet with anything? Do anything special? 

I hope no-one judges me too harshly. I just felt so sorry for the poor little lad. On getting him home he has another scratch on his back and he is quite skinny 

Sorry for essay! I am considering calling him Riley cos I have not been this riled up in a long time


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## Guest (Mar 13, 2012)

At 6 to 8 weeks old he will have been fully weaned so he will just need a healthy diet for a GP 
Plenty of hay, decent gp pellets and some veg high in Vit C 


Did you mention to the petshop that buns carry bordatella so it is potentially fatal for guinea pigs and rabbits to share a cage?
In my experience that is the one thing that gets most people to sit up and actually listen.


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

B3rnie said:


> At 6 to 8 weeks old he will have been fully weaned so he will just need a healthy diet for a GP
> Plenty of hay, decent gp pellets and some veg high in Vit C
> 
> Did you mention to the petshop that buns carry bordatella so it is potentially fatal for guinea pigs and rabbits to share a cage?
> In my experience that is the one thing that gets most people to sit up and actually listen.


Thanks hun!! Yes I did...though I never remember the damn name!! He just said it was temporary for company. He is had no idea basically. I have Wagg Optimum anyhow but got some piggy food that he was supposedly on.

I am worried about the age...he is no bigger than my hand...and I have small hands!


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## Guest (Mar 13, 2012)

niki87 said:


> Thanks hun!! Yes I did...though I never remember the damn name!! He just said it was temporary for company. He is had no idea basically. I have Wagg Optimum anyhow but got some piggy food that he was supposedly on.
> 
> I am worried about the age...he is no bigger than my hand...and I have small hands!


Post a pic of him, we might be able to help with a rough age. He does sound very small


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

B3rnie said:


> Post a pic of him, we might be able to help with a rough age. He does sound very small


Yeah just had him out for a cuddle...just taken some pics so will post in a sec when I can get photobucket to obey me.


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## swatton42 (Oct 29, 2011)

What food was he on then? If he was in with the bunnies when eating that may well have something to do with his size.

It sounds like you're doing the right thing, with the vet's and everything else. As Bernie said from 6 - 8 weeks they're fully weaned anyway so a normal piggy diet should be fine for him.

Supposedly male? Does this mean that this is what you've been told or that you've checked and are not sure? Either way quarantine him for a while to make sure he is clear of everything and then find him a friend. Being a young male he should bond relatively easy as long as you don't have a super dominant older male. Females are usually easy to bond anyway, although I have a feeling you already know all this anyway


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## emma20 (Feb 7, 2012)

pet shops just dont seem to care. I went to pet shop not that long ago and they had thrown a new set of mice in with a set of mice they already had and there was 1 mouse being bullied he was underweight covered in bite marks with blood on his back and blind in 1 eye so i brought him home he only lasted 7 days.


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

swatton42 said:


> What food was he on then? If he was in with the bunnies when eating that may well have something to do with his size.
> 
> It sounds like you're doing the right thing, with the vet's and everything else. As Bernie said from 6 - 8 weeks they're fully weaned anyway so a normal piggy diet should be fine for him.
> 
> Supposedly male? Does this mean that this is what you've been told or that you've checked and are not sure? Either way quarantine him for a while to make sure he is clear of everything and then find him a friend. Being a young male he should bond relatively easy as long as you don't have a super dominant older male. Females are usually easy to bond anyway, although I have a feeling you already know all this anyway


No seriously hun I am very happy to listen to all advice!! Yes I have bonded adult piggies before...two singles with a duo  But as you say I will have to leave him for a while just to make sure he is OK.

I have never had to sex a piggy before...so the "supposedly" was referring to the fact he was sexed by pet shop....but since had a look and looks male.

I have tried to get photobucket working but is not behaving. I will add thumbnails so you can at least see. Click on them to get bigger pics.



emma20 said:


> pet shops just dont seem to care. I went to pet shop not that long ago and they had thrown a new set of mice in with a set of mice they already had and there was 1 mouse being bullied he was underweight covered in bite marks with blood on his back and blind in 1 eye so i brought him home he only lasted 7 days.


Oh no...what a heart wrenching story hun!!!


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

Here is the gorgeous man himself...









To see his size...









And his poor nose  ...he has scratches on his back and one on his groin area too.


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## Lavenderb (Jan 27, 2009)

Might be an idea to treat him for mites seeings as the shop didnt seem to have a clue. Looks like more than a scratch to me but I'm no expert. What were the conditions like in the shop? Clean?


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## swatton42 (Oct 29, 2011)

Aww poor little guy...

If it's a female you should see quite a deep 'Y' shape. Some males appear to have a 'y' shape from the way the man danglers sit, but at the top of the y should be a small extruding dot. If you're still not sure you can apply gentle pressure around this area to 'expose himself' a little more.

Definitely worth a trip to the vets.


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## LostGirl (Jan 16, 2009)

aww Bless him poor little lad


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## chrisd (Aug 25, 2011)

Speaking of riled up... I've just seen a cage on ebay which is less than 50cm is height and the man is selling it because it was too big for his grandmas lone bab
by rat and she was downsizing! What goes through these people's minds!? 

