Long haired boar with tiny scabs?

[Little Piglets]

Got a new boar and guessing he's 4-5 weeks old. He has long fur and it's thick, which is inflating his size a bit, hence a rougher age guess. A little underweight going off his hind back area while having a wider face.

Anyhow, I've found a couple very small scabs here and there (that thick fur makes it harder to find). His outer ear is a tad thick on an edge where it folds, so I've been cleaning that and straightening it. He doesn't scratch himself (that I've seen), but was wondering if he might have gotten too aggressive with a scratching in the past, and that might be the scab reason?

None of my other pigs have any kind of scabs, but they are also ALL short-haired and don't have to get too aggressive with an occasional scratch.

 

[Pearl and Zip]

Are his cagemates acting aggressive or dominant towards him?

 

[Little Piglets]

I just got him a couple days ago. He had been with an identical looking male (brother) and an all white short hair albino, which might have been a litter mate as it was the same size (guessing 5-6 weeks now as he's bigger than my girls that are 4 weeks). They seemed OK during the brief observation.

My adult boar is being pretty gentle with him (so far) and haven't seen/heard any chattering or any yelps. They just got put into larger cage and after a few hours, started chasing each other (playing) and my adult boar seems to really like him (any time I take the little guy out, my adult boar will "look" for him then stand on a pipe or the cage wall and make softer call-outs to him until he's put back.

Was kinda worried it might have been an infection, though the scabs (assuming scabs, impossible to see them as his fur is extremely dense and long) aren't scraping off with my finger tip. Haven't tried too hard though to remove them.

 

[Mother Hubbard]

Ideally when you add a new piggy to a household, it's best to quarantine them initially to give them time to settle and see if there are any illnesses that are hiding out and give it time to come to light. However, it's pretty hard to give any indication without a picture to be honest. If you are concerned then the normal advice would be get him to a vet for a check up really.

do also keep a check on his weight weekly.

Love to see a pigture of the little guy.

 

[Little Piglets]

His fur is too thick to get a pic of the skin. The earliest vet visit I can get is Weds. though I'm on a cancellation list.

Here's a teaser pic of the little guy though:

 

[Claire W]

Good that you have him booked in at the vets as the scabs could be anything from mites to a fungal infection. He’s a stunner by the way

 

[Little Piglets]

Thanks! Yeah, he's kinda got a hedgehog look to him when he's "compacted" and not stretched. When his crest is flattened, he has a Chewbacca look to him.

 

[Little Piglets]

Vet examined the scabs and said he didn't see mites or anything out of the ordinary. Skin looked healed under the scabs (no open sores) and I never see him scratch/bite/rub, so vet thinks it might have been from an aggressive cage-mate (he had a bit of an attitude when I first got him, but has mellowed, so makes sense) from wherever he came from. Gotta keep an eye out for new scabs though as it might mean something else.

Vet only charges $10 to see gp, so can't go wrong there!