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Bald patch on piggies ear?

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loveisdivine

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Hi, we got two new piggies yesterday :) We are first time owners but my sister has kept piggies before so I am used to handling them etc. We have 2 sows, they are sisters.

Anyway, we didnt meddle with them too much when we brought them home yesterday, so it wasnt till I went to check on them this morning that I noticed that the tip of Gloria's ear has no fur on it at all. It isnt a patch so to speak, and the skin isnt dry or white or flaky. Its pink and you can just see the veins running through it. To be honest it just looks like the hair just stopped growing there, becuase its just a straight line where it stops, not patchy.

Is this normal? Could it be a skin problem? They are only 10 wks old and have come from a family that breeds piggies. They are very skittish at the minute but I am sure thats because they are in a new home.

Sorry for the long post, and thanks for any advice that anyone can offer :)
 
It could be just a quirk of nature, as you couldn't detect any signs for fungus.
 
Not quite sure I understand what you mean... piggies DON'T have hair on their ears except for some very fine ones like we have on our arms etc.
 
My two babies barely have any hair at all on their ears, they're nearly bald. I don't think this is anything to worry about unless the skin becomes flaky or sore.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone :) I have read that they dont have much fur on their ears. The only reason I asked is because she seems to have a normal amount of fur at the base of the ear and then about half way up the ear it just stops. It doesnt fade or get thinner, it literally just stops, and its not the same on the other ear.

I'm sure she is fine and its normal. I will keep my eye on it and make sure she doesnt start to get patches anywhere else.

I guess everyone gets abit anxious about small things when they are new owners.

EDIT - I will try and take a picture tomorrow to show you what I mean.
 
You need to put sun block on their ears if they go outside in the sunshine. Maybe not too much chance of hot weather until next year!
 
^^ I never thought about that, thats a good idea. But like you said sunshine probably isnt gonna appear for a while. Plus I live in Ireland so its hardly ever sunny¬

I do have another question, the first morning I went to see the piggies and then again this morning, there has been either or snug or snail in the hutch(or trying to get in it)! Are they harmful to the piggies? I'm thinking of putting some salt around the base of the legs of the hutch to deterr them.
 
I don't think they are harmful as such, g.pigs don't eat meat!
All the same it is best to discourage them, as you say, salt is a good deterrent.
 
I was looking on the internet earlier and you can buy copper tape, which you wrap around plant pots or the legs of the hucth and the slug/snail cant go over it otherwise it gets a shock. I'm gonna order some of that and in the meantime use salt :)

I hate slugs, and trying to remove them from the hutch, so this is for my sake more than the piggies probably haha

thanks alcester pigs :)
 
I believe that they will not cross loose gravel nor broken egg shells
 
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