Ear Mites? Bite Marks? Both?

[Rowangabriel21]

Hello everyone,

I got my three boys about 4 months ago three, and they use to all be houses together until about two weeks ago! I wasn't sure at first how they would all do together but they operated like a well behaved pack, very minimal agression. Long story short, about three weeks ago I started to notice the tension between my two oldest boys (both just over a year). One night they fought badly, I have since separated them. Now it is my youngest with my oldest, and the more aggressive/bullying piggy is currently in a C&C next to them. Bullying was definitely taking place when all three of them were in one cage. My cage set up is a 4X4 C&C with three of EVERYTHING on opposite ends of the cage, so there should be no competition. Anyways, I noticed these scabs on my piggies bodies about a week ago. The oldest two have several of them

 

[Rowangabriel21]

Hello everyone!

So I have a bit of a dillema on my hands. I'll try to keep the background as short (but informative) as I can!

Three months ago I got my three boys: Shaun (a year now), Gus (also a year), and Dirk's (he was a rescue & I'd assume he's around 5 months now. He was a baby baby when I took him in.). I was terrified the older boys would pick on Dirks but after the first introduction they did AMAZING! There was no agression, no dominance, it was a miracle I thought! The boys had three of everything in their cage to prevent competition. But about three weeks ago I started noticing the tension from Gus getting much higher. He started actively bullying the other two. Gus would charge Shaun, constantly teeth chatter, and get extremely territorial over any and all parts of the cage. Their cage is a c&c cage that's 4X4, so it's nice and big. One night I woke up to them fighting, I immediately grabbed my blanket and placed it over them. I noticed they had drawn blood on each other's ears. Since then I have separated them. Dirk's and Shaun live together while Gus lives in a a cage right next to theirs so they can sniff each other. Even through the bars the two older boys get dominant. Shaun and Dirks are perfectly fine, they cuddle and eat together.

NOW.....I was giving them all baths because they were smelly little pigs and it had been a while . I noticed that Shaun and Gus's skin had bloody scabs on them and scrapes. I am attaching pictures. There is no hair loss with it so I believe it's from fighting but I just want to make sure. Dirk's has only one on himself. Is this just from the fighting?

NEXT CONCERN....Dirk's has been having this white stuff over his ear. At one point it had covered his entire right outside ear. I was concerned it was a fungal infection and so I got Monistat to try putting on it. The Monistat definitely helps it go away, I put it on thinly about three times a day. It's been three-four days and it's almost gone. Shaun has not gotten this yet, and I can't imagine why he wouldn't if it was an infection. Dirk's doesn't seem to itch more than normal, if anything the older boys itch their bodies a little more now but I think it could be the scabs healing. Also, sometimes I feel as if I get paranoid and THINK they could be itching more than normal at their ears when truthfully they aren't. But anyways, I don't see any brown discharge from Dirk's ear, but it's hard to tell what that would look like? Anyone that can give details to me about what to look for? I feel as if it's one of those "youd know it if you saw it" situations, so I believe he doesn't have it. They all eat normally, drink normally. Not sure what it is exactly.

Let me know if this wasn't enough info, I know it was a really long post. Thank you so much in advance.

-Cam

 

[DM030819]

@Rowangabriel21 The brown pig seems to have a white crust on his ear which suggests a fungal issue. They will all need to go to the vet for treatment.

The wounds could be from fighting but they may also be self inflicted from biting themselves when they're itchy.

If they're feeling itchy then tensions will be higher in the cage and will be more likely to result in fights.

 

[DM030819]

@Rowangabriel21 I replied on your other post.

 

[Lady Kelly]

I have merged your threads so any replies are all in one place for you. I echo Jaycey though. They need a vet check to find out what's caused it

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! One of your boy has a fungal ear and needs to see a vet.

The others seem to have bite marks. Please have them thoroughly vet checked and see a vet asap if you notice any swelling in these areas, as it is likely an abscess; guinea pigs have always some gunk in their mouths so bite wounds can easily infect. After such a bad fight or series of fights, they will never go back with each other again.

Unfortunately, the chance that boar trios make it through the hormonal teenage months to adulthood together is about 10%. Shops and breeders that are only interested in the money and that have precious little knowledge about the animals they sell, are still flogging baby trios and continue to tell their customers that their boars will be perfectly fine. Whether they are brothers or not is acutally irrelevant.

Please take the time to read these guides here:
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?
Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

 

[Tiamolly123]

Hi & welcome to our friendly forum, like Wiebke says they are not going to go back together now. You can either take him to a rescue to be bonded with another boar, or get your lad neutered, keep him separated for 6 weeks & find him a girlfriend, perhaps a baby.

 

[Rowangabriel21]

Update on brown piggie:

I have been putting Monistat on his ear for several days now, twice a day each. And the white is almost completely gone. There is an ever so slightly spot at the very top of his ear that still has EXTREMELY minimal white. I've been watching him and I don't notice the itchy at all anymore. Did the Monistat clear it as long as I keep treating until it's completely gone or was it a temporary fix?

Update on my big boys:

Most of the bite marks or scabs are on the spinal/back area of my piggies or behind their ears closer to their median. Can they reach back there to bite if it's due to being itchy? I have not noticed any crusty white on Shaun, the pig rooming with the baby brown one. I will continue to check every day but so far nothing.

Any further help? All of it is much appreciated! You've all been extremely helpful so far!

 

[Lady Kelly]

Update on brown piggie:

I have been putting Monistat on his ear for several days now, twice a day each. And the white is almost completely gone. There is an ever so slightly spot at the very top of his ear that still has EXTREMELY minimal white. I've been watching him and I don't notice the itchy at all anymore. Did the Monistat clear it as long as I keep treating until it's completely gone or was it a temporary fix?

Update on my big boys:

Most of the bite marks or scabs are on the spinal/back area of my piggies or behind their ears closer to their median. Can they reach back there to bite if it's due to being itchy? I have not noticed any crusty white on Shaun, the pig rooming with the baby brown one. I will continue to check every day but so far nothing.

Any further help? All of it is much appreciated! You've all been extremely helpful so far!

Ideally you need to see a vet. Bites down the spine could be self inflicted but not right behind the ear. The stuff you have put on the ear contains the same active ingredients that I was given for a piggy with ringworm. The problem I found was that it only treated the exact area and spores are already in the environment and the hair. For my piggy the ringworm started again in another area and I would never accept this treatment from the vet again as I don't think it does enough. You need a dip like imaverol or an oral medication like itrafungol to combat it properly. Any material items in their cage needs to go on a 60 degree wash to kill the spores and you need a good disinfectant like F10 to thoroughly scrub everything they come into contact with. Ringworm is highly contagious and can infect all other piggies as well as humans and other animals in the house

 

[Freela]

I think they would be very unlikely to be able to bite themselves up behind their ears/high up on the back of the neck. In addition, if it was due to itching I think you would be seeing more signs in those areas, like flakiness or hair loss. My guess would be that those are bite wounds from aggression and that those pigs would have to be on either side of a barrier to prevent worse injuries. They could still interact through the bars.

 

[DM030819]

Years ago one of my Rex boys had what looked like bite marks on his back and behind his ear. I couldn't work it out as he got on fine with his cagemate.

Then I caught him biting and scratching himself. He did the scratches behind his ear with his foot!

We took him to the vet and got some Ivermectin. It took quite a while to get rid of the mites completely, the poor sausage was really itchy.