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TEATS
Teats can occasionally
suffer from a kind of crusty scabbing. I am convinced that this is cause by
fungal activity but I have never had any tests done on the debris that has to
be cleaned off. I do know that Aloe Vera gel is the best thing to break this crustiness
down, which is anti-fungal but it is also a good general skin cleanser so this
doesn’t necessarily prove that this is a fungal problem.
TEMPERAMENT
In my experience there is
very little difference in temperament between breeds of guinea pigs. I tend to
think ‘a guinea pig is a guinea pig is a guinea pig’. There is a
tendency to label different breeds and say such and such a breed tends to be a
very nervous type and doesn’t like being handled by owners. I used to do
this myself very early on in my guinea pig keeping career until I realised that
this label was usually caused because the first time I owned a particular
breed, if it was not very people friendly, I tended to assume that all the
breed were that way. It was only after a few years, by which time I had owned a
few more of this particular breed or had them in as boarders that I realised I
was being very human and stereotyping a group by the behaviour of one member of
it.
TEXELS
These wiry long-coated
guinea pigs do need more attention paid to their coats by their owner than most
other breeds. The coat falls in ringlets, which tend to get knotted and clump
together if they are not regularly groomed.
TOWEL WRAPPING
The simple art of towel
wrapping a guinea pig should be the first and foremost lesson taught to every
member of the veterinary profession. We of course run up against the silly
notion that the guinea pig will have an attack of the vapours if you try this,
leading to heart attacks and goodness knows what. I have yet to see, or hear of
a guinea pig overly stressed by this procedure. Indeed it is far less stressing
for the animal to be examined while it is firmly wrapped in a towel than to
fiddle and muck about with it standing on an examination table. It is, of
course, also far more efficient for with the animal held firmly, it is easier
to look into the mouth. Towel wrapping of course also enables you to put the
animal on its back for far greater ease of examination. Try putting a piggy on
its back on a table and see how far you get! Of course you don’t hold it
on its back for a longer time than necessary but the time needed to carry out
an examination is not very long.
You simply stand the
guinea on a firm surface, drop the towel over the body, up to and over the
shoulders, gather each side of the towel up and under it, then wrap as you
would a babe in swaddling clothes. Most guineas put up a bit of a struggle but
most settle down as soon as they are safely secured.