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Clumps of hair being scratched out

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KimberleysWheekers

KimberleysWheekers

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Hi

Sasha has been scratching a little more than normal lately and we have found little clumps of hair on her fleece.

i've just given her her veg and have found two big clumps (these are much MUCH bigger than the ones over the past two days)

IMG_5142.jpg


Her nails are long, but as she is getting bigger and bigger by the day I didn't want to take her to get them clipped incase the stress of it all would be too much (I believe this would be the first time they have been done).

I'm going to call the vets in the morning for an appointment but was wondering your opinions - could it be that her nails are just too long that is causing it, or perhaps something else? Mites etc?

She hasn't got any visable patches of hair loss when you look at her.

Thank you in advance!
 
Check whether hair comes out easily when you gently pull it - it could be a sign of fungus.
 
Hi

I read somewhere that guinea pigs will eat their own hair if they are lacking in nutrients. I think a supply of good quality hay goes somewhere to solve this.

Hope that helps.

Gareth
 
Gareth Nelson said:
Hi

I read somewhere that guinea pigs will eat their own hair if they are lacking in nutrients. I think a supply of good quality hay goes somewhere to solve this.

Hope that helps.

Gareth
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I have changed their hay recently, I bought some Beaphar hay. I thought perhaps there is something in it? They are both eating it, but not as much as the hay I bought before. I was trying to avoid the pet shop I previously went to, hence the change. They get lots of veg and water with a mix of dry food as well as the hay.

I don't think she's eating it though, she's just scratching. I'll have to keep an eye to see.
 
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its possible hay mites which is causing her to scratch this much and with her nails being this long could be literally like ripping pieces of your hair out or even biting bits out is the guinea housed with another guinea if so has the other being scratching as well or possible the other is pulling it out..:) i could be wrong but with hay mites and your guinea being dark haired you wouldnt really be able to see them in guineas i have in with mites they have thinning of the hair on the back, some times little scabs from scratching but not all the time..
 
clairelove said:
sorry just read your post again and i see she has a mate is she scratching as well?malletheadmalletheadmallethead
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No Mabelle isn't scratching. Well he is but rarely, nothing major, just what would be normal scratching for us. They are seperated at the moment but have the same hay/food/water etc from the same sources.
 
****,, i think it would be best to nip along to the vets to get him checked out to be safe it might be worth getting them DE-loused on the vets advice as a precaution any way.. it is possibly a fungal infection..if a guinea in my rescue came in with these symptoms i would DE-lice them any way and see how they got on for a few days if they were still scratching as bad and the hair was still coming out like this i would nip the vets if it is a fungus i use nizoral shampoo twice a week (baths)in it..and clotrimazole 1% creme on affected areas.twice a day for 3 to 4 wks...and keep monitoring in case further vet trips are needed..
 
clairelove said:
****,, i think it would be best to nip along to the vets to get him checked out to be safe it might be worth getting them DE-loused on the vets advice as a precaution any way.. it is possibly a fungal infection..if a guinea in my rescue came in with these symptoms i would DE-lice them any way and see how they got on for a few days if they were still scratching as bad and the hair was still coming out like this i would nip the vets if it is a fungus i use nizoral shampoo twice a week (baths)in it..and clotrimazole 1% creme on affected areas.twice a day for 3 to 4 wks...and keep monitoring in case further vet trips are needed..
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I'm going to call first thing in the morning to get them booked in. Do you think getting them to clip Sasha's nails and if they need delousing baths etc would stress her out a lot? She's pretty fat now. They have been seperated for 6.5 weeks now, so she'll be a min of 6.5 weeks pregnant but I think is more. She's put on a lot lately, her last 4 weighs have shown increases of 71g, 68g, 97g then 101g on todays weigh in.

