7 Guineas dead in the past 4 months??

[shaylahorses13]

Help! OK I have around 30 guinea pigs, and in the past 4 months around 8 of them have died from the exact same thing. We have 2 herds, a male and a female herd. There was around 17 males and about 13 females. Now theres about 10 males and 12 females. They have huge runs, the girls have access to a 4X5m stable and a 2x4m outside run. The boys have a bug run that runs outside the stable and right around it so about 20 or so meters in length and 2 meters wide. They have about 15 shelters, bedded with fresh shavings. They have a 2X2 Metre she'd they can go in and heaps of spots to get out of the rain. We have owned guinea pigs for about 6 or 7 years and we've never had anything like this. They get fed pellets and fresh hay in the morning and grass at night. This is what we've always fed them and we've never had a problem. It also just seems to be the boys, and they get fed exactly the same as the girls. They always have fresh water and are attended to 3+ times a day. They get regular lice treatment.

The symptoms they show are:
*Going all quiet and lethargic
*Not too interested in food or water
*Moping around and continusely lying down.
*One had diarrhea
This is what they are like when we find them^^
Then we bring them into the house so they are in a warm and quiet place. We have had autopsis done with no results.
As they get further along they:
*Seem to come right for a couple days before having a relapse
*Lay on their side
*Rapid breathing and jerking movements
*Unconscious
*Then they just die

We have no idea what's wrong, they don't seen to die at the same time it's usually one every couple weeks.

I really need help with my piggies, i hate not being able to do anything. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

[lisa21264]

Have you been feeding them veggies with vitamin C like bell peppers or orange slices if not they can have a condition called scurvy which is caused by a lack of vitamin C. If you are then it could just be an infection passing through the herd.