Guinea pig has eaten a tiny bead off my cardigan...

[dietcokeandwine]

...and I would love some reassurance that he's going to be okay!

He is the livelier of our two 4 mo boars, always likes something to snack on when having a cuddle so I was ready with raw carrot and parsnip peelings for him...of course neither of these were remotely as appealing as the green cardi I was wearing which he kept trying to munch at (obviously thought it was lettuce )

I didn't even realise he'd managed to pull off a bead until I felt him pull particularly hard at it,managed to detach him and realised one was missing. I have to assume he's eaten the damn thing because it wasn't on my lap when I put him back in the playpen...Is he going to be okay? The bead is tiny btw, like a tiny tiny smooth ball, literally less than 1mm diameter, pinhead size. Guinea certainly didn't seem to choke or anything and appears none the worse, has been bouncing round the playpen, and is now back in the hutch with his brother gobbling lettuce and celery. I know guineas can't be sick, so vomiting it up is not an option...but should it just 'pass through'? Or will it cause potential problems?

Any advice and (hopefully) reassurance gratefully received!

Oh and goes without saying I won't be cuddling him wearing this cardigan again

I'd bet my guinea-pigs pocket money that it will sail through.
It's things like plastic you need to worry about, so if you give them cucumber that's in that shrink wrap plastic or bagged hay ,make sure there's no stray plastic.

If it's small and smooth, it won't get lodged anywhere. If worst case scenario it went down his windpipe then he'd have coughed/spluttered. The tubes to the lungs are lined with mucous secretions anyway so he'd probably snort it up.

Any road up. GPs high roughage diet means they've got very efficient quick digestive systems.
He might eat it again when he does his soft pooh eating though, but my GPs go out in the garden and I;m sure if there are tiny stones in the grass they would deal with them.

Is the bead a colour that you would see in their poohs? That would be a job I don't envy, checking for a bead in a load of pooh.

My GPs when I was a child used to eat shoelaces, complete with the little plastic end bit- they were notorious. Never did them any harm .

And start a list of the clothes they wreck.
My DDs GP keeps trying to eat the fabric toggle thing from my Trespass Fleece (DD insists on wearing it to cuddle him in)

I may well charge him, or suggest he learns to sew!

If it's smooth I'm sure it will sail through his system.

One of my old piggies chewed all the rubber buttons off a remote control I left on the floor. She was fine, unlike the un-useable remote.

Ours eat their lettuce, carrot, cucumber, cereal, bedding, and nibble the grass and wooden cage as well. I'm sure a tiny bead will pass through without causing damage!

One of mine managed to inject nearly the whole foot from a small plastic iguana before I could prise it out of his eager mouth. He was fine. Lately, both have taken to "grazing" the carpet as if it were grass so their guts must be full of wool fibres by now.

I'd just keep an eye on the little guy, make sure he's eating, drinking, behaving and pooing as normal. Wouldn't relish the idea of dissecting every poop though! Keep us posted.

GAH, I mean "ingest" not "inject." I assure you, my guineas don't take drugs. :o

at idea of drug taking guineas

We keep a couple of folded towels in their playpen for them to snooze/jump on and they seem to like to graze on those too!

Thanks so much for all the messages. We've kept them in their daytime playpen in the lounge the last couple of evenings so I could keep an eye and he seems absolutely fine, everything normal, full of beans, eating and pooing like anything, looking hopefully at you every time you walk past the playpen in case you come bearing parsley . I haven't gone down the poo dissection route but I suspect all has passed through safely!

Thanks again. Oh and 70isalimit yes I think I should definitely start keeping a ruined clothes inventory. Same GP had a good old munch at DS's sleeve the other day.

gp1 just pulled my earring -silver stud with pear cut cubic zircon stone- right out of my ear .
after reading what everyones gp get up to, i practically held him up by his tail and rattled him. luckily it was on my shoulder, not his mouth, so no emergency vet runs.

maybe i should hold him up by his tail ( i know they don't really have tails)just to punish him. Or any other part of his anatomy I can get a grip of.