I'm not concerned about Mabelle, we'll just get his nails clipped and treat however the vet sees fit, its just that I don't wanna stress Sasha if the babies are due soon!
 
did it say in your first post she was preg sorry if it did tired eyes mallethead mallethead i think the vet will advise what to do but baths maybe out of the question there is spot on treatment some of which can be used on preg guineas but to be honest i had a guinea in that was preg and towards her last 4 wks of preg shes started pulling her hair out its called babaring she did this all around her sides and stomach it can be hormones and also stress of the preg .which sorted its self out after the preg i took her to the vet twice as i was worried but they said it does happen in preg if her nails are very long then it maybe worth getting them cut anyway i do this my self it takes less than 5 mins to do but if you have never done this before get the vet to show you how to do it..pregnancy is very stressful in guineas as with any other animal and they can loose a lot of weight after the pregnancy i would hold off any treatment your self until you see the vet but stress can bring on fungal infections like ringworm...
 
also how old is she?and is this her first littler?if guineas get preg after the age of 1yr and its there first litter they cant really give birth normal as there pelvis fuses shut in this case it can killmum and babies or a c-section is needed.guineas dont really need there nails cut until around 15mths old
 
clairelove said:
did it say in your first post she was preg sorry if it did tired eyes mallethead mallethead i think the vet will advise what to do but baths maybe out of the question there is spot on treatment some of which can be used on preg guineas but to be honest i had a guinea in that was preg and towards her last 4 wks of preg shes started pulling her hair out its called babaring she did this all around her sides and stomach it can be hormones and also stress of the preg .which sorted its self out after the preg i took her to the vet twice as i was worried but they said it does happen in preg if her nails are very long then it maybe worth getting them cut anyway i do this my self it takes less than 5 mins to do but if you have never done this before get the vet to show you how to do it..pregnancy is very stressful in guineas as with any other animal and they can loose a lot of weight after the pregnancy i would hold off any treatment your self until you see the vet but stress can bring on fungal infections like ringworm...
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Thanks Claire.

No I don't think I made it clear at all in my OP! Sorry about that! I was trying to upload the pic, write the post and not burn our dinner all at once!

I'm going to book them both in to get their nails cut and checked over incase of mites or anything else. I'm hoping it is just a pregnancy thing combined with long nails. Wish I hadn't decided to wait for the nail clippings. I feel like a terrible Momma Pig :(

I've not cut their nails before so I want the vet to show me how to do it.

Thanks again x
 
clairelove said:
also how old is she?and is this her first littler?if guineas get preg after the age of 1yr and its there first litter they cant really give birth normal as there pelvis fuses shut in this case it can killmum and babies or a c-section is needed.guineas dont really need there nails cut until around 15mths old
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She's only about 19 wks old. We got them both on Aug 3rd and the pet shop said that they were approx 6 wks old at that point. It will be her first litter (not planned - it is due to them being mis sexed at the shop, hence Mabelle having a girls name! :)) I'm surprised they don't need their nails cutting for so long, hers seem to have had a real spurt lately. Again, perhaps hormones?
 
your not a bad mummy to your pig these things happen there lucky they have someone who cares for them as some people wouldn't even bother....so don't worry get the vet check them out for you piece of mind..
 
i have 4 guineas in my rescue all that are preg:( these are due any day :)
also consider getting your male neutered while she has her babies as when these are re-homed then he will be ready to go back with his girl with out anymore babies..
 
Yep he was neutered on Oct 3rd so they can go back together on Nov 13th (for the 6 wks) but then we have up until Nov 27th I think it was for Sasha to have her babies (based on the first full day they were seperated) so I'm just going to leave them seperated until after the babies.

Not 100% sure on what we will do with the babies yet. If she has a girl I'd like to keep her and have the three together and then rehome the others, but all depending on what sex and how many, perhaps be able to keep them.

x
 
It looks as though there are scabs on the root end of the hair clumps, if so I would suspect a parasitic problem.
 
alcesterpigs said:
It looks as though there are scabs on the root end of the hair clumps, if so I would suspect a parasitic problem.
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If it is a parasite problem, where could she have picked it up from? The hay perhaps? They are both indoor piggies on towels and fleece, run tiime is indoors also. Thanks.
 
Update

Been to the vets, Mabelle had his nails clipped and has healed well from his op. The vet looked at Sasha and said she was fine, her skin etc is fine, gave her nails a clip and had a feel about. He said defo 2 babies, possibly more if they are positioned underneath the ones he felt.

Thanks for the advice yesterday, very much appriciated! xx
 
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