I have a 3 year old female American guinea pig. I've had here since she was about 5/6 weeks old. For at around a year she has been really itchy. Sometimes it goes away or isn't as bad. She doesn't have any bald spots or anything common with parasites. Her fur is still nice and thick. I do have problems with gnats every once in a while, last summer was really bad. There aren't any around right now. She does live in my bedroom with me. She is my very first guinea pig. I would really love to resolve her itching problems. I live in a rural area so there are not a lot of vets around that see guinea pigs, they are all around 40 minutes away. She use to have wood bedding (aspen) but recently I've been using more paper based bedding, which has been a lot better with odor and being absorbent. Hazel tends to dump a lot of her water (which attracts gnats if I don't keep up on it), which is also why I can't fill her water bottle up all the way or half of her cage will be soaked. I don't think she has any parasites since there's usually bald spots and her ears are also clear. Her eyes don't really water & occasionally she has in her nose. I don't think she sneezes to much, maybe occasionally. Her breathing is fine, so probably not respiratory. Maybe she has allergies? She hates when I touch her body, she freaks out like she's itchy or like a gnat is landing on her (but it's my hand). She has gotten a little overweight, but that's probably from lack of exercise (more interested in my carpet & not playing when I get her out).
Any helpful suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Any helpful suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks!
