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Dandruff?

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claire8234

claire8234

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Hi everyone

I was combing my long haired guinea pig last night and when I took the comb out of his fur if was full of flaky skin.

I've had a look at his skin and it seems perfectly fine, no sore bits no bald patches etc.

It looks exactly like dandruff - Can guinea pigs get this and whats the best thing to get rid of it? He hasn't been scratching or anything so I am pretty sure its not mites.

I was going to bath them tomorrow but not sure if thid would help or make it worse

Any advice much appreciated

Claire
 
Dandruff could be the start of fungal issues.

Do you normally bath your pigs and if so what do you use?
 
What bedding do you have them on? Wood shavings/sawdust can dr the skin out, therefor cause dandruff.
 
I normally bathe them about every 8 weeks as I know its not good to bath them too often.

I have always used a mild small animal shampoo which has never caused them any problems. My other guinea pig is absolutely fine
 
They have always been on newspaper with a thick layer of eco pet bed (small cardboard squares) and hay. They don't have as much hay now as they are indoors.

I am going to put cage liners in soon but can't afford any at the minute
 
I've just sat next to their cage watching them and have seen Daisy scratching a few times. I have picked him up and given him a good check all over.

He is a white and cream guinea pig so has quite pink skin but the skin down his back looks a lot pinker than usual. I can't see any specks that look like mites and after stroking him his fur feels a tiny bit greasy.

Having looked on the gorgeous guinea website it does look like the start of a fungal problem so thank you LisaJazz for making me aware of this.

I feel so awful, how on could he have got this and why is my other boy ok? I have read that antifungal antidandruff shampoos are ok to use on guinea pigs and Peter Gurney and guinea lynx recommend Nizoral which you can get from the chemist.

Would I be ok to treat my guinea pigs with this - I can order something from gorgeous guineas but I really want to do something about this asap. I will bathe both of them just to be careful, do they just need one treatment or a few? How do I stop him getting it again?

They came indoors a few days ago into a brand new C&C cage with clean bedding so I know they are clean and not sitting in damp bedding.

Feel like a very bad piggy owner now :(
 
I used Nizoral earlier this year and it worked an absolute treat!

Dont feel bad, these things happen, it could have been mites from the hay possibly, you will need to treat both and the cage and toys, if you wish i still have some nizoral shampoo which i can send to you, (1st class tomorrow) however i would like it back when your finished with it just incase i need it again, it is quite expensive to buy at the chemist, i think i paid about £7 for my bottle.... PM me if your interested. But you would wet their fur as normal then massage a small amount into their skin and leave for 4 - 5 mins then rinse thoroughly. Good luck x
 
Really don't feel bad. You can buy nizoral in Morrisons and use that to bathe them. All pigs get it from time to time - treating it now is brilliant - not a failure!

It's like kids getting nits - will happen to most at some point. Well done to you for noticing
 
Thanks everyone

I have got some nizoral shampoo from the chemist which was £4.99 which I thought was reasonable priced although it wouldn't have mattered it it cost twice that!

I'll have to find something for them to go in while I clean their cage out, I think I got rid of my old pet carrier rolleyes.

What would be the best thing to clean their cage with, I usually used a pet safe cage cleaner but if Daisy has the start of a fungal infection is there something better I can use?

Do I need to throw the bag of hay I have away?

I suppose its lucky they are long haired, I am so careful about checking their hair that I noticed something wasn't right.

Thank you everyone for your help - let the piggy bathing commence :))
 
I think there is a disinfectant called F10 which is the one usually recommended, it would be a shame to throw the hay away, it could be nothing to do with the hay but i guess its your call, Good luck, glad you got some, think mine was so expensive as it was a prescription for me from the doctors, the cheek!
 
Blimey I was lucky to get it at the chemist then!

I'll keep the hay, its only a little bag of timothy hay which I use for food and not bedding.

Pretty sure I have some pet safe disinfectant somewhere so I can use that.

They have a couple of big cardboard tubes in their cage, can I keep these?
 
I think its normally recommended to dispose of things like tubes and wooden bridges...... are you going to treat them both just incase?
 
Ok I'll throw the tubes away, wilkos do them for £1.50 each so they wont be expensive to replace.

They have a couple of fleece beds in their so I guess they'll be fine if I wash them at 60?

I will be bathing both guinea pigs just to be on the safe side - I'm sure they'll love me for that :))
 
Post Bath!

Well my two boys have both had a bath today and are back in a newly disinfected cage although they are now both sulking :)

Daisy is shedding a fair bit of hair bless him so might have to give him a comb over :))

How often do I have to repeat the treatment with nizarol, the bottle says in 3-4 days, is this right? They both smell a bit odd now, not unpleasant but not exactly clean and fresh either, is this just the shampoo?

This is my baby, carrot curly bum after a session under the hairdryer!

P1010657.jpg
 
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