Dry skin, ringworm?

[Jreaville]

I bought a baby skinny pig from a pretty high class pet store about 3 weeks ago. A few days ago I noticed a dry circle above his right back thigh on his back. It’s slightly red around it. I took him to the pet store when I noticed and they said to rub him down with coconut oil. I also watched people on YouTube use coconut oil to remove oil build up and dry skin. Though my skinny pigs seem to not get better. Some dry skin did come off but it’s still red around it. I’d like to know what this is.

 

[Jreaville]

vid

 

[Jreaville]

 

[Wheekallweek]

Could possibly be a fungal infection ion called ringworm (hence the circular shape!)
I’d pop him to the vets to make sure and they will be able to provide you with the correct treatment for your piggy.
Good luck!

 

[Freela]

It does look like a fungal infection to me (the round shape would lead me to suspect ringworm.) It won't improve with coconut oil and will need an antifungal medication from the vet. You will also need to completely clean and scrub the cage, as ringworm spores can live on surfaces and cause reinfection after treatment. It's also important to practice really good handwashing, as it can be spread to humans, and to really closely monitor any other pigs who he has been in contact with. As he's new, you may be able to recover any vet costs from the pet shop, although I think this varies by area (I see people having more luck with that in the UK than I would expect to have in Canada, for instance!)

 

[helen105281]

Just wanted to mention the possibility of mange mites too (which is treated differently to fungal but still needs a vet visit). Years ago my skinny had what we assumed was fungal as it looked exactly like it. It turned out to be mange mites though and we were even shown the offending mites under the microscope by the vet. I think they can look very different on a skinny.