Crusty ears and feet...

[Dilly's Piggies]

I have a few guinea pigs with a crust covering their ears and behind the ears, they've had it for a long time, years even, on white skin it's yellow and on dark skin it's brown, it's the same colour all over and is only located on the ears, I have a Lunkarya with it on her feet too but the vet has diagnosed her with extremely dry skin relating to her breed, she also suffers with mega waxy ears and needs them cleaning weekly.

I have shown it to my vet but she doesn't think it's anything to worry about, she recommended I clean their ears as they are quite waxy inside. The yellow crust looks fungal to me, I used the ear cleaner to soak the crusts and I gently got as much off as I could but it's really hard to get off, the skin underneath is completely healthy, no redness or anything abnormal. I don't know if I should take them back to the vet or if this is normal for some piggies?

Any suggestions for things I can try to remove the crusts without causing damage to the skin? Also I'd love suggestions on what products I can use to remove the scurf/crust from my Lunkarya sows feet, I'm struggling to get it all off? Thanks in advance!

 

[Betsy]

@PigglePuggle had a problem with one of her piggies feet (sorry can't remember which one). She may be able to advise you on what she used. I think it was something from Gorgeous Guineas.

 

[PigglePuggle]

I would be a bit concerned if its more than one piggy, I would recommend going back to the vet. We have one piggy with crusty feet (Jezzy floof, her feet have always been a bit yucky as she was previously massively overweight and had lived on hard cat litter pellets without enough space or anywhere soft to lie down for 2 years) and we clean her paws with CLX antiseptic wipes (prescribed by the vet, they have the same antiseptic as mouthwash so are quite mild on the skin) then we used Gorgeous Guineas Perfect Paws cream or F&M cream on her feet afterwards. However both these creams say they arent suitable for ears as they contain St John's Wort which can make skin sensitive to sunlight. I was reading a thread on here earlier this week (can't remember which sorry) about just using coconut oil on dry skin? But I think if its not just one piggy who is prone to dry skin, if it is multiple piggies and both feet and ears, then there may be an infection or dietary deficiency going on causing the problem, which only a vet could sort out.