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Guinea pig scabs

leahelizabeth11

leahelizabeth11

Junior Guinea Pig
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I have a one year old guinea pig who I noticed has brown scabs behind his ear.. his skin is pink so when I noticed his skin brown behind his ear I was very concerned. it is only behind one ear and I haven't seen scabs anywhere else on his skin. Any advice on what this is or what could be done to help him? ThanksIMG_0188.webp
 
Hi, welcome to the forum.
Please take your piggie to the vet, it could be fungal, possibly ringworm which will need specific treatment from the vet.
 
First thought when seeing this was mites. I was waiting for a much more experienced member to jump on however, as I am not so knowledgeable yet. I would just get a check up from the vet and, if mites, everything needs to be cleaned as well as separations from the other babies.

Mites are pretty simple for a vet to treat and not expensive at all. Just a bit time consuming. However, if waiting too long it can cause some complications and makes for a poor, miserable baby.
 
@leahelizabeth11 Bald patches behind pigs ears are completely normal. And the brown marks aren't really anything to worry about either.

But as your piggy is scratching then it's definitely worth a trip to the vet. They'll probably prescribe a treatment for mites.
 
It doesn't look like scabs from the photo but looks like where he has patchy skin (skin generally reflects the hair so where hair is darker you will get darker skin). If it feels scabby then I would definitely go for a check up to see what's causing it as it could be mites or lice and excessive scratching but it could also be a fungal infection (though usually for an area like this I would expect it to be more noticeable if it were).
 
Lady Kelly said:
It doesn't look like scabs from the photo but looks like where he has patchy skin (skin generally reflects the hair so where hair is darker you will get darker skin). If it feels scabby then I would definitely go for a check up to see what's causing it as it could be mites or lice and excessive scratching but it could also be a fungal infection (though usually for an area like this I would expect it to be more noticeable if it were).
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Thanks for the feedback, after looking at it this morning more thoroughly I realized it was not so much scabby but more dry and flaky. I panicked last night when i noticed something different on his skin. His brother doesn't hate any patchy looking skin behind his ears and i haven't noticed him scratching, i will separate them for the time being though. I am going to make a vet appointment to make sure there isn't anything serious going on. :)
 
I have to say I wouldn’t separate them as if it is fungal, likelihood is the other may have caught it already and I think separating could cause issues with their bond.
 
Hope everything is ok.
I agree that a vet check is always a good idea if concerned.
Keep us posted
 
I agree that I wouldn't separate. If it is fungal or mites or lice then his brother has been contaminated already so separation is unlikely to achieve anything but it may cause stress. I would take them both along to the vets so that his brother can keep him company, if it is something that they both need treating for then the vet can prescribe for both
 
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