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Guinea Pig Hairloss, Help

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Tatiana

New Born Pup
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Hi, I was wondering what's wrong with one of my guinea pigs.
Both his back legs have rather large completely bald spots (one on each leg), which were there when we adopted him. Where hair should be, he has very shiny plastic-y skin, that he doesn't seem to find irritating and it doesn't look infected.
This might be a stupid question because I'm a new owner and new to this forum. The other guinea pig living with him doesn't have this problem so it can't be to do with food. The other guinea pig is the dominant one and can be quite aggressive although they never fight, so I was wondering if it was him doing it.
Does anybody know what it could be?
Obviously, I'll take him to the vets if nobody has any solutions, I just wanted to check.
 
Cn you post some photos? Any sign of scabs? Dandruff?

how long have you had him?

Welcome to the forum by the way. Could you add you location to your profile as it helps us tailor any advice geographically
 
If the other pig living with him is dominant , perhaps it is self barbering
Stress due to a domant partner is sometimes the cause of self barbering ,

Worth considering
 
I don't think there are any scabs or dandruff, it's just smooth.
I've had him for about 3 months
Maybe it is self barbering, he can get quite stressed out and he's very shy
Any ideas about how to reduce stress? I added an upper layer to their cage a few days back and hopefully that will help.

IMG_8201.webp
 
That's just the bottom of his foot. Their back feet are quite big so they have larger foot pads.

Good on you for asking and posting a photo though. We all learn new things about pigs all the time!

I remember worrying about the bald patches behind their ears when I got my first piggies. :D
 
That's a good photo of normal skin on the back foot of a piggy. Nothing to worry about unless it becomes red, inflamed or sore looking. Hope that is reassuring to you. When you are new to piggies there is lots to learn and it takes a while to get to know them and what is normal for them. It's always good to ask. We don't always know the answers, but we can usually have a go at answering your questions.
 
Thanks a lot :)
I thought it was normal at first but read about various things that hairloss could mean and became overly worried it seems haha.
 
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