guinea pig health concern

Question
Our guinea pig is 3 years-old and is energetic and verbal. Lately he is no longer
producing pellets. He has developed a large sack between his hind legs and is
discharging large "balls of poop" instead of regular pellets. He seems very
constipated. He always has plenty of water with a vitamin C supplement and has
a regular diet of guinea pig pellets. Other than this problem he seems healthy.
We're not sure what to do.  

Answer
Hello Paul,

It sounds like your piggy has an impaction. It's not really a problem and doesn't indicate poor health. It's a common problem in older boars. You will need to clean out his anal sac. Here's how you do it:

1. Get a towel, a warm, wet wash cloth, a cotton swab, and some mineral oil.
2. Hold your piggy in your lap on his back on the towel.
3. Gently open up his anal sac, slowly removing the debry using the wash cloth, as you turn the sac inside out.
4. After the debry is removed, use the cotton swab to apply a bit of mineral oil and you are done.

I'm also going to give you a link about impactions that may be useful. It has pictures that may help with the cleaning proccess. Good luck.

http://www.guinealynx.info/impaction.html

-kkat
http://www.geocities.com/abyssinianguineapigs