Hair loss

[KateAndGuineas!]

Hello everyone! I am new to this app and also a New Guinea pig owner. My guineas; Ronnie and Reggie and both around 9 weeks old and have been fine so far until I noticed last week reggies fur above his eye has been falling out and today I checked up on him again and more hair has been lost! The skin showing is flaky and I can’t figure out how to attach a photo of it but it’s above his eye, the hair is gone and the skin showing is sore, flaky and dry. I’m scared it might be ringworm but it’s just the eye and nowhere else, there isn’t any spreading and it’s just worsening around his one eye, If you have any ideas as to what it is or how to treat it please help me as I’ve never had guinea pigs till now x thank you

 

[Piggies&buns]

We can only ever guess but sore flaky skin and hair loss could well be ringworm. Please have your piggies seen by a vet for diagnosis and treatment.

Don’t be tempted to home treat any issue. The use of pet shop treatments is not recommended as you can’t diagnose yourself and any treatments you can buy from pet shops aren’t prescription strength so won’t cure any problem.

I’d recommend you get some F10 disinfectant so you can do a deep clean of the cage. The guide below gives further information.

Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

 

[KateAndGuineas!]

We can only ever guess but sore flaky skin and hair loss could well be ringworm. Please have your piggies seen by a vet for diagnosis and treatment.

Don’t be tempted to home treat any issue. The use of pet shop treatments is not recommended as you can’t diagnose yourself and any treatments you can buy from pet shops aren’t prescription strength so won’t cure any problem.

I’d recommend you get some F10 disinfectant so you can do a deep clean of the cage. The guide below gives further information.

Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

Thank you so much! My mum was insisting treating it at home but thank you !

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thank you so much! My mum was insisting treating it at home but thank you !

Please don’t treat at home, you need prescription strength treatments. You can inadvertently make it worse and make it much harder to treat.
Do take the time to read the guide and get good a vet grade disinfectant. Fungal spores can survive for an incredibly long time in their cage so dealing with it quickly and properly makes it easier to deal with

 

[Wiebke]

Hello everyone! I am new to this app and also a New Guinea pig owner. My guineas; Ronnie and Reggie and both around 9 weeks old and have been fine so far until I noticed last week reggies fur above his eye has been falling out and today I checked up on him again and more hair has been lost! The skin showing is flaky and I can’t figure out how to attach a photo of it but it’s above his eye, the hair is gone and the skin showing is sore, flaky and dry. I’m scared it might be ringworm but it’s just the eye and nowhere else, there isn’t any spreading and it’s just worsening around his one eye, If you have any ideas as to what it is or how to treat it please help me as I’ve never had guinea pigs till now x thank you

Hi

I am very sorry. Here are your customer rights, which also cover vet visits for problems that have come up in the first 2-3 weeks (UK)/30 days (USA) after purchase. You can reclaim the vet cost for any diagnosed problem; your mother will no doubt be relieved to hear!
Here is the link: New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites

Please save up on a weekly/monthly basis for a vet fund as part of life long feeding/maintenance cost so you can see a vet whenever necessary. Guinea pigs are small animals; they cannot wait for weeks or even days to be seen for a perfectly curable problem that will be otherwise fatal. Or to be put to sleep gently instead of being left to die slowly in agony. The right to be free of pain and suffering is one of the recognised basic animal welfare rights (UK since 2006).
More information in these guides here:
A guide to vets fees, insurance and payment support.
COVID-19 - Worried about Covid-19 (coronavirus) transmission risk to your cavies and care during illness?

You may find our New Owners guide collection useful as a bookmarked resource for information. We specifically cover all the areas we get the most questions and concerns about as well as preventable problems that most new owners are not aware of on a wide range of subjects: Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides

PS: I have toned down your thread title. Please don't shout for attention.
This section is specially monitored and will be answered as soon as one of us is coming along. We are a lively enough forum that this usually happens pretty quickly even though we are doing this for free in our free time.
Please be aware that we cannot replace vet care and cannot diagnose from just your words or even a picture; although the latter may help us to tell you how soon you need to see a vet if this is necessary. We explicitly do not support home quacking on the cheap; we have too often seen what happens when it goes wrong.