White crusty skin behind ear

[s.buck]

We noticed one of our guinea pigs has quite a bad crusty/flakey patch of skin behind his ear this morning. He's eating fine and doesn't seem to be in any discomfort. Could anyone identify the problem and how to treat it?

 

[Wiebke]

We noticed one of our guinea pigs has quite a bad crusty/flakey patch of skin behind his ear this morning. He's eating fine and doesn't seem to be in any discomfort. Could anyone identify the problem and how to treat it?

View attachment 100210

Hi and welcome

Please have your piggy seen by a vet for a fungal infection, likely ringworm.

Make sure that you use extremely good hygiene and follow the tips in our guide because ringworm is the most transmittable problem that you can catch and transmit yourself from and to your guinea pigs, other humans and pets. Ringworm spores are invisible but they can stay live for up to 18 months. Our guide will tell you have you can avoid a return. It is really better to do it right once than skimp and have a persistent problem that crops up every few weeks or months.
Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

 

[s.buck]

Hi and welcome

Please have your piggy seen by a vet for a fungal infection, likely ringworm.

Make sure that you use extremely good hygiene and follow the tips in our guide because ringworm is the most transmittable problem that you can catch and transmit yourself from and to your guinea pigs, other humans and pets. Ringworm spores are invisible but they can stay live for up to 18 months. Our guide will tell you have you can avoid a return. It is really better to do it right once than skimp and have a persistent problem that crops up every few weeks or months.
Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

Thanks for the reply. We did suspect some sort of fungal infection, although don't really understand how he will have caught it. We've had them both for 6 months and they live inside permanently. We've had a read of your article and will take him to the vets but it will probably be on Tuesday now. Is there anything we can do in the meantime to help?

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks for the reply. We did suspect some sort of fungal infection, although don't really understand how he will have caught it. We've had them both for 6 months and they live inside permanently. We've had a read of your article and will take him to the vets but it will probably be on Tuesday now. Is there anything we can do in the meantime to help?

Please don't beat yourself up. Parasites and fungal are part of pet ownership; they happen. Spores can be carried by wind, on your shoes, may have sat in the coat. All it takes is one single live spore to cause an infection.

Now, please don't do anything to the patch because it is making a diagnosis much more difficult for your vet. They'll REALLY hate you for wiping the crime scene and preventing them to diagnose, so to speak!

What you can do, is order a vet grade disinfectant like we recommend as well as getting hold of disposable one use gloves (unless you already have them in your first aid kit).
Try not to handle your boy much (risk of infection) and always be scrupulous about washing any part of your body in contact with your piggies or your uncleaned hands (automatic gestures/scratching); this also includes anything from the inside of the cage (shed spores). You will have to treat both piggies; the companion either orally and with at least one dip/bath to prevent him from coming down with fungal, too.

Oral treatment is not quite cheap, but by far the most easiest and effective way of treating. It is prescription only; general vets may not yet be aware of it. Please refuse creaming only; this only treats the affected spot but will not prevent spores from reaching other parts of the body and causing a new outbreak there.

First Aid Kit For Guinea Pigs

All the best!

 

[s.buck]

Please don't beat yourself up. Parasites and fungal are part of pet ownership; they happen. Spores can be carried by wind, on your shoes, may have sat in the coat. All it takes is one single live spore to cause an infection.

Now, please don't do anything to the patch because it is making a diagnosis much more difficult for your vet. They'll REALLY hate you for wiping the crime scene and preventing them to diagnose, so to speak!

What you can do, is order a vet grade disinfectant like we recommend as well as getting hold of disposable one use gloves (unless you already have them in your first aid kit).
Try not to handle your boy much (risk of infection) and always be scrupulous about washing any part of your body in contact with your piggies or your uncleaned hands (automatic gestures/scratching); this also includes anything from the inside of the cage (shed spores). You will have to treat both piggies; the companion either orally and with at least one dip/bath to prevent him from coming down with fungal, too.

Oral treatment is not quite cheap, but by far the most easiest and effective way of treating. It is prescription only; general vets may not yet be aware of it. Please refuse creaming only; this only treats the affected spot but will not prevent spores from reaching other parts of the body and causing a new outbreak there.

First Aid Kit For Guinea Pigs

All the best!

Thanks again for the reply. We managed to get him into the vets today and they said it was a bacterial infection and have given him antiobiotics. Fingers crossed it's not the wrong diagnosis!

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks again for the reply. We managed to get him into the vets today and they said it was a bacterial infection and have given him antiobiotics. Fingers crossed it's not the wrong diagnosis!

If there is no improvement or things get worse over the next 3 days, please see another preferably piggy savvy vet. Please be careful with handling, as it VERY much looks like fungal to me!

Since we have members and enquiries from all over the world, we find it extremely helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your account details, which you can access via clicking on your username on the top bar. This will allow us to tailor any advice to what is relevant and available where you are straight away - including vet access/recommendations and brand names.
UK: Recommended Guinea Pig Vets
Some other countries: Guinea Lynx :: GL's Vet List

 

[s.buck]

If there is no improvement or things get worse over the next 3 days, please see another preferably piggy savvy vet. Please be careful with handling, as it VERY much looks like fungal to me!

Since we have members and enquiries from all over the world, we find it extremely helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your account details, which you can access via clicking on your username on the top bar. This will allow us to tailor any advice to what is relevant and available where you are straight away - including vet access/recommendations and brand names.
UK: Recommended Guinea Pig Vets
Some other countries: Guinea Lynx :: GL's Vet List

Yes we said that we would go back if no change. It was a different vet to the one we normally see but from the same practice. We have him a closer examination and he has a bit of dry flakey skin around his bum area but it doesn't look sore. He has one sore bit on his tummy but this is not flakey or crusty. We will just keep an eye, he seems very happy still, lots of sequeks at dinner time and was running around out of his cage, so whatever it is he is obviously not feeling unwell. I will add my details, for reference, we are in Lincoln in the UK.

 

[Wiebke]

Yes we said that we would go back if no change. It was a different vet to the one we normally see but from the same practice. We have him a closer examination and he has a bit of dry flakey skin around his bum area but it doesn't look sore. He has one sore bit on his tummy but this is not flakey or crusty. We will just keep an eye, he seems very happy still, lots of sequeks at dinner time and was running around out of his cage, so whatever it is he is obviously not feeling unwell. I will add my details, for reference, we are in Lincoln in the UK.

Thank you! As mods we are jumping between lots of different threads in a day on a lively forum like this one, so being able to check up the location before answering is a real help, especially if we are dealing with more than one similar case in a short time!

 

[Bunnymuffin13]

Hi, my pig currently has EXACTLY the same thing. Did you ever figure it out?

 

[fluffysal]

@Bunnymuffin13 , welcome to the forum.
The poster hasn't been on here for several years. Please post your own enquiry in the health and illness section.