Male Guinea Pig Abcess?

Question
Hi Pat,
I just rescued another guinea pig. When I looked at him to make sure he was a male I noticed he had a hard swollen spot between his testicles. When I gently touched it he didn't make a noise, so I assume it was not painful to him. His penis is also sticking out a bit more than my other males & his testicular area is larger. I do not know his age, but I do know he is full grown. I am still fairly new to keeping male piggies and have not seen this before, even in my older males.

Answer
I have a feeling what you are describing is an impaction that happens to males, especially when they're getting older. The fact that he showed no discomfort makes me pretty sure that's just what it is.

There's a small opening just above the testes where the rectal opening is. It forms a little pouch and collects debris and stool in there.  If you gently press on both sides it may start coming out. It's not an impaction such as humans get when they cannot pass stool through the intestines. This is just a ball of soft stool that is not inside the pig, but is still stuck in that area.

Don't try to pick at it. It's easier to press on either side and start it coming out. Then put his bottom under some running water and it will flush it out. The penis sometimes protrudes just a bit, but if it's out too far it will cause a serious problem as the blood supply gets cut off.

Longhaired pigs are notorious for this. Make sure there isn't a hair wrapped around it. Then gently press again to see if you can get it to protrude. If there is any secretion or hay, etc around it you need to remove it. If you have some mineral oil put a little drop on, then allow it to retract. If you don't have mineral oil then vegetable oil will work too. It's just for lubrication.

This past week I had another writer with an impacted pig and there is a picture of how to flush it. If you're unable to find it I'll post it again.

Good luck, please keep me posted.