Billy gets his teeth trimmed
So the lovely lady came from the Guinea Pig rescue, and said he needed his teeth trimming. So dad took Billy and I to the vet, for a checkup to make sure he's healthy (he is) and to trim his teeth.
The vet said they weren't horribly overlong, but gave them a trim.
We got back home, and I let him settle a bit, then as he'd not had veggies for a couple of days (to give him a gentle calcium purge) I organised some carrot, courgette, yellow pepper and romaine lettuce. Before the teeth trimming he'd demolished them without me needing to cut them into chunks for him.
The trim had altered his bite so much that he can't use his incisors until they regrow a bit! He got frustrated and retired to his basket to have a snooze. I panicked and googled.
It turns out the teeth regrow really fast, I read about an example where a guinea pig chewed the bars of his cage, broke off his top teeth and they'd regrown in a week! So, in a few days his teeth will be long enough and he'll be able to use his incisors to tear off chunks of food for his back molars to chew on. But it does mean he won't be able to eat grass or hay unless I cut it short for him, and will have to rely on the Guinea Pig hay pellets, and food cut into small pieces.
So I spent the next half hour experimenting how small the pieces needed to be for him to be able to pick them up and eat them. This was easy with yellow pepper and lettuce, but I left the carrot and courgette whole for him to practice chewing on. This was very successful and he happily ate at least a leaf's worth.
The lovely guinea pig rescue lady replied to my text asking what to do, that I should put some hay pellets in boiling water, leave it to cool properly, then try that with him. Which I did and he very happily ate most of what I gave him.
Overnight in his borrowed hutch he ate the rest of it AND some of the dry pellets and 50ml of water so he's absolutely fine! He's now in his garden pen with another portion of mushy pellets, plus a reed screen from B&Q draped across the sunny side to give him extra shade whilst also allowing the breeze through. Me? I'm off to the Pound Shop for another of the bowl in the picture, heavy enough for him not to tip over, light enough for me to lift, and perfect for putting torn up veggies in!
The vet said they weren't horribly overlong, but gave them a trim.
We got back home, and I let him settle a bit, then as he'd not had veggies for a couple of days (to give him a gentle calcium purge) I organised some carrot, courgette, yellow pepper and romaine lettuce. Before the teeth trimming he'd demolished them without me needing to cut them into chunks for him.
 | ||
| Romaine Lettuce Leaf |
He trundled over at some speed, and had a go at the lettuce, and to the
surprise of both of us - he couldn't tear any off. I haven't given him
Romaine before so I didn't know if this was normal so I gave him the
chunk of carrot. Which he had a good go at, but couldn't get more than
small chips from. (Sorry about the bar in the way in the video).
The trim had altered his bite so much that he can't use his incisors until they regrow a bit! He got frustrated and retired to his basket to have a snooze. I panicked and googled.
It turns out the teeth regrow really fast, I read about an example where a guinea pig chewed the bars of his cage, broke off his top teeth and they'd regrown in a week! So, in a few days his teeth will be long enough and he'll be able to use his incisors to tear off chunks of food for his back molars to chew on. But it does mean he won't be able to eat grass or hay unless I cut it short for him, and will have to rely on the Guinea Pig hay pellets, and food cut into small pieces.
 |
| Torn up lettuce |
So I spent the next half hour experimenting how small the pieces needed to be for him to be able to pick them up and eat them. This was easy with yellow pepper and lettuce, but I left the carrot and courgette whole for him to practice chewing on. This was very successful and he happily ate at least a leaf's worth.
 |
| Bowl of wet mushy hay pellets in the middle |
Overnight in his borrowed hutch he ate the rest of it AND some of the dry pellets and 50ml of water so he's absolutely fine! He's now in his garden pen with another portion of mushy pellets, plus a reed screen from B&Q draped across the sunny side to give him extra shade whilst also allowing the breeze through. Me? I'm off to the Pound Shop for another of the bowl in the picture, heavy enough for him not to tip over, light enough for me to lift, and perfect for putting torn up veggies in!
Comments
Post a Comment