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Black Thing On Guinea Pigs Ear! Worried. Please Help

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geo-piggylover

geo-piggylover

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Hi.

Some of you may have seen one of my previous threads about getting a new guinea pig from Dobbies last week.

I've just had her out for a snuggle and she has a round, black thing on her ear. My dad says that he thinks it is a tick and not to remove it as it could become infected and we should leave it until tomorrow to sort it out.

Where could it have come from? It's only appeared tonight.
We have never had this problem before.

What do I do? Is she in pain? I'm really worried
 
Are you sure its not a scab? Piggies need to sort out their hierarchy in their new home and part of this can be ear nipping. I've had this a couple of times with mine before.
 
I'm not sure if its that because my new pig hasn't been introduced to my other ones just yet. I think its some sort of parasite because since the weekend I have noticed that I have a lot of itchy bites on my skin so I thought maybe it is connected somehow :(:hmm:
 
It's difficult to tell from the photo but I think it looks more like a scab. If you are worried get her checked by a vet so they can rule out a skin issue like fungal.
 
Yeah i guess it does look a bit like a scab. Maybe I over reacted but I do panic when I think something is wrong with my pigs haha :blink:

I can't work out where she could have got the scab from though, as she hasn't met the other pigs yet. I have brought a metal fence run thing ( I dont know how to describe it) and she was playing in that just before I noticed her ear. Maybe she got it caught somehow? :/ the black bit on her ear did seem a lot bigger earlier, maybe it was bleeding :( I thought it was something else though so I didn't want to touch it incase I hurt her
 
She may have scratched it herself. Have you noticed her scratching at all?
 
Generally speaking ticks are normally found on animals who have been in contact with ticks outside.

Has she been outside or been in contact with other animals that may have brought it in like a dog?

If it is a tick then it is important to get it removed correctly as soon as possible. Ticks will feed on the blood of the piggy until it is full and then fall off. However meantime it can cause irritation which may cause an absess or transmit diseases.

Here is a UK link which will give you information about ticks and what they look like and how to remove them.

Correct tick removal | BADA UK

I hope this helps xx
 
Yep I have noticed that she has been scratching, I wouldn't have thought that she could make herself bleed though :(

and nope, I don't own a dog and there hasn't been any other animals in the house apart from the piggies. Thank you for posting that link. I will see how things are with her ear tomorrow and if I am sure it is a tick I will remove it. This may be a very dumb question but would a tick make me itchy? I have loads of bites on both of my legs which are very itchy and sore and I can't work out where they have come from :hmm:
 
It's hard to tell, but to me it looks like an injury of some kind rather than a tick. She could have scratched herself with a nail or been bitten/injured before coming to you if she's a new guinea pig. It also looks potentially like scar tissue to me, but only because my friend's pet rabbit had a bite injury to the ear as a baby that healed into a ride of thick scar tissue that looks similar to the pic- but again, it's hard to tell from a picture.
 
Have you noticed any black specks on her? am thinking maybe something like static lice/hay mites.
 
geo-piggylover said:
Yep I have noticed that she has been scratching, I wouldn't have thought that she could make herself bleed though :(

and nope, I don't own a dog and there hasn't been any other animals in the house apart from the piggies. Thank you for posting that link. I will see how things are with her ear tomorrow and if I am sure it is a tick I will remove it. This may be a very dumb question but would a tick make me itchy? I have loads of bites on both of my legs which are very itchy and sore and I can't work out where they have come from :hmm:
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think if you were bitten by ticks, you would actually see the ticks. They don't bite and let go immediately, they hang on until they swell up and drink their fill. Fleas, on the other hand, will bite and let go. I'm not sure if guinea pig fleas/lice will bite humans, but I know that dog and cat fleas certainly will!
 
Yes, it looks like a scabe,
I dident know Dobies sold guinea pigs, ? How would you rate the conditions they are housed in ?
 
Hmm, when I got her she was the only piggy in her cage but the shop assistant said that she has been with a few younger pigs but they didn't get on..so maybe it could be that but I have checked her ears since I have got her and I have never noticed this mark before.

I have checked her fur and I cannot see any black specks on her, I will check again tomorrow morning though.

I don't like how Dobbies keep their animals. I got my pig from there at half price because they couldn't sell her because no one wanted her as she was too big. She was stuck in a tiny cage by herself with no hidey and she looked very sad. I felt sorry for her and I had to have her. I also don't like how they keep their birds. I don't know much about birds but the cage they were in didn't look suitable, they all looked crammed and they had different sorts of birds mixed in together.
 
geo-piggylover said:
Yep I have noticed that she has been scratching, I wouldn't have thought that she could make herself bleed though :(

and nope, I don't own a dog and there hasn't been any other animals in the house apart from the piggies. Thank you for posting that link. I will see how things are with her ear tomorrow and if I am sure it is a tick I will remove it. This may be a very dumb question but would a tick make me itchy? I have loads of bites on both of my legs which are very itchy and sore and I can't work out where they have come from :hmm:
Click to expand...

No you would not be scratching from a tick. A tick will latch on once and bury it's head into the skin and suck the blood until it is full then fall off.

It would be more likely fleas or mites I would have thought.
 
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