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male has gor big flakes on his back

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beckywheek6

hi ive got a male guinea pig that i have recently had to move to another hutch as the female had babies since ive moved him he has got big flakes on his back and a little open wound on his neck. ive totally cleaned his hutch which he is going to go back into today. ive tried puting some powder frompet shop on his skin with a comb he let me do it for a while but think it started to hurt him. any ideas on what to do?
 
thanks i have got some powder for mites which i have put on him and i will do it daily until i hopefully see a change. hope i get more advice thanks
 
Hi
powder is absolutely no good for mites. You need a product called ivermectin. This is the only thing that will kill mites. You can get it from your vet, usually as drops called xeno 450. You need two treatments (pipettes) 10 days apart. the second dose kills the eggs.

www.vetuk.co.uk also sell xeno 450 in a box of 6
 
thank * think il go to my vets this avo. do the mites live in the hutch? also how would my guinea pig of got them? *** the other guinea pigs get them if they r in another hutch and dont come in contact with the male?
 
It could be fungal infestation. It looks like human dandruff but much thicker and the hair may fall out in patches. As the condition worsens, the pig will scratch more causing open sores. This is usual across the back between the shoulder blades.

Parasitic infestation is a little different/ There can be light dandruff, the coat thins leaving bald areas . There are sometimes raised spots beneath the skin, like goose pimples on us mere humans. The scratching is nowhere near as frantic.

It is it fungal then I would contact Chrissie at http://www.gorgeousguineas.com/ she has fantastic products for fungal infections.

It it is mites then the only thing that can treat it is ivermectin which is either given by injection by your vet on a course of 2 or 3 times at within a space of 10 days for each injection.

Or by Spot on calleed Xeno 50 or Xeno 450 depending on the weight of your pig. It is available here http://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1500

If your pig is under 800g you will need the Xeno 50 for smaller pigs. I wouldn't use the powder it won't treat mites on a guinea pig. Your other guineas should be fine if it is mites as mites come out in times of stress. Ivermectin will treat fungal too. I once thought my pig had mites but it was fungal and he had the injections.

Best of luck,

Louise
 
They are not catching from one guinea to another and do not live in the hutch. Of course it is adviseable to disinfect the hutch every week, I use Virkon which kills bacteria and fungal.

Your piggy possibly became stressed from being seperated from his mate, which of course was the right thing to do as he could get her pregnant straight away after her giving birth.

Sows can sometimes get mites after birth as pregnancy is a strain on their bodies. Mites live under the skin and cannot be seen with the human eye.
 
Louise posted at the same time as me. It could be a fungal infection, but more likely mites which starts on the middle to lower back. I would treat for mites first. Guineas can actually have both mites and fungal at the same time and any treatments for both should be 48 hours apart.
 
Yep Fi our fingers are working to the bone haha! Yeah could be both in Cuzzy's case he didn't have the regular mites the vet did the test with cellotape on the rump and nothing for mites came back, but treated him all the same. His fur woudl come out in clumps like fungal.

So whatever he had cleared up with the injections. They are pesky things. With Leia and Lyra it was much more like mites, thinning of the hair and huge weight loss too. They were stressed with Elora passing away and being in a bigger group but they are fine now and even live with Goldmoon and Esme which I am suprised about...just don't give them igloos they will fight otherwise! :(|)
 
Skin flakes, try using Nizoral or Alphosyl shampoo, both are "human" shampoos.
 
If you do use these shampoos, be very careful not to get any in the guineas eyes, ears, up the nose etc..
 
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