soft irregular poop

Question
A few months ago, we were given a 3rd guinea pig by a friend who was moving.  As she is a female, we keep her in a separate area from our 2 males, although they say "hi" through their dividing wall and seem to enjoy the company.  

We are wondering about the female's poops, which tend to be straight with a drip shape at the end, soft, and relatively small.  We are used to our males, who have large, dry-ish, and regular poops with a curved shape.  We've tried limiting her fresh food, which has helped, but she loves her fresh vegetables, and I feel bad about restricting her.  She has started to eat her pellets (Oxbow adult guinea pig) more readily than when she first came with her leftover food that had colored cereal in it, but is still not eating as many pellets as the males.

I believe the female is about 5 years old.  The males are 12-18 months old.  She was very withdrawn when she first came, but now spends most of her time socializing with us and the males.  She appears active and healthy other than her smelly soft poops.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Answer
Five years old is a true senior pig. That may be in part why her bowel habits have changed somewhat. You did the right thing limiting the veggies. I would not limit her pellets, but let her eat whatever she will take. Oxbow is an excellent brand of food.

The so-called guinea pig pellets with the colored bits in them are extremely low in nutritional value. They are simply eye candy for the owner. Guinea pigs don't need a varied diet as far as their pellets are concerned. They need the consistency of a good quality pellet.  

As you're already seeing she is eating more of the Oxbow pellets and will continue to do so if you keep her treats minimal. A small piece of carrot is fine, but a very small piece. As they age they will do much as we humans as far as losing weight, losing muscle tone, exercising less and sleeping more.

The smelly soft poo should start to resolve as her system gets acclimates to the healthier pellets. I would not give her more than just a token piece of the goodies she loves, and even then only every two or three days.  

You have her on the right track as far as her diet is concerned, so don't feel bad about taking away or strictly limiting the things that are causing her not to properly digest. She won't pout about it, and even a tiny piece of lettuce when you give some to the boys will satisfy her. Unlike children they don't know who got the biggest piece.

It's more difficult for us to maintain proper diets for our pets because we assume a misguided sense of guilt for not giving them what we know is not always the best thing.  Children would rather have junk food and candy too, but responsible mothers don't allow their child to dictate what they want instead of what they should have.

You're doing the right thing. Just remember that she's a "senior citizen" and has special needs now to keep her healthy. Don't feel like a a scrooge because you're taking away things that are not the best thing for her now.