hi i bought my first pair of guinea pigs at the start of august polly and penny, i absoloutely love them! i got them from pets at home and they are beautiful.when i got them i didnt get them out for a week i let them chill and gave them loads of treats and spoke to them. after 7 days i started getting them out everyday for around 10-15 mins and they seemed to be fine getting less scared. then one day i got them out and literally the day before they were fine and then suddenly pennys ear had all white stuff on so i rang pets at home really panicking they said bring them in so i saw the vet she confirmed it was ringworm so pets at home paid for treatment. then polly got it i think we was at the vets around 4 times and pets at home paid for it theyve been brilliant and very understanding. so about 2 weeks ago my little polly got some hey stuck in her eye and i mean stuck like in the corner i was absoloutely panicking and i got it out and was at the vets the next day they said she had conjuntivitus and said the other pig might get it too so it was like £60 for the eye drops and shes had them all and they both were fine until today ive had them out and polly has got ringworm again I'm really upset i feel like I'm going to be at the vets forever I'm really stressing about the money side of things too, i dont really know what I'm expecting posting this I'm just frustrated i want my pigs to be happy and healthy i think i just needed to vent, thanks
Hi and welcome!
I am so sorry about your ongoing saga. P@h is notorious for their ringworm piggies. They have managed to eliminate mange mites and most URI cases (respiratory infection) from their commercial breeding stock but they are very obviously not getting on top of ringworm as you are just one of many new owners finding us because of it.
The safest place to get guaranteed healthy piggies from is a rescue with mandatory quarantine/vet care, pregnancy watch/safe sexing/proper gender separation and careful pairing up for mutual liking and character compatibility.
You can find our recommended UK rescues and vet lists on the top bar.
What to check and look out for in new guinea pigs (vet checks, sexing, parasites&illness)
Please read our ringworm care guide carefully and follow all the tips - ringworm spores are invisible, can get everywhere and stay live for up to 18 months. Good hygiene and deep cleaning is paramount because they are the most infectious (across species) stuff you will come against. We have learned the hard way just in how many ways transmission can happen, but have also worked out how to counter all of them so you can get on top of it once and for all.
Investing in a vet grade disinfectant like F10 (widely available online) is the best investment you'll make! We also strongly recommend to see an exotics vet and ask for oral itrafungol. It is not at all cheap, but it is by far the most effective and least stressful way to treat ringworm as it gets everywhere in the body and you only have to conduct one bath at the end of treatment in order to make sure that there are no spores sitting in the coat that could cause reinfection at a later stage.
You don't have to separate but you want to either treat the companion with a few days of itrafungol as well to prevent them from coming down with it or you need to give them a bath for the same purpose. The time between infection and outbreak is 10-14 days.
Please also use the recommended hygiene measures for yourself in order to avoid transmission to yourself or other people and other species pets.
But the good news is that you can indeed get on top of it! I had an outbreak in a room with 30 piggies last year and managed to confine it to the one affected piggy with prompt action and thorough hygiene - and no return.
Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures
Recommended Guinea Pig Vets
Hay pokes are unfortunately a fact of piggy life. However you can minimise the risk by feeding rough and stalky hay (like timothy) in a hay rack and use soft meadow hay for them to burrow and sleep in. We can't cut out hay from the diet as it mkaes over 80% of their daily food intake and some piggies just love to burrow in it.
Vet cost make unfortunately the biggest part of any pet budget; buying them by far the cheapest. It would be good if you either took out exotics insurance (may not necessarily cover everything but guinea pigs are classed as exotic pets) or saved up on a monthly basis as part of their regular maintenance cost. A serious illness or operation can quickly run into the hundreds of pounds or dollars.
Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides
. I dont know if ongoing was the correct thing to say but what i meant is, its not your fault its pets@homes fault in the first place as they are responsible