For one I hate to see lone rats, hate it so much.

Secondly we all know how much exercise they need and I do just feel truly sorry for them


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

chris send me the ebay link and message them! tell them whats what.


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

Does he look 6-8 weeks?


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## Maltey (Nov 29, 2011)

chrisd said:


> Speaking of riled up... I've just seen a cage on ebay which is less than 50cm is height and the man is selling it because it was too big for his grandmas lone bab
> by rat and she was downsizing! What goes through these people's minds!?
> 
> For one I hate to see lone rats, hate it so much.
> ...


You know on ebay the other day I saw a cage being advertised for rats that wasn't even big enough for a hamster. It was literally about 30cm wide.


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## Guest (Mar 13, 2012)

niki87 said:


> Does he look 6-8 weeks?


Sorry forgot to say, yes to me he looks about 6 maybe 7 weeks old


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## chrisd (Aug 25, 2011)

blade100 said:


> chris send me the ebay link and message them! tell them whats what.


RAT / CHINCHILLA / FERRET OR DEGU LARGE STRONG CAGE AT GREAT VALUE PRICE | eBay

There's the link, sorry for the delay!


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## chrisd (Aug 25, 2011)

here is the item description:


Here I have a brand new cage my mother in law purchased for her pet rat the cage is too big for her so she opted for a smaller cage the RRP of the cage is 49.99 I have the original receipt & returns note we filled out but unfortunately missed the returns date witch is why it's been listed here. It's suitable for rat,chinchilla guinea pig or squirrel witch is stated on the delivery note I have. any questions please do ask & thanks for looking


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

Lovely.
It's done I'll prob get some verbal abuse back. Ha!

Niki well done saving this little chap.
I'm sure in no time he'll be a fat little piggy.


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## chrisd (Aug 25, 2011)

blade100 said:


> Lovely.
> It's done I'll prob get some verbal abuse back. Ha.


I'd like to know which company he bought it from that thinks that cage is suitable for rats, chins and guinea pigs!


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## Maltey (Nov 29, 2011)

I'd love to see the cage they replaced it with.


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## Petitepuppet (May 30, 2009)

Glad you saved the wee lad.

Gona post some photos of baby guinea pigs for you to compare too:









2 days old









10 days old









3 weeks old









12 weeks old


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## delca1 (Oct 29, 2011)

I love the photos of all the piggies on here!
Thank you for rescuing Riley, at least he will be properly cared for now.
I did a similar thing once. I went into a pet shop to buy bird seed and there was an open topped cage with two tiny kittens in. A man and his young son were really roughly handling them deciding which to buy, they were literally poking them, picking them up and dropping them down again. I leant over, picked both kittens up walked to the till and bought them. Oops, but I couldn't bear the thought of leaving them in the shop for those people!
Took a bit of explaining to my OH when he got home


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## swatton42 (Oct 29, 2011)

AWWW!!!

Cute pigtures!!!


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

Maltey said:


> I'd love to see the cage they replaced it with.


Got a reply!
This is what it said.

"thank you"
:confused1: oh well lets hope they ment that in a good way.
I posted a lot of info in the message as well as some rat forums.


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## Petitepuppet (May 30, 2009)

blade100 said:


> Got a reply!
> This is what it said.
> 
> "thank you"
> ...


Fingers crossed you got "thank you" back because they are genuinely grateful for the info you have provided them with....


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

Awww petitepuppet they are gorgeous...though in size he is closer to the three week one than the 12 week!! I agree Bernie....maybe 6 weeks.

Well got him booked in at the vets today at 1pm so will see. He is very cute though...very relaxed really...trying to stop kittens from pouncing on his cage...not really the best for calming the little lad.

Am hoping vets believe this story...they should do...but I am actually a little embarrassed taking him. But I do have to check him over and see about mite stuff...though i dont think its that....though he has some lumps and bald scaly patches.


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## metame (Sep 25, 2009)

good luck! hope it all goes ok.


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## kelly-m-e (Jun 18, 2009)

well done for getting him out of there and gving him a good home. 

i dont usually post but seeing the pictures of his face im 90% sure thats a fungal infection and not a scratch! but i am on my notebook so cant see too clearly. fungal mainly starts on the nose and can spread around the body. i suggest you wash your hands each time you touch him. 

my vet told me to use althletes foot cream and rub it into the scabby areas 4/5 times a day. it does get worse before it gets better.

when will pet shops learn!


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## Petitepuppet (May 30, 2009)

Sorry Niki, I couldn't find a photo of a 6 week old g pig lol. 

Hopefully all goes well at the vets and its maybe just lice x


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

I actually think you've got a blatant case of neglect here and you should consider speaking to the RSPCA and your local authority. 

The Pet Animals Act 1951 (as amended in 1983) - protects the welfare of animals sold as pets. The Act requires any person keeping a pet shop to be licensed by the local authority. Before granting a licence the local authority must be satisfied that the animals are kept in accommodation that is both suitable and clean; that they are supplied with appropriate food and drink; and are adequately protected from disease and fire. The local authority may attach any conditions to the licence, may inspect the licensed premises at all reasonable times and may refuse a licence if the conditions at the premises are unsatisfactory or if the terms of the licence are not being complied with.


