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New piggy with bald patches

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wales1000

wales1000

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I recently posted some pictures of my new piggie Charlie, who we bought from Pets @ home....I did notice the second day we had him that he had a bald patch on his head, to be honest I put this down to maybe one of the other piggies he was living with was fighting and pulled it out....today I have noticed another bald patch on his right side, as I haven't been handling him too much, we me having a cold and him being new....I am curious and wonder why this would be..I haven't seen him scratching like he has mites or anything. He's currently living in his own cage along side Louis and they have been going in their run to get used to each other. I just tried ringing P@H, but no answer. What shall I do, I only bought him Sunday and hes a lovely piggy. Shall I take him back to P@H or just ring them tomorrow and asked them, surely they would have noticed these bald patches? Any advice would be great!
 
Mmmmmmm is difficult it could well be fungal, I am not one to return animals once I get them I would rather take them to my vet and get treated rather than leaving them to the fate of the pet store.
They may be able to suggest some thing if you ring them It would be a good idea to ring and inform them that you may have a piggy with a problem remember to take the name of the person you speak to or speak to the manager and maybe take them to the vet and get them treated and take the bill to p@h not sure you would get anything back but its worth a try, Or you could email gorgeous guineas and ask chrissys advice she may be able to suggest some products to treat him with.

let us know what you decide ;)
 
ok thanks...I'll have a think now tonight what to do, maybe just take him to the vets tomorrow...vets by us charge £21 for a check up on guinea pigs, expensive, but it has to be done....I might also ring P@H tomorrow and speak to the woman I saw last weekend and see what she says.
 
I bought a rabbit for a friends little girl and it needed urgent vet treatment and got the vet to state this had happened while in PAH care - they fott the vets bill with no query. :)
 
I have just emailed that lady @ gorgeous guineas...I will also ring P@H first thing in the morning and say what has happened, and say I'll have to take him to the vets to get him looked at and if there's anyway they would pay for this, cos this happened while you had him.
 
Sounds like a good idea make sure that you speak to the manager dont take any rubbish from the staff I hope it all works out poor piggy :( sounds like he has found a great piggy mum !
 
Could they be the bald spots behind the ears?

Are the spots the same size?

Are they new spots?

What bedding is he kept on?

Whereabouts on the head are they and are they in same place but different sides?
 
I know guinea pigs usually have bald spots by their ears, it's actually on his head at the front.

We just had another look at Charlie now, the bald patch on his right side, is near the middle of his tummy and is bigger than the one on his front and it looks like on closer inspection that there is hair growing back in some part of it, though there is still this bald spot around this area.

We only bought him last Sunday and the bald patch on his head was there Sunday when we bought him back home. I haven't been picking him up too much, cose I have a cold. But you could see that it seemed a little thin in the place on his side, but only looking much closer tonight you can actually see the bald spot.

In his bed I have woodshavings then the top is completely covered with hay, which I have been taking the soiled hay out everyday and putting fresh in. I clean them out properly in the week and am cleaing them out again tomorrow.
 
First thing I would do is remove the shavings, they are absorbent but they absorb moisture from the skin too and leave it more prone to fungal probs. Allergies are a concern too :) Try a Melt and shampoo and Ivomec if needed (mites).
 
oh thanks I didn't know that about woodshavings :-\ what can I use underneath the hay which will asborb any wees? I have tried carefresh, but I found it too expensive. I did also try using bath towels, but it didn't really work! I was going to get him and Louis to the vets for a check up tomorrow, but i think I will get this shampoo you mentioned. thanks :)
 
You could try vetbed?

Its quite expensive, but you machine wash it, so you only have to buy it once.
 
