• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Bald patch on guinea pigs bottom/behind

M

michaelsf90

New Born Pup
Joined
Dec 29, 2021
Messages
8
Reaction score
4
Points
125
Location
England
We have two male guinea pigs in a C&C cage with fleece blankets and an area with sawdust and with hay. One guinea pigs fur has always been fine and never had any issues. One has had other bald patches before and tends to get these lines of thinner fur. I'm wondering if he likes sitting in his own urine and poo. They get bathed once every month and also have flea and mite treatment. This picture isn't the best. I can't tell if it's stuck poo or wether it's like crusty scabbed skin. Anyone any ideas? Any advice is greatly appreciated
 

Attachments

  • 20230509_162903.webp
    20230509_162903.webp
    71.4 KB · Views: 17
First, please do not bathe your piggies regularly. It isn’t good for their skin. Most piggies will never need a bath and it certainly does not need to be done as often as monthly.

Please also do not use flea and mite treatments routinely - it’s not necessary to do this. You should only use a mite treatment which has been prescribed by a vet for an active parasite infestation. Piggies do not have a specific specific flea in any event.
Using low dosed pet shop parasite treatments as a preventative can lead to resistance forming so if you do have a parasite issue, then the correct treatment may no longer be properly effective and it can make treating the issue a lot harder. Equally, pet shop products are too low dosed to do much anyway even if there is an active infestation.

Now to the picture, it looks like he has lost the hair around his grease gland. We can only suggest you see a vet to find out whether there is a skin issue going on.
It also looks as if he is a teddy type breed and they are known to have skin issues on occasion.
 
They get bathed every month mainly due to the short haired one with the bald spot getting poo matted in his fur in that region. Is that why the spots bad and bald, he regularly sits in his poo. We may have to spot clean the cage in the morning and evening. Could the straw also be causing an issue? Would it be better to fully fleece the floor space?
 
michaelsf90 said:
They get bathed every month mainly due to the short haired one with the bald spot getting poo matted in his fur in that region. Is that why the spots bad and bald, he regularly sits in his poo. We may have to spot clean the cage in the morning and evening. Could the straw also be causing an issue? Would it be better to fully fleece the floor space?
Click to expand...

Poop should not really be getting matted in the hair if the cage is regularly cleaned and if piggy is healthy and active. I have four piggies, one of whom is also a teddy breed piggy and nothing like that ever happens to him. Over bathing can cause problems with the skin and as I say teddies are known to have dry skin issues. I also have a long haired piggy and I simply cut his hair short around his bottom to keep him clean.

The piggy in the picture may need his hair kept shorter around his back end but to be honest it didn’t look terribly long. It looks more like a potential grease gland issue which should be checked out by a vet.


How often do you spot clean the cage?

The hay (I assume you don’t mean straw given piggies shouldn’t have straw) should not be causing an issue if it is being regularly cleaned with wet hay being removed and topped up with fresh daily.
 
Definitely looks like an issue around his scent gland.
I'd pop him to the vets and get him checked over 👍😊
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top