Do guinea pigs pass sicknesses to each other?

Question

Last week I bought two guinea pigs from petco, and after only 4 days one of them died. The one that died hardly moved around except to eat and drink, which she didn't even do that often. She was very lethargic since I bought her so I'm assuming that she was sick when I got her. The other one seems totally fine and is happy all the time and eats a lot and hops around the cage. I have looked up tons of info on guinea pigs and she is basically the definition of how a healthy guinea pig looks and acts. I'm still worried though that she may have caught the sickness that the other guinea pig had. Is there a chance that she is fine or do you think I should be worried? I'm not sure how susceptible guinea pigs are to sicknesses. She has been acting totally fine since I've had her and hasn't changed at all, she still seems totally healthy. I feel like I may just be paranoiod, but I'm not sure.

Answer 1

yes they do  i would clean the cage and all her stuff to be on the safe side

Answer 2

I would just watch her. For a while.

Answer 3

This is one of the unfortunate side effects of buying from a pet store. The trip from the breeder/mill to the pet store is grueling and only the hardiest animals actually make it into the store. Many die on the trip there. The ones that make it to the pet store though, are usually sick due to the cramped quarters and unsanitary conditions they were kept in at the breeder/mill. The majority of these piggies arrive with mites, upper respiratory infections, or sometimes both.

To answer your question, yes, they can pass illness to each other.

It would be in the piggie's best interest to see an exotics vet for a checkup and mite treatment with Ivermectin as a preventative measure. Even if she doesn't have mites, the treatment will not hurt her, but chances are high she does since she came from Petco.

I'm very sorry you lost one of your piggies. Because piggies should be kept in pairs, please consider adopting your remaining piggie a same-s*x buddy from a local guinea pig rescue or animal shelter. These animals have already been quarantined for illness so you are almost guaranteed a healthy animal.