[Gpdd] [BEHAVIOUR] Guinea pig eating cagemate's poop

[warmbreath at comcast.net]

I made  couple typo's in my first response. I did not mean to refer to the 
parasitic load of iceberg lettuce, I meant to say I dont feed it to people 
or piggies because the small amount of nutrition is overwhelmed by the 
pesticide load, not parasites!! Sorry for the confusion.

Also I said to give celery and fibrous veggies in large hunks, actually 
those stringy ones I cut small, it's every thing else I feed a whole serving 
in one piece to exercise and wear down their teeth.

Based on the responses from our other members, the yeast pills, probiotics, 
corrected diets etc, if she and the other piggies seem in good health and no 
one is injured or loosing weight, and you can correct the diets and add the 
supplements  I wouldn't run off to a vet unless you have a really good one 
who knows piggies lined up. I would use this time to line one up as most of 
us have found out that emergencies happen on evenings and weekends and you 
need to be set up with a great vet by the time that happens.

Piggy poo, the fecal pellets you see everywhere should look very moist but 
well formed and largish, so if every body is making these that is another 
indicator of health. If your girl has little hard ones then we know 
something in the mix of her poop chute needs correcting.
So far I have mainly discussed getting the balance of good bacteria in 
balance for her. Sometimes the bad bacteria are overgrown, and cant be 
brought back into balance just by adding the right probiotics, yeast, and 
diet. Sometimes an antibiotic is used to kill off all the gut flora and then 
all this good stuff we have been talking about is added and it takes hold 
and becomes dominant and balance is restored, so if things dont improve you 
may need to see a vet for his advice and treatment. Never pick your own 
antibiotics for piggies, they cant tolerate very many and must be strictly 
supervised. That would be our last choice if we cant get her balanced 
without antibiotics.

Also be sure to get a supply of that nutritional supplement from American 
Pet Diner on hand. Many piggy illnesses are first noticed when the piggy 
quits eating and the key to survival is getting him or her to start eating 
again, so having this stuff handy prevents tragedies.

After you read our answers and try a few things, see what fits in with what 
you have observed be sure to come back and ask more questions or let us know 
how she is doing

Hope this clears up my mistakes best regards and once again, good luck, 
Sandy and Shipwreck Sam