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please help - itchy guinea pig after arrival of new companion

elris

elris

Junior Guinea Pig
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hello,
i have recently bought a baby guinea pig to be a companion for my one year old lola. from the day that i got her, lola has begun scratching pretty heavily, mainly around her nose and towards her back. i’ve never seen her do this before. i bought a flea/mite treatment and used it on both, cleaned out the cage completely with antibacterial wipes and it’s been around two days. it is still happening. please give me some advice!
thank you
 
elris said:
hello,
i have recently bought a baby guinea pig to be a companion for my one year old lola. from the day that i got her, lola has begun scratching pretty heavily, mainly around her nose and towards her back. i’ve never seen her do this before. i bought a flea/mite treatment and used it on both, cleaned out the cage completely with antibacterial wipes and it’s been around two days. it is still happening. please give me some advice!
thank you
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome!

Please have Iola and your newbie vet checked for mange or hay mites, or potential fungal skin infection/ringworm. the two issues require different treatment but can look very similar in the early stages and require a hands-on examination.

Please do not treat on spec with ineffective low dosed broad sprectrum pet shop brands that at the best can only temporarily suppress symptoms but cannot permanently deal with the issue. They are basically a waste of money that leads to prolonged suffering for your pets and more expense when you have to finally see a vet for an advanced case.
Please be aware that guinea pigs don't have fleas, and that anti-flea products for some other species can be fatal: Fleas And Flea Powders

You can reclaim any vet cost incurred that is caused by the arrival of a new guinea pig. This link here explains your customer rights as well as the most commonly contagious problems that come with new guinea pigs from places without a mandatory quarantine: What to check and look out for in new guinea pigs (vet checks, sexing, parasites&illness)

Please be aware that antibacterial wipes, like any common disinfectants, only kill bacteria but not fungal spores.
Please invest in a vet grade disinfectant like F10 that is also tested against ringworm; it is going to be your best investment as a pet owner since you want to do your occasional deep clean anyway! It is widely available online. For the US, LD disinfectant is a comparable brand.

You can help us by please adding your country to location in your account details, so that it appears with every post you make and allows us to tailor any advice to what is relevant and available where you are. Medical and care product names vary quite a lot across world, and we have members and enquiries from about every corner of the globe. You can access your account details by clicking on your username on the top bar. This means that can help you more quickly and efficiently in the future. Thank you!

All the best!
 
I’m not sure about what you could do, I just wanted to wish you good luck. ☹️
 
Hi, please take your piggies to a piggy savy vets. I say piggy savy vets as I was recently caught out as my piggie had a fungal issue and the vet said it was dermatitis and prescribed a steroid. This in turn made the fungal infection so much worse. (he's all better now though.) Are there any bald patches at all?
 
Please see a Vet for a diagnosis, we would just be guessing and treating on spec for the wrong thing can make everything a lot worse.
 
Julie M said:
Hi, please take your piggies to a piggy savy vets. I say piggy savy vets as I was recently caught out as my piggie had a fungal issue and the vet said it was dermatitis and prescribed a steroid. This in turn made the fungal infection so much worse. (he's all better now though.) Are there any bald patches at all?
Click to expand...

there’s isn’t at the moment any bald patches but i have noticed behind her ears seem more hairless than before? it’s hard to explain. on my baby i found a lump and when i moved the hair out of the way it looked like dry skin, i just hope it wasn’t a bite of some sort.
 
Behind their ears is meant to be hairless. I would definitely see a piggy savy vets.
 
You must get them to the vet ASAP, if only to get something for the itching. You need to know from the vet what it is, so you can get appropriate treatment. Please don't buy treatments from a shop, whether it's a pet shop or not.
They can't recommend anything as they haven't a clue. Also treatments from shops are watered down & useless.
 
elris said:
there’s isn’t at the moment any bald patches but i have noticed behind her ears seem more hairless than before? it’s hard to explain. on my baby i found a lump and when i moved the hair out of the way it looked like dry skin, i just hope it wasn’t a bite of some sort.
Click to expand...

Hi!

The area behind the ears is meant to be free of hairs as guinea pigs regulate their body temperature via the blood flow through their ears.
As a rule of thumb - anything that is symmetrical and has the same form on the other side of a body is fine with very few exceptions. ;)
Here is a list of guinea pig body quirks that many owners stumble over: Guinea pig body quirks - What is normal and what not?
 
elris said:
hello,
i have recently bought a baby guinea pig to be a companion for my one year old lola. from the day that i got her, lola has begun scratching pretty heavily, mainly around her nose and towards her back. i’ve never seen her do this before. i bought a flea/mite treatment and used it on both, cleaned out the cage completely with antibacterial wipes and it’s been around two days. it is still happening. please give me some advice!
thank you
Click to expand...
after some worry it seems that lola has stopped itching all together and she’s back to normal. now that i think about it, i might have gotten overly worried and it may have just been the bedding in the cage as we have recently changed from shavings and she is happier!
 
Glad to hear that.
Being overly worried is a normal part of piggy slavery.
This is a good place to share those worries
 
its possible your guinea pig might have mites or fleas get it checked by a vet :)
 
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