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Baby Guinea Pig With Crusty Naval?

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Ally

Ally

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Hello!

I just brought home a new guinea pig with what I assumed was the remnants of an umbilical cord. However, I haven't been able to find any information about it online to confirm this.

It's a very dry patch of skin right on the belly button. It doesn't look swollen or inflamed, just flaky and crusty.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it normal? He seems perfectly healthy besides this.

Thanks!
 
How old is he? If he still has the remnants of umbilical cord that would be very young for rehoming. Can you take a photo and post it on this thread? There should be someone along to advise you shortly but they will need to see a picture. It could be a fungal infection, a trip to the vet is advised. The best vet is an exotic vet who has experience with guinea pigs.
 
I agree that the remains of the umbilical cord should have dropped off long before the piggie is ready for a new home. I would definitely get a guinea savvy vet to have a look as it could be something fungal. Have a look at the vet locator tab to find a piggie vet near you.
 
Hi :wel:to the forum..

We also agree with the comments posted above. A vet visit sounds the best course of action at the moment. As @Elwickcavies has suggested if you live in the UK we have a very good vet locator on the forum. All the vets on the locator have been personally recommended by members.

As we have members from all over the world can you please add your location to your profile as this will help fellow members to give you answers which may be area/country specific. You can do this by clicking on your username and then clicking on personal details and add location.

Lisa & Ali
 
I had a baby who left home at the right age but still had its cord (just keep an eye on it) :)
Oh and by the way welcome ! :wel:
 
Am up and about so will answer what I can in short bursts. It does sounds as if it could be fungal to me too so a vet visit is definitely needed. As for treatment, apparently young babies can be treated with Imaverol.
 
helen105281 said:
Am up and about so will answer what I can in short bursts. It does sounds as if it could be fungal to me too so a vet visit is definitely needed. As for treatment, apparently young babies can be treated with Imaverol.
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Sorry :( didnt mean to imply you were wrong just wanted to give my experience :)
 
I didn't think you were. I don't have any experience of pregnancy or umbilical cords so for all I know you could be right. Like others have said, a photo would help.
 
photo 1.webp photo 2.webp photo(1).webp

Thanks so much for all the replies, I really appreciate the help :)

I wish I could give a longer reply, but I'll have to come back later because I've got to make an appointment. I've attached a few photos, though, to show his size and the belly button. I almost feel like it looks worse on camera than in person, but hopefully it's not serious.

Let me know what you guys think. I'll be back on later tonight.
 
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I'd play it safe and go to the vets. My goodness....what a gorgeous piglet you have! :love::love::love:
 
From the photo it does look fungal to me, but only a vet can diagnose properly.
 
What a gorgeous piggy! :love:

Just my observation although I am by no means an expert! - I have three 4-week old babies from a surprise pregnancy and their umbilical cords are no longer attached. Even when they were, they were teeny tiny so I would suspect that your piggy has a sign of something else. Not sure if that helps!
 
I am currently having a very similar issue with one of my piggies, who is almost identical to yours! So please do let me know how you get on.
 
Yeah, I'd have agree with you all that a vet trip is needed.

I'm really not surprised, considering I bought this pig from Petsmart. It's one of the last places I'd want to buy from, but I was there with my brother getting dog food and this family was looking at the pigs. We couldn't resist petting them, and this one was just ridiculously sweet. I couldn't bear leaving him behind :(

Anyways, I called Petsmart, and they said they would take him to their vet, treat him, and then return him to me when/if he recovered.

It's good that they're taking responsibility, but I don't really trust them. I'm thinking I should handle it myself. Does anyone have any experience with Petsmart in this respect? It's hard to separate the tall tales from the truth when it comes to them.
 
Can Petsmart not refund you for your vet bills? That's what Pets at Home do here. I would be a bit concerned about handing him back. Have you already handed him over?
 
No, I haven't, he's still with me. From what I can tell it'll be a bit of a battle to get them to pay, but they've done it before. I just have no idea how much something like this even costs.
 
It shouldn't cost too much, you would need the initial consultation with the vet (which I appreciate is more expensive over there) plus whatever medication is needed. I still recommend Imaverol (Enilconazole) dips which in the UK is just over £20 for a full bottle. At least that way with you being in charge of the treatment you will know you have treated it properly.
 
I would recommend asking them to pay for their vet bills. Pets at home here are paying for my babies' URI treatment but I'd never hand them over, more stress for them.
 
I called Petsmart, and after some "we don't do that"s and "hold on a moment"s they agreed to cover the bill :) Thank you guys for the suggestion! I booked an appointment with the vet and I'll update as soon as I know more - @Lenny&henry, how's your piggie getting on?
 
Glad to hear it! He's on antibiotics for a URI and the vet said basically she doesn't know what's on his tummy and to ring her in a week to discuss any changes to it!
 
Has it changed at all? I haven't given mine any treatment yet and it seems like every day it's clearing up more. Today it's just slightly white/crusty on the edges.

When I took my pig to the vet yesterday she said it was most probably ringworm (common in babies though not necessarily on the stomach). We agreed to take a sample for the lab if it wasn't clearing up - Petsmart also said they'd cover this - and I bought anti-fungal medication.

I wanted to give him a break from all the stress of the vet trip and start the treatment today, but now I'm debating it. Ringworm can clear up on its own with a clean, healthy environment, and it seems to be doing just that. I'm not sure I wanna put him through 2 weeks of constant bathing (we all know how much guinea pigs love bath time...) for something that has already resolved (he has no sign of it elsewhere).

Anyways, the vet told me that ringworm is more worrisome for the owners who can catch it than the guinea pigs themselves, so I'll probably wear gloves for a few days and keep an eye on it.
 
I have not heard that it clears up on it's own and even if it does it will likely come back. Ringworm always needs treatment to get rid of it permanently.
 
I found the info on it clearing up on its own here: http://www.petmd.com/exotic/conditions/skin/c_ex_gp_ringworm_infection

And while I was researching it, from what I understood it can return in the right condition whether originally treated or not, depending on the carrier's genetic predisposition for it. Though spores can sit around for months and the cage and materials need to be thoroughly cleaned.

I'll be calling the vet to confirm this, of course. You can only go so far with online articles. But yeah, in any case, I do think that the medication is a surer way to know it's out of his system. I'll see what the vet says and go from there.
 
My vet was reluctant to treat for ringworm as she said it is not serious and may clear up with measured use of human products. I don't think my piggie has ringworm; looked very much like it to start but it turned into an all over scab and then the scab fell off lol! He no longer squeals when I touch it either. I will ring the vet tomorrow for some guidance, but I think little Henry is alright! Just make sure your vet gives you realistic advice; ringworm treatment is apparently really long and unpleasant so make sure it is definitely ringworm before any of that happens. I didn't think yours looked ring wormy though!
 
I have done some more research and yes ringworm can be self limiting but this can take 3-5 months and I would not be happy to leave a pig without treatment for this long as they will be continually ingesting spores and will therefore be very susceptible to secondary infections etc and you could even end up with a systemic issue.
 
The patch on Henry has gotten a bit bigger but is essentially bald with a very slight crust to it
 
I have also found another small patch on Henry's paw - it doesn't look at all like ringworm but I'm not a vet! It looks almost exactly like human psoriasis
 
I was supposed to ring the vet today about them to see how he's getting on but she's not even in til Sunday! Not worth talking to any of the other vets as they don't know what the patches originally looked like. Has anyone got any ideas what I could do until I ring on Sunday? They don't cause him pain, should I put anything on them?
 
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