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

kelly-m-e said:


> well done for getting him out of there and gving him a good home.
> 
> i dont usually post but seeing the pictures of his face im 90% sure thats a fungal infection and not a scratch! but i am on my notebook so cant see too clearly. fungal mainly starts on the nose and can spread around the body. i suggest you wash your hands each time you touch him.
> 
> ...


Argh am so sorry hun...I didn't see this...think I neglected this thread after putting up the other!!!

Anyhow yes the vet agrees with you...doesn't look like mites...she took a sample under the microscope. but because he is so small...about 4-5 weeks...he would be too young for the relatively aggressive mite treatment any how.

She has given me some ointment...annoyingly am out at the moment so can't tell you which...but nothing was said about fungal infection so don't think it is that...think it meant to soothe. But there is a big scratch on his nose so i presumed it was irratation. Because it is on his nose she gave me stuff suitable for eyes as he will groom it all around his face. Anyways I am going back probably early next week if there is no improvement...which there hasn't been yet...and will ask her about it...90% certain is pretty high!! Thank you so much for the advice!!



emzybabe said:


> I actually think you've got a blatant case of neglect here and you should consider speaking to the RSPCA and your local authority.
> 
> The Pet Animals Act 1951 (as amended in 1983) - protects the welfare of animals sold as pets. The Act requires any person keeping a pet shop to be licensed by the local authority. Before granting a licence the local authority must be satisfied that the animals are kept in accommodation that is both suitable and clean; that they are supplied with appropriate food and drink; and are adequately protected from disease and fire. The local authority may attach any conditions to the licence, may inspect the licensed premises at all reasonable times and may refuse a licence if the conditions at the premises are unsatisfactory or if the terms of the licence are not being complied with.


OK will look into that! Though my worry is that now I have bought Riley home that the shop can deny even he was from there?


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## Jazzy (Apr 15, 2009)

I also bought a guinea pig a couple of years ago from a local garden/pet centre because she was so small and was all on her own. She was so tiny that she could fit through the bars of the hexagon exercise pen that I put her in whilst I prepared her cage. She just ran straight through the bars no problem. I'm not sure what age she was although they told me about 7 weeks but I think she was much younger as I've had guinea pigs born nearly as big as she was so I'm sure she wasn't more than a couple of weeks old.

This is her when we got her









In a hamster pen

























I put her with two of my other females but one of them bullied her so I brought her inside and waited till she got a bit bigger then got her a new friend and this is her pictured with her new friend a few weeks later.










Well done for giving him a good home and hope he's okay.


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

yes they can deny it but at least it might shock them into sorting out their standards


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

Oh Jazzy shw is gorgeous!! That's a nice heart warming story that makes me think that I did the right thing!!



emzybabe said:


> yes they can deny it but at least it might shock them into sorting out their standards


Yeah true might go down to RSPCA tomorrow. xx


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

Just to confirm....he is on Fucithalmic...which is fusidic acid.


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

I thought fucithalmic was for eye infections?


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

emzybabe said:


> I thought fucithalmic was for eye infections?


Yes it is but she said with it being so close to his eyes she thought it would be best as he would rub it into his eyes.


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## kelly-m-e (Jun 18, 2009)

i used to have a cream called that for my lips as i used to get really bad sores so hopefully it start to clear up for the little mite! 

if you dont mind using human products on your pet try a little athletes foot cream on his nose, then if it goes you know its fungal. 

vets dont always try the fungal route first, so if you dont ask they probably wont suggest it, even though its pretty common. 

forgot to add before, that my 6 week old babies are 450g - 550g, but the smallest was born extra small.


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

I agree with that possibly being fungal on his nose, my Luna had it and I used Daktarin to clear it up. It could be that it was itchy and the scratch was actually him trying to stop it.
Will post a picture of Luna with her poorly face.








It did get better gradually

















Sorry not very good pics, taken on phone!

*Heidi*


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## swatton42 (Oct 29, 2011)

If it is fungal, I would agree with the others and suggest athlete's foot cream. I used Canesten - Athlete's foot for mine.


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## niki87 (Nov 18, 2009)

Thanks everyone...but what about eyes and things...is Daktarin/others ok for faces/near eyes/in eyes?


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## swatton42 (Oct 29, 2011)

As long as you apply it carefully and lightly you should be OK. When Skitty boy had a fungal his was close to the eye, so I would apply it lightly but then keep him out for cuddles while it 'sunk in' to the skin so I could watch for any signs of him rubbing it too close to the eye. He was pretty good with it to be honest.


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

niki87 said:


> Thanks everyone...but what about eyes and things...is Daktarin/others ok for faces/near eyes/in eyes?


As you can see in the photo, it was all around Luna's eye but as Daktarin is a cream it doesnt run and it soaks in quick aswell.
The one the vet would have to prescribe is a wash not a cream and not licenced for use in small animals. Since I've shown her the results(kept taking pictures of progress for her) she is recomending Daktarin!

*Heidi*


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