• 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

Flea Dirt?

Status
Not open for further replies.
CarnivalPiggy

CarnivalPiggy

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Aug 18, 2014
Messages
1,650
Reaction score
1,259
Points
755
Location
Norfolk, England
Noticed Peppa had black dots on her, mainly on face. Unsure though as there was a tiny dot or two in her mouth and literally on the flesh(?) of her nostrils and not around it. I'll try to get a picture up
 
I don't think piggies can get fleas? A picture would definitely help. I know my girls can get quite grubby when eating nuggets and rummaging around in their hay tray. Could it just be a bit of dirt?
 
Guinea pigs can get lice or mites. There are so-called "static lice" that look like tiny black dots on the shaft of the hair, but these usually appear around the rump and back legs. From a distance on a white guinea they make them look dirty, but when you look closely you can see the sparate dots and they can't be brush off easily. If this is on the face, it's unlikely to be static lice. It could be dirt, in which case should be easy to remove with water, or it could be "freckles" or similar. If you are worried, get a guinea pig vet to have a look
 
Maybe I'm thinking of another thing. External parasites? I'm trying to get a picture but is hard as right now it's quite unnoticeable, main thing is that it's in her nostrils and I've no clue what to go about that. Another thing is the large hairless space behind her ears, I'm not sure how new it is as she's long-haired. Feels soft and doesn't seem red. @Elisabeth sorry to bother but did you notice this when you had her?
IMG_0315.webp
She'll be going to a vet appt on Monday with Ginny and Porridge
 
Piggies are meant to have a hairless patch behind her ears so that's fine :)

Static lice are white I believe so unlikely to be those.

If she's not got sore patches, itchiness or hair loss I'd imagine it's just dirt or something. Try giving her a nice brush and anything that comes off put on white paper to get a better look?
 
I can't see anything wrong with that picture. The bald patch is there on every pig and the black speckly patch just looks like skin tone to me. You really need to stop panicking as you are imagining all sorts of illnesses for your piggies instead of enjoying time with them
 
If you get a wet piece of kitchen roll or toilet paper and put a piece of the black thing on it, if it's flea poo it will leave like a blood patch on the tissue. Flea dirt is just dried blood.
 
Thanks :) Will do that. I was mainly unsure as I've never had pigs before with such large patches, even Ginny hasn't really gone bald
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top