• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Male Boar Biting His Back Till It Bleeds

Status
Not open for further replies.
lisa pass

lisa pass

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Messages
19
Reaction score
13
Points
85
Location
worcester
Hello .. I'm new to this site .. need advice .. I have a white 3 year old boar .. He was off colour around 2 months ago . I wasn't expecting him to make it but he is still going strong .. He sleeps lots.. doesn't Squeak as much as he used to but he has lots of sores down his back and he is loosing his hair .. I thought his friend was picking on him but I caught him today doing it to himself .. He has bitten his back quite badly until it bleeds .. I have bathed him twice thought it may help.. He didn't like it .. lol .. any advice would be great fully received .. I'm not sure if I can post a picture .. so it can be seen .. Thanks lisa
 
Hi, Lisa.

Welcome to the forum..

Our advice to you would be seek a vet as as matter of urgency so that a proper diagnosis can be made for your boar.

In the meantime can you please add your location to your profile as it helps fellow members give any answers to questions you may have that may be area/country specific. This can be done by clicking on your username, then personal details, then add location......

Lisa & Ali..

P.s We have removed your duplicate post for you..
 
Sounds to me like he has some kind of lice or something thats causing him irritation. My boar has this at one point where he was biting himself a lot to try and scratch where it itched. I took him to the vet and he had to have injections.

It could be any type of skin condition really.
 
lisaali said:
Hi, Lisa.

Welcome to the forum..

Our advice to you would be seek a vet as as matter of urgency so that a proper diagnosis can be made for your boar.

In the meantime can you please add your location to your profile as it helps fellow members give any answers to questions you may have that may be area/country specific. This can be done by clicking on your username, then personal details, then add location......

Lisa & Ali..

P.s We have removed your duplicate post for you..
Click to expand...
Thanks ..
 
sport_billy said:
Hi Lisa, welcome to the forum I spoke to you on our FB page. As I mentioned possible mites or bad fungal, a vets visit is needed and will diagnose the condition. Both can be treated very successfully with medication, but it is imperative to find out what is causing it. Our recommended vets locator can be found here http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/pages/guinea-pig-vet-locator/
tagging in
@helen105281
@Elwickcavies
@Pebble
Click to expand...
Thanks .. I will get him booked in for tomorrow evening .. I'm glad I caught him doing it to himself .. hence why I've come into the forum to seek advice .. bungal is my profile picture .. He is such a lovely chap ..
 
Bungal is lovely :love: Is he your poorly boy? Please let us know how he gets on at the vets tomorrow
 
Hi Lisa, welcome to the forum.

If you could post a picture that would be good, will tag Photo guru @piggyfan to help with that.

This could be either mange mites or fungal, can you confirm what you have bathed with?

Either way he will need to see the vet for official diagnosis and treatment. He will also need pain relief. However, if he is attacking himself he may need a course of steroids in which case he would not be able to have an anti-inflammatory pain relief at the same time, so you would need to discuss that with your vet.

If mange mites (these cannot be see as are under the skin) I recommend treatment with Ivermectin, preferably by injection at the vets and not a spot on type treatment as it is more effective in advanced cases and less likely to irritate skin that already sounds very sore.

If fungal, please note that this can include more than ringworm (which is the only type a vet can culture for using the standard medium) I recommend baths with an anti-fungal shmapoo such as Malaseb (from the vets), or Nizoral followed by dips in Imaverol which you do not rinse off.

Here is the Imaverol link
http://www.hyperdrug.co.uk/Enilconazole-100mg_ml-100ml/productinfo/ENILCON/

Please note that for all shampoo and Imaverol he will need patch testing behind the ear for 48 hours. Also don't bath within at least 24 hours of any treatment with Ivermectin.

All baths and dips should be done weekly for 4 weeks.

If the fungal is really advanced then he may need oral medication too such as Itrafungol or Nystatin. Vets differ in the dosing for Itrafungol but my vet uses a regime confirmed by the company who makes it which is:

One week on
Week off
One week on
Week off
One week on

Basically it is a 6 week treatment as it carries on working on the week off.

I think that is the basics covered.
 
Hi and welcome!

I am very sorry for your boy; skin problems can be very unpleasant and painful. Good that you have already booked him in.

It sounds very likely to be mange mites, but you cannot exclude fungal problems, especially with the rather warm/humid weather we've been having. Getting the right diagnosis is important, as treatments differ. You may also want to ask your vet for some painkiller/anti-inflammatory to cover the time until the treatment is kicking in fully.

Please be aware that the proper mites treatment (with a high dosed ivermectin product) is a full course of 3-4 rounds of treatment, spaced about 10-14 days apart for best effect; the interval depends on the specific product that you vet is using. It may take until the second round to kill all emerging mites, so the itching may get worse at first as the ivermectin is starting to work rather than better. Rounds 3-4 are there to mop up any stragglers and prevent a return.
 
Hi @lisa pass welcome to this fab forum we are a lovely helpful bunch on here the monitors are very helpful they have been a huge help to me as I unknowingly brought 3 very poorly piggies they had ringworm, lice and fur mites :( all three went though a strike 5 week treatment routine and thankfully are all well now. Both your piggies need taking to the vets together tomorrow if they live in the same hutch/cage so the vet can take hair samples from them both.
You will pick up lots of great tips from this forum some very simple ones that your piggies will enjoy like hay stuffed in kitchen roll tubes :) mine love these. A tent made of newspaper in their run (not on a windy day though lol)
Kell
 
Thanks Kell .. yes a very nice bunch .. I actually have 7 pigs .. I only have 1 which is the problem .. He was poorly a few weeks ago and has ended up like this .. All the others appear to be fine ..
 
7 cuties Lisa :) will be great to see pics of them when you get chance. I would love more once I'm sorted. You replied to my post about free unloved piggies :( so I will be offering a group of rescued piggies a home when I can. If the vet says bungle has lice, mites a fungal condition then the others in with bungle almost certainly will have it too. My pippin showed no sign of hair loss or thick dry patches like his two brothers but I was told to take him in too which I did and he tested positive too, a few days later I noticed a small patch of hair loss near his nose.
Kell
 
Thanks Kell .. fingers crossed it isn't anything serious .. I'll keep you posted .. and I'll get photos uploaded of the others when I get chance ..
 
Update on bungal .. took him to the vets .. and he has mange .. its a result of him being poorly a while ago .. picking the treatment up later as the vets needed to order it in .. He said I didn't need to treat them all .. of which I was surprised .. but I know that once applied later he will feel so much better and come back to life ..
 
Glad you have a diagnosis. Sounds like you are being given Spot on though. Hopefully it works but if not, please suggest a round of injections to the vet as with advanced cases it is the most effective method.
 
Thanks for the update, agree with Helen above please ask for some Metacam to give at home as pain relief as his back will be very sore. Healing vibes to Bungal
 
The vet didn't think he was in pain .. He thought he was very chilled considering how sore it looks .. first treatment applied .. update will follow ..
 
Hey all .. just thought I'd update you all .. bungals back is looking so much better .. He has stopped bitting it .. and one section he actually has skin and no scabs .. All 7 have now been treated.. cages and run all treated too .. so fingers crossed all sorted .. bungal has another 2 treatments and I'm going to keep all the others treated once a month .. Thank you all for all your advice .. its helped loads x x
 
Treated with xeon 450 as that is ehat the vey perscribed and did the others with beaphar .. I spoke with beaphar they were very helpful ..
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top