Bald spot on a pup

[DariCreme-Raito]

Hello. I am about to adopt another sow. She's just over a three months old. I was told she has this bald spot around her forehead. It has no wounds or what. I want to make sure if I need to get her treated for this right away when I get her as I currently have three other sows and I want to prevent them passing around some illness.

I want to ask if pups having bald spots is normal?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Piggies&buns]

It obviously depends on what has caused the bald spot as to whether it is something which the others can catch, only a Vet is going to be able to diagnose if there is a medical issue. It also depends on where you are getting her from. If she is coming from a rescue centre then ordinarily these things should be dealt with before you bring her home. If you are buying her from a pet shop or rehoming her from anofher source other than a rescue, then ideally she would need to be quarantined for a few weeks and vet checked before being allowed to meet your other sows.

 

[DariCreme-Raito]

Understood. Sadly I'm not in the US so pigs here don't come for free and yes they're expensive here. But I am not picking her up from a petshop. I'd be getting her from a breeder. It also sucks that two of the vets here in my city are not pig experts - reason as to why I come to our forums for help.

 

[Lady Kelly]

To be honest I would not be taking in a potentially sick animal from a breeder and would be cautious about seemingly "healthy" pigs from them too. No one should be trying to re-home a potential contagious piggy. Bald spots could be a result of ringworm which is highly contagious and hard to get on top of. Even having her in the same room as your existing pigs could cause all of them to be infected as spores become airborn. Ringworm is also contagious to humans and the best treatment is very expensive if it is even available in your country (I'm UK based and my vets were charging £120 for it but I got it online for just under £50 but then had to pay a vets consultation and prescription cost too). Ringworm (obviously speculating that this is one of the worst case scenario) has an incubation period of 14 days so even if you brought an uninfected pup you could unwittingly bring the infection into the house

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome!

Sadly there is not much in the way of getting 'safe' piggies in Philippines, as I know from other members from your country.

Please have a look at this link here so you get a better idea what you are up against. Please be aware that any piggies are likely to be affected and may need treatment: What to check and look out for in new guinea pigs (vet checks, sexing, parasites&illness)