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Brown Flakey Skin?

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kitrat

kitrat

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I have been away for a week and I've come back and noticed my long haired guinea pig has flakey skin on her lower back and the dead skin has gone brown (her skin there is pink and it's pink under the dead skin). I'm fairly sure it wasn't like that a week ago though it could have been further down and spread to where i can see it more obviously. I feel guilty as I've had exams i haven't been taking a close a look at them these last few weeks as i would like to :(

Does it sound at all like ringworm? Or something else? Could it be anything to do with her going outside on the lawn lately and picking something up? I'll be taking her to the vet but just wondered if there's anything I can do until then. She is an extremely nervous pig and it's very hard to look at her fur as she gets extrodinarily jumpy.

Thanks for any advice.
 
Only a vet can diagnose, best to get her seen when the vets re-open. It could be fungal or selnick mites, please don't treat on spec though, best to get a proper diagnosis :)
 
Thanks i was just debating whether to put some anti lice stuff on or not. I will leave it till a vet trip.
 
Please don't; most shop stuff doesn't work well & the vet can't then give the correct meds when you see them. It could be dangerous if she gets too much of it into her system.
 
kitrat said:
Thanks i was just debating whether to put some anti lice stuff on or not. I will leave it till a vet trip.
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Please leave it and give he vet a chance to diagnose. Fungal, mange/selnic mites or lice (the later which a visible) all need different treatment. If you treat on spec, you can easily make things worse, make any diagnosis for your vet harder and depending on the product may also mean that your vet cannot treat straight away with the correct treatment at the correct strength. ;)

Depending on where you are, most urban place have got no frills 24 places where the extra fee during their regular opening hours on wheekends and bank holidays is not all that high; you can usually find via googling whether there is a service within your reach.
What you cannot guarantee is the quality of vet you see and how piggy savvy they are.

Unless she starts losing a lot more hair and is really uncomfortable, I would recommend to wait.
Could it be little flakes of dirt?
 
Thanks. I will wait till the usual vets open as they are very good with g pigs and I've had some bad experience with some other vets knowing nothing about g pigs.

She doesn't look uncomfortable but she has always been very jumpy touching her rump (more than usual!) but i don't think that's related.

I have just given her a good trim so i could get a better look (she needed a spring time hair cut anyway) and it doesn't look as extensive as i thought. It doesn't appear to be dirt, there are some flakes with the hair stuck in it coming out. Lovely! Now I've had a look i feel happier she can wait a couple of days till the vet is open. Thanks for the advice everyone :)
 
Hello, just a quick update.

I haven't taken her to the vet yet as whatever I saw is no longer visible. Perhaps i misinterpreted what i was seeing and thought the worst because i haven't been giving them enough attention - my exams are all over now as of yesterday so that will change! Anyway I will be keeping a very close eye on her and having a good inspection of her fur more regularly (and the others) because it can't have been nothing completely. Thanks all for the advice anyway :)
 
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