# guinea pig problem



## Skyespirit86 (Feb 23, 2008)

I went to feed my two female guineas the other day and when one popped out from under her little bridge in her cage i was shocked to see a large bald patch on her back end. it extends up her back a bit, and she has taken a good chunk out of herself too. i assumed she was itchy, so might have mites or something. however id cleaned her out literally 3-4 days before and nothing was amiss then. so its happened very quick. i obviously took her to the vet today and he said he doesnt think its anything serious, and that maybe shes bored...? She is blind due to cataracts and i was wondering if this could affect her mental health perhaps, especially since she is reaching her senior years now. I'm worried its the start of her going downhill. She doesnt seem miserable though. Shes eating and responding well. the vet said it looked nice and clean so just gave her some antiotics and some drops for mites. Anyone had something like this? Do you think the vet's right?


----------



## *Liil-Roo* (Oct 15, 2009)

*Have you joined a guineapig forum? i have got 2 sows & they have given me lots of information that i needed for them. join up to it & put a post up like you did on this one. lots of people will reply hunnie!!!*

*Hope this helped & i hope your little girls gets better soon *

*She is a beauty by the way!!!!*


----------



## Frogmad (Nov 10, 2008)

looks like it could be mites, have you changed the sort of hay you use or the supplier?
how old is she?
not to worry you, it could be cancer, my first g-pig had a similar problem back in the mid 80's when she was coming up 5 (i.e. aincent back then!) and it turned out to be cancer (not sure which type as only got told by my parents fairly recently, they kept telling me it was mites....I was only 8 at the time!!!)
I'd just keep an eye on her, make sure that she has plenty of things to chew on to keep her disctracted


----------



## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

i`ve bred guineas for 25+ years and it looks like mites to me, ( it dosnt look fungal ) especially as she`s taken a chunk out of herself.

is she really itchy? if she`s still biting herself you can put some Eurax cream from the chemist/asda around the itchy bits ( not on the broken skin ) once a day to stop her biting helself.

what was in the drops the vet gave you, was it Ivermectin?

its a good idea to bath guinea pigs occasionally to prevent any fungal or mite problems, you can use products from the chemist

for fungal problems where you get dandfuff/hairloss and itching use Selsun shampoo

for parasites you can use all sorts of different products, prioderm nit stuff is fine if you cant get ivomec.

or if you arnt sure which problem you have, Seleen for dogs is a good one, but wear gloves.


----------



## LisaLQ (Jan 29, 2009)

Nizoral works for fungal infections really well, but I dont think it's fungal either. Fungal is scaly/oozy and scabby:


















We tried several different things, including canestan cream, GSE etc, but when it came down to it - Nizoral and beaphar anti-fungal spray worked very well. We now bath our two in Nizoral every month or so to be safe, and it's not returned.


----------



## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

my `cupboard` is scary, it has soooo many bottles of stuff in, its like the one at the vets!

nizoral has got a bit expensive latly, i`ve got norclear now instead it was a lot cheaper


----------



## LisaLQ (Jan 29, 2009)

Norclear? Not heard of that - will have to look for it - my Nizoral cost me £9-£10 a bottle (yikes!), but luckily only having two piggies, it's lasted ages


----------



## corny girl (Aug 30, 2009)

LisaLQ said:


> Nizoral works for fungal infections really well, but I dont think it's fungal either. Fungal is scaly/oozy and scabby:
> image
> 
> image
> ...






Oh Teddies :2thumb:. I have a Teddy Boar 2x 3/4 Rex 1/4 Teddy Sows & a Rex Sow, love my little bog brushes :flrt::flrt::flrt:.

That does look like mites to me, i use Ivermec & it usually clears up within a couple of weeks.


----------



## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

i have loads a piggers

i alternate shampoos, find if i use the same one all the time it stops working,
i have
norclear ( its for dogs )
seleen
imaverol - cattle ringworm stuff!
nizoral
selsun etc

and the amount of ivomec i get through is scary.

:blush:

no, hedgehog rexes are bestest!

or longhairs

these are my current babies


----------



## LisaLQ (Jan 29, 2009)

He's a rex, not a teddy. He's from Julie O at Asgard Cavies (Valhalla Rats!). His hutch-mate is a satin sheltie.










:flrt:


----------



## corny girl (Aug 30, 2009)

LisaLQ said:


> He's a rex, not a teddy. He's from Julie O at Asgard Cavies (Valhalla Rats!). His hutch-mate is a satin sheltie.
> 
> image
> 
> :flrt:



Oops sorry hun :blush:, they are so hard to tell apart (couldn't see any curly whiskers). Got my Boar as a Rex, wasn't till i bred him with a Rex Sow i realised he was a Teddy :devil:. Hence why i have the 3/4 Rex 1/4 Teddy Sows as i then put their Mum back to a pure Rex. I must admit i love the Rex, it's all i have ever kept & bred, Cavy wise (apart from my Puzzle the Teddy).


----------



## xxshawtyxx (Sep 11, 2009)

hey this happened with both my sisters guinnies and got so bad it ened up round one of their eyes. it was prodominantly on one of the guinnie pigs. we changed the hay for straw and nothing happened so we then changed the straw for shredded paper as bedding and that seemed to work we then found something else to use as their bedding *the testure resembles a course tissue paper* since then and after several hot water and fairy liquid baths to the bottom of the cage, not the pigs, the problem has been resolved. as for the pigs we tried mite cream and that didnt work so daily amounts of sudocream were applied and the pigs healed in no time. hope this helps.: victory:


----------



## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

trouble is a lot of petshop hay thats prebagged is in plastic bags so the hay sweats and goes manky before you buy it, thats why a lot of pigs pick up fungal infections,

and unless you know what it looks like, its hard to tell the difference between fungal and mites.

a good bath and scrub every few months is great for piggies skin


----------



## eve2611 (Jul 28, 2009)

Cavies Galore - A guinea pig community they are a really good forum and have helped me loads, i agree def looks like mites to me,


----------

