Hi! Lately I’ve realized that my guinea pig is scratching her head and ear areas more than usual. She also has black spots under her fur around her ears and her ears seem dry and gray around some areas. I searched it up, and the two most popular results were mites and ringworm. I don’t know what to do! Does anyone have advice or experience with this? I’m also scheduling an appointment with a vet but I may need additional information.
Hi
Unfortunately, we cannot comment sight unseen.
There are two types of species specific guinea pig mites (both mites are invisible to the naked eye):
- mange or selnic mites (trixacarus caviae), which burrow their eggs in the increasingly irritated and inflamed skin. The infestation typically starts in the middle of the back with a characteristic V shaped patch of hair loss from the very vigorous scratching but can also happen in other areas of the body, especially in secondary cases. Any bloody skin patches are from biting the painful skin. In advanced cases, mange mites can cause seizures and eventually death. (there is a picture of the V in the guide link below)
- hay mites (chirodiscoides caviae), