Dry Flaky Skin

[piggl]

Hi, my 1 and a half year old boar Reggie has always had quite an itchy back on and off for around a couple months now.
To be honest I didn’t look into it as I thought it was a little cute thing he would do. For example when holding him and itching his back he loves it, he often begins biting clothes/things around him to imitate the act of self grooming while he’s not the one doing so. Like his back is noticeably itchy when compared to me touching/itching any other part of his body.

Well I checked his back today and he has dry flaky skin on his back, sort of from the middle of his body just to the curve of his back/bottom. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have mites as I have been keeping a close eye on him for any signs, as his next door neighbour did have mites for a bit, and he never had any casings at all (his back was itchy before the mites came about). I also don’t believe it’s fungal as he has no hair loss and his skin looks mostly healthy, aside from the dry flakes coming off.
He is a teddy/rex (I believe he is mostly rex, as he has the curly whiskers, but his hair isn’t very wiry at all, especially near his bum where he has long and soft hair growing outwards) piggy mixed with abynissian as his hair on his back forms in quite tight clumps, which we realised formed in patterns similar abynissians waves/crests.

I wouldn’t say he’s particularly bothered by it, maybe noticeably grooming his back more often than other pigs when doing his normal “cleaning/grooming routine”, but it’s never persistent or noticeably uncomfortable for him.

I was wondering if there was any treatment for the flaky skin? Even though it’s not really affecting him, i know what dry skin is like and worry it could be mildly uncomfortable for him just in his day to day life. Is there any shampoos specifically to treat dry skin or an ointment or anything.
Thanks

 

[Claire W]

I do know that Teddy / Rex piggies are more prone to dry skin. If you are sure he doesn’t have mites or fungal, you can try bathing him in with a guinea pig friendly shampoo. Have a look on the Gorgeous Guineas website. Chrissie makes gorgeous gentle shampoos and conditioners and you can always email her and ask what shampoo she would recommend. What a cutie Reggie is x

 

[Piggies&buns]

Yes teddy/rex are more likely to have dry skin. I have a teddy and I keep a close eye on him due to that but actually he is ok.

If it is definitely just dry ‘teddy’ skin, you should just leave it alone. There is no treatment for it (it’s a genetic thing) and if you bathe him you do risk making it worse as it disturbs the skin and oils.

 

[Julie M]

I agree that Teddy types are prone to having dry skin. The only thing that helped the ones we got in the rescue centre was to make sure they're fed a good quality nugget. We use science selective for the guinea pigs where I volunteer and it helped a bit. But sometimes they will have scurfy skin due to their coat/skin type.