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Can Guinea Pigs Get Flakey Skin?

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Rosanna Kapur

Rosanna Kapur

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Hi. Sorry to bother all you lovely people again. But my little black and white pig appears to have black specs all in her fur. Not fleas or mites I don't think. They've recently been treated for fleas and she's not itching. I think it's dry skins but not 100% sure. When I pet/brush her they come out.
I've bought a tea tree cream from pets at home for small animals skin problems and someone has also recommended gergeous guineas so I'll look there tonight too but wanted a second opinion?

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Rosanna Kapur said:
Hi. Sorry to bother all you lovely people again. But my little black and white pig appears to have black specs all in her fur. Not fleas or mites I don't think. They've recently been treated for fleas and she's not itching. I think it's dry skins but not 100% sure. When I pet/brush her they come out.
I've bought a tea tree cream from pets at home for small animals skin problems and someone has also recommended gergeous guineas so I'll look there tonight too but wanted a second opinion?

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It looks like either dirt or hay/fur mites, which fix the egg cases (which would be the specs, as the mites themselves are pretty impossible to see) to the hairs at the bum end. We are currently seeing quite a few cases.

Please have her checked by a vet; if it is parasitic, low dosed cheap shop products won't do the trick and are basically wasted money. The current batch seems to require a two pronged approach between high dosed ivermectin and a good shampoo.
We have got a recommended UK vets locator on the top bar: Guinea Pig Vet Locator
 
Guinea pigs can get dry skin but it doesn't look like that to me to be honest.
But I am far from an expert, so I am sure someone will come along soon with good advice.
To me it almost looks like flea dirt, but if they have recently been treated then hopefully y the fleas are gone, and they might just need a bath to remove the dirt?
Gorgeous Guineas stuff is supposed to be brilliant - we have some on order for Christmas presets for our pggies.
 
Thank you both. I didn't expect it to be any type of flee or mite as we recently treated them both after my other pig has something suspicious on his fur. It was only about 3 weeks ago they were seen by a vet and given treatment. I'll ring them up tomorrow and get her booked in.

Thank you.
 
Without seeing her, it is impossible for us to tell what is going on, but the important bit is to exclude parasites or treat for them.
 
The last time I saw something like that it was skin irritation from a parasitic infestation, so I would agree with the there that it is worth getting the vet to take a look. Hope it's easily treatable.
 
Yes, my other pig has recently had lice but both were seen by a vet and treated.

I've put an order in for some shampoos and treatments on gorgeous guineas and will take them both back to the vet tomorrow.

Thank you for the advice. I spend so much time worrying about these little creatures. Definitely not low maintainance pets :lol:
 
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