Guinea pig eating fur

[Gemm24]

Hi
Hope everyone and all the piggies are keeping well and safe.

My guinea pig tiger has poor sight (she was born this way), the vet said the problem is with the connection between her eyes and brain, not the eyes themselves and nothing can be done. Despite this she is . Recently I have noticed her husboar sammy has been eating the fur around her eyes and she lets him so the fur around her eyes is thinning. The rest of her fur is thick and fluffy, no dandruff. Her eyes seems fine, not crusty, not weepy, she was treated for mites recently and completed the treatment 4 weeks ago. She is eating as normal and being her normal self.

Does anyone have any ideas why this is happening? Should I stop sammy from doing this?
Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[piggieminder]

You may find this thread interesting until an expert comes along to answer your question.
Barbering ( Eating Hair)

 

[Wiebke]

Hi
Hope everyone and all the piggies are keeping well and safe.

My guinea pig tiger has poor sight (she was born this way), the vet said the problem is with the connection between her eyes and brain, not the eyes themselves and nothing can be done. Despite this she is . Recently I have noticed her husboar sammy has been eating the fur around her eyes and she lets him so the fur around her eyes is thinning. The rest of her fur is thick and fluffy, no dandruff. Her eyes seems fine, not crusty, not weepy, she was treated for mites recently and completed the treatment 4 weeks ago. She is eating as normal and being her normal self.

Does anyone have any ideas why this is happening? Should I stop sammy from doing this?
Thanks for your help in advance. ☺

Hi!

Barbering a certain area by another piggy has often alerted me to a developing problem.
'Piggy kisses' of eyes and the surrounding areas resulting barbering is a new one on me; if it isn't connected with a health issue, then it is more likely due to overgrooming.

But you cannot prevent barbering short of separating, which is generally very stressful and counterproductive unless you deal with an obvious case of bullying - which yours definitely isn't.

Please take the time to read our illustrated barbering guide. It is a much more complex behaviour than most people would assume, so there is never a quick and easy answer - especially as we cannot ask the piggies directly why they are doing it in every specific case.

 

[GuineaPigsPipPumpandJG]

My Guinea Pig started to barber her back, and so I took her to the vets, they gave me some wipes for her back and in a couple of weeks her fur had grown back and was good as new again!

 

[Wiebke]

My Guinea Pig started to barber her back, and so I took her to the vets, they gave me some wipes for her back and in a couple of weeks her fur had grown back and was good as new again!

Hi

This looks like the beginnings of a classic mange mites V in the middle of the back to me. Brace yourself for them to make a return whenever your piggy is stressed, ill or highly pregnant and the immune system is weakened or overloaded.
Here is more information. Please be aware that the usual pet shop stuff is not strong enough to cut through an acute outbreak and is money thrown out of the window. I would also recommend to look for a more piggy savvy vet.
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites

 

[GuineaPigsPipPumpandJG]

Hi

This looks like the beginnings of a classic mange mites V in the middle of the back to me. Brace yourself for them to make a return whenever your piggy is stressed, ill or highly pregnant and the immune system is weakened or overloaded.
Here is more information. Please be aware that the usual pet shop stuff is not strong enough to cut through an acute outbreak and is money thrown out of the window. I would also recommend to look for a more piggy savvy vet.
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites

Ok, thankyou! I will keep an eye on her. ( also I forgot to mention they gave her a spot on to kill any potential parasites).