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Coconut Oil For Dry/crusty Skin - Lunkarya

Dilly's Piggies

Dilly's Piggies

Teenage Guinea Pig
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My Lunkarya sow is almost 1 year old, since birth she has had very dry skin on her ears and feet, I've tried gorgeous guineas products but it doesn't seem to make a difference so I'm now looking into using plain organic coconut oil as I've heard many good things about it.

Her feet are my main concern as she gets lots of spurs and crusty pieces of skin, I'm worried these will tear and become infected so I need to come up with a routine to manage this for her. I've taken her to the vet and they said it's nothing to worry about, just a skin condition related to her breed, but they didn't give any advice on how to manage it so I'm researching myself.

I've found she benefits from a full bath in manuka & neem shampoo and short hair cut once every 8 weeks, her coat collects a lot of dirt and due to the texture it's hard for her to clean herself, I cut her hair very short as she finds this the most comfortable. It's just the dry/crusty skin we need to control now as part of her skin/coat care routine.

Is it worth giving coconut oil a try and how often should I apply this?

Here she is with her favourite hair cut, she looks wonderful with long hair of course but me and her prefer comfort! :)
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Oh how utterly gorgeous she is! She's so perfect she doesn't look real! I always qualify a response with 'I'm not an expert', but I don't see how coconut oil could do any harm. I use it for my own mild eczema, which presents as dry patches, and it works well, so I would be inclined to give it a go. A nice natural treatment. Good luck.
 
I don't know about the coconut oil, but what sort of nuggets do that have? I know wheats and grains can often cause or exasperate skin conditions so it could be worth trying a grain free diet for them if you aren't already :)
 
Cavy Kung-Fu said:
I don't know about the coconut oil, but what sort of nuggets do that have? I know wheats and grains can often cause or exasperate skin conditions so it could be worth trying a grain free diet for them if you aren't already :)
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It's funny you said that, I have recently switched them from Oxbow pellets to grain free lol! They're eating a mix of science selective grain free and the rosewood naturals grain free, the science selective contains soy whereas the naturals does not, so I will likely stop feeding selective and just the naturals. Hopefully this makes a difference, but yes I am definitely trying this atm too haha :D
 
CavyConnoisseur said:
It's funny you said that, I have recently switched them from Oxbow pellets to grain free lol! They're eating a mix of science selective grain free and the rosewood naturals grain free, the science selective contains soy whereas the naturals does not, so I will likely stop feeding selective and just the naturals. Hopefully this makes a difference, but yes I am definitely trying this atm too haha :D
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Where did you get the Rosewood Natural grain free? I’m having trouble finding grainfree and so far have only managed to sour spice and use Selective.
 
Janice C said:
Thanks! Unfortunately P@H near us have a very limited stock of g pig food so will try Hay Experts.
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I buy everything from the hay experts, including my 22kg oxbow hay, they have everything you could need for piggies, delivery only takes 2 days too, highly recommend this site! :)
 
CavyConnoisseur said:
It's funny you said that, I have recently switched them from Oxbow pellets to grain free lol! They're eating a mix of science selective grain free and the rosewood naturals grain free, the science selective contains soy whereas the naturals does not, so I will likely stop feeding selective and just the naturals. Hopefully this makes a difference, but yes I am definitely trying this atm too haha :D
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Haha good shout! My lot rather liked the Naturals but I couldn't find anywhere to bulk buy it :doh:
 
CavyConnoisseur said:
You can buy it in 7kg from the hay experts :D
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Oh really? I'll have to have a look! They're eating the JR but I do think they preferred the naturals as they're smaller pieces. I've still got a 10kg sack to get through haha but I doubt it'll take too long to get through :))
 
Cavy Kung-Fu said:
Oh really? I'll have to have a look! They're eating the JR but I do think they preferred the naturals as they're smaller pieces. I've still got a 10kg sack to get through haha but I doubt it'll take too long to get through :))
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My piggies have a facebook page with 22k fans so I review products quite a lot, science selective sent me 4 2kg bags of their grain free food so I'm just using it up tbh, don't want to waste it, I do prefer the ingredients in rosewood naturals though, it's the best grain free available here right now. I want sherwood pet health pellets but they don't ship to the UK so have to make do with what we have available :P
 
CavyConnoisseur said:
My piggies have a facebook page with 22k fans so I review products quite a lot, science selective sent me 4 2kg bags of their grain free food so I'm just using it up tbh, don't want to waste it, I do prefer the ingredients in rosewood naturals though, it's the best grain free available here right now. I want sherwood pet health pellets but they don't ship to the UK so have to make do with what we have available :P
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Very true! I just had a look on Hay Experts and couldn't see it anywhere :(

Yea the two I get aren't from the UK either, we need to catch up! Quite a lot of good foods for dogs and cats but not small animals yet!
 
Cavy Kung-Fu said:
Very true! I just had a look on Hay Experts and couldn't see it anywhere :(

Yea the two I get aren't from the UK either, we need to catch up! Quite a lot of good foods for dogs and cats but not small animals yet!
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If you follow this link, in the description it says 7kg bulk packs are available on request, so just use the contact us form and they will reply to you on Monday, they're extremely good with customer service. :)

Meadow Menu Guinea Pig | Edibles - Food | The Hay Experts
 
Cavy Kung-Fu said:
Ah okay thanks! Yes I love getting forages and such from these guys, a lot of my wages end up with them :))
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Omg lol I was just looking at the new big treat mix boxes they've added, I'm so tempted! My piggies love the freeze dried cranberries and dandelion, they go crazy for them, I have to buy them every time I order or I get grumpy faces on delivery day :))
 
CavyConnoisseur said:
I buy everything from the hay experts, including my 22kg oxbow hay, they have everything you could need for piggies, delivery only takes 2 days too, highly recommend this site! :)
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Just cost me a fortune! Lol
Oh! They have dried dandelions!
Oh! They’ve grain free and on and on!
 
CavyConnoisseur said:
They 100% know, when they see me trying to lug a huge 22kg box of hay upstairs they immediately start wheeking, they know I've been shopping and I better have treats haha!
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Haha it's like how they know you've been shopping so you must have some immediate emergency herbs to give them before you put the groceries away :))
 
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