Scratching and dark coloured urine

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I adopted my guinea pig about a month ago and ever since she’s been scratching and biting her fur a lot. I took her to the vets a couple weeks ago for a general health check and they did a skin scrape but couldn’t find anything. I changed her from wood shavings to fleece and got her better hay thinking it could be her bedding but that hasn’t seemed to help either. She’s not very good with handling so I haven’t been able to give her a thorough check over myself but I can’t see any flakes in her skin or missing patches of fur. She also seems to have quite brownish pee and I’m not sure if that’s normal or not? She also seems to lay around a lot in her hideys a lot too but shes been eating drinking and pooing and she does get bursts of energy where she runs around and explores her cage.

I have anxiety so every little thing is making me worry about her. Would it be worth taking her to vets again?
 
I adopted my guinea pig about a month ago and ever since she’s been scratching and biting her fur a lot. I took her to the vets a couple weeks ago for a general health check and they did a skin scrape but couldn’t find anything. I changed her from wood shavings to fleece and got her better hay thinking it could be her bedding but that hasn’t seemed to help either. She’s not very good with handling so I haven’t been able to give her a thorough check over myself but I can’t see any flakes in her skin or missing patches of fur. She also seems to have quite brownish pee and I’m not sure if that’s normal or not? She also seems to lay around a lot in her hideys a lot too but shes been eating drinking and pooing and she does get bursts of energy where she runs around and explores her cage.

I have anxiety so every little thing is making me worry about her. Would it be worth taking her to vets again?

Hi and welcome

The darker pee means generally stronger oxidisation when in contact with the air but clear pee when it leaves the body. That is not a worry.

Have you made sure of the difference between a piggy wash (about 5 times a day) and scratching/skin nibbling that is not connected with that?
Has your vet checked for the potential of hay mite eggs (feels like tiny beads fixed to hair at the bum end; usually the lower levels. The eggs are not well visible in fur that is not black or white. Please see whether it could be that first; we can then take it from there. Hay mites - as their vernacular name says - are trypically coming in hay.
Hay mites are the least harmful of the skin parasites and they will cause hair loss only when they really take off badly. The mites themselves - like mange mites - are invisible.
Here is our information on them: New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites

How old is your girl and does she have a companion? Guinea pigs are social animals who need round the clock company of their own for their own mental and social welfare.
For practical settling in and starting out tips and how to make friends with your girl instead of waiting for her to figure out humans with a spot of piggy whispering, you will find our New Owners guide collection very helpful:
Getting Started - Essential Information for New Owners
 
Hi and welcome

The darker pee means generally stronger oxidisation when in contact with the air but clear pee when it leaves the body. That is not a worry.

Have you made sure of the difference between a piggy wash (about 5 times a day) and scratching/skin nibbling that is not connected with that?
Has your vet checked for the potential of hay mite eggs (feels like tiny beads fixed to hair at the bum end; usually the lower levels. The eggs are not well visible in fur that is not black or white. Please see whether it could be that first; we can then take it from there. Hay mites - as their vernacular name says - are trypically coming in hay.
Hay mites are the least harmful of the skin parasites and they will cause hair loss only when they really take off badly. The mites themselves - like mange mites - are invisible.
Here is our information on them: New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites

How old is your girl and does she have a companion? Guinea pigs are social animals who need round the clock company of their own for their own mental and social welfare.
For practical settling in and starting out tips and how to make friends with your girl instead of waiting for her to figure out humans with a spot of piggy whispering, you will find our New Owners guide collection very helpful:
Getting Started - Essential Information for New Owners
Ah okay, so it could be just because the pee was there for a while that it appears darker?

She’s definitely doing it more than 5 times a day, it’s pretty constant. the vet looked through her fur and took a sample from the crown on her head for the skin scrape but didn’t find anything. I’ll have a look to see if I can see anything but she’s really difficult to handle at the moment.

She’s about 19 months and I adopted her a month ago. She used to have a companion but they passed away before I got her. I got another girl Wednesday to be her companion but they are still in separate cages at the moment
Hi and welcome

The darker pee means generally stronger oxidisation when in contact with the air but clear pee when it leaves the body. That is not a worry.

Have you made sure of the difference between a piggy wash (about 5 times a day) and scratching/skin nibbling that is not connected with that?
Has your vet checked for the potential of hay mite eggs (feels like tiny beads fixed to hair at the bum end; usually the lower levels. The eggs are not well visible in fur that is not black or white. Please see whether it could be that first; we can then take it from there. Hay mites - as their vernacular name says - are trypically coming in hay.
Hay mites are the least harmful of the skin parasites and they will cause hair loss only when they really take off badly. The mites themselves - like mange mites - are invisible.
Here is our information on them: New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites

How old is your girl and does she have a companion? Guinea pigs are social animals who need round the clock company of their own for their own mental and social welfare.
For practical settling in and starting out tips and how to make friends with your girl instead of waiting for her to figure out humans with a spot of piggy whispering, you will find our New Owners guide collection very helpful:
Getting Started - Essential Information for New Owners
Ah okay, so it could be just because the pee was there for a while that it appears darker?

She’s definitely doing it more than 5 times a day, it’s pretty constant. the vet looked through her fur and took a sample from the crown on her head for the skin scrape but didn’t find anything. I’ll have a look to see if I can see or feel anything but she’s really difficult to handle at the moment.

She’s about 19 months and I adopted her a month ago. She used to have a companion but they passed away before I got her. I got another girl Wednesday to be her companion but they are still in separate cages at the moment.
 
Ah okay, so it could be just because the pee was there for a while that it appears darker?

She’s definitely doing it more than 5 times a day, it’s pretty constant. the vet looked through her fur and took a sample from the crown on her head for the skin scrape but didn’t find anything. I’ll have a look to see if I can see anything but she’s really difficult to handle at the moment.

She’s about 19 months and I adopted her a month ago. She used to have a companion but they passed away before I got her. I got another girl Wednesday to be her companion but they are still in separate cages at the moment

Ah okay, so it could be just because the pee was there for a while that it appears darker?

She’s definitely doing it more than 5 times a day, it’s pretty constant. the vet looked through her fur and took a sample from the crown on her head for the skin scrape but didn’t find anything. I’ll have a look to see if I can see or feel anything but she’s really difficult to handle at the moment.

She’s about 19 months and I adopted her a month ago. She used to have a companion but they passed away before I got her. I got another girl Wednesday to be her companion but they are still in separate cages at the moment.

Hi

Yes, pee gets darker, the longer it is out of the body while it dries up.

Have you read the link about skin parasites in my previous post and checked for hay mite eggs at the bum end?
They do not necessarily cause hair loss but they definitely do not show up in a skin scrape on the top of the head.

Your vet was checking for mange mites, which burrow their eggs in the inflamed skin but that would result in hair loss from all the intense scratching and self-barbering from the major dicomfort. From your description, there is no indication that your piggy has got the more severe mange mites but there is still the possibility that your piggy could have hay mites. We do not recommend to home treat on spec, so please check for yourself and feel the underlayer hairs as well as look at them closely on a lighter surface if your piggy is darker coloured.

It will help you to spot the signs anyway, which is not the worst thing to learn for any piggy owner.
 
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