baught a Guinea Pig and it...

Question
baught a Guinea Pig and it died two weeks later from a virus that affected his CNS. I recently baught another one and I am so nervous that this one is going to die also even though I treat him the best I can and always keep things clean and sanatized. I have a few concerns. He acts very healthy, more healthy than my last one did. Skin perfect, ears looking clean, eating drinking pooping and peeing. However He does sneeze, probably once every half hour or so. When I had the old one he also neezed and the vet said that was normal as long as there is no discharge of the nose and his nose is dry. What concerns me the most is he shakes his head and hops around, almost like there is something in his ear and it is bothering him so he hops around. His ears look completely clean but I am worried about ticks or mights. He doesn't really itch his ears, he just shakes his head and hops all around his cage. My old guinea pig did not do that but I am wondering if my new one is just healthy and is "popcorning" around. I just think it is weird that he shakes his head while he is doing it, like something is in there?


Answer
Andrea --

Some guinea pigs are just jumpers (they love to jump around -- I've had several of these, they look crazy).  If you don't see anything in his ears, I wouldn't be too concerned.  Unless you see him off-balance a lot, which is a sign of an ear infection, there is not much to do to stop this behavior.  If he persists for a long time, feel free to take him to the vet for an examination, but I think he'll be okay.

Hope this information is helpful -- if you have any more questions, please feel free to contact me.  Good luck!

Lorena