I use Medibed and hay. Vetbed would get very messy with hay on top- too high maintenance for me :). I put a thick layer of newspaper underneath.
 
sorry because I am pretty new to owning guinea pigs, some things i have never heard of before! like Medibed, but just looking on google for it now, thanks Karen
 
Hi newspaper and hay will be fine and i think well when you get hold of P@H they will pay your vet fees for you well some do anyway O0 just keep the receipts ::)
 
Sorry, Medibed is very soft chopped straw and is like Russel Bedding that is the pet version of it if you only have a couple of guins. Hay is very scarce this year and I haven't been using it for bedding (the guins have but not me ;D )- but if you only have a couple then you'll probably be alright :)
 
I have Xeno 450, which Ivermectin, which I bought about a month or so ago. It says its for parasites and is used for the control of mites, roundworms and lice. Would this be ok to use? or has anyone used this before? I wont just put it on before I get some advice.

I'll deffo ring P@H tomorrow!
 
If you are using newspaper and hay, I would have thought that would be enough. As long as you change the newspaper regualrly, so they aren't sitting in wet patches, that should be OK. You shouldnt need shavings or vetbed.
 
Take the piggie to your own vet then take the bill into p@h and speak with the manager. Do not give them the piggie back you should be refunded the vets money ;)
This happened to someone I know and they were great about it in P@H good luck ;)
 
have rung the vets this morning, but they cant fit me in until tomorrow...I didn't even know some vets open on Sundays, so that's great. Got appointment in for 10.50, so I am going to take both piggies for a check up. I have rung P@H the lady I saw last week is in tomorrow, so I am going to ring her. I said to the guy on the phone, this new piggie I bought has bald patches on him he said he sounds like mites, so he said look ring tomorrow and speak to the lady, Twiggy her name is, so I will be saying to her about this and see if they will refund me the vets bill - if not I will get my partner to speak to the manager, he's much better at sorting things like this out! So I shall see tomorrow. Piggies are in their cages at the moment...I noticed Louis the older one i have, has round where his patch by the ears, has a red lump just under the skin, so I am assuming its mites. I am not happy, cose Louis had no problems before I bought Charlie - why don't these places check their piggies >:( I am fed up of buying animals from pets shops and having problems with them. This is the last time i will be doing this....in future I am going to deffo look into rescue places, to give an animal who has been abandoned a lloving home. :)
 
We had a lot of vet bills from Lucky and Fuzzy, the little rexes we got from P@H who both sadly died after a few weeks. (Fuzzy got pneumonia/respiratory problem whithin 1 week of us bringing him home, and Lucky had an ear infection/other probs). Both times they refunded all the bills with no question, over £100 for Lucky.

Good luck, hope Charlie gets better soon!
 
what a nightmare this morning...I put the clocks forward instead of back this morning! so we turned up at the vets @ 9 o clock and they weren't even open...dopey me, but the vet was there and said I'll see you now, which I thought was really good of her seeing as they didn't open till half 10! She examined both Louis and Charlie, took a sample of their hair and looked under the microscope, she said she couldnt see anything like mites, but she said she will have another look later. She said the bald patch on Charlie looks more like maybe another piggy has pulled it out, she showed me and said it could have been a wound from another piggy and they have pulled it out, it doesn't look like mites. She said Louis did have a little lump on his ear, but she said to give him Xeno as a precaution, which she was going to do anyway and I said I have some of that at home, so she said fine to use. I need to repeat that every 2 weeks, and cose Charlie is only young, she didnt really want to put anything on him. She said if you bath Charlie in the meantime and if Louis stops scratching after we use this Xeno, then we will have to see about treating Charlie. So I will need to see what shampoos I can use, cose Charlie is under 10 weeks old...I'll email that Chrisee again and she what she says. I haven't rung P@H yet, I went straight back to bed this morning, I feel really rough with this cold now. The check up for piggies is £21, but she only charged me for the one piggy, which I thought was brill. I'm going to treat Louis later and then clean their cages out thoroughly. They are both in their run in the living room at the moment, with some hay and carrots and stuff.
 
Chrissie will sort you out with some stuff for the young one- she has a 'Gently Does It' range ;)
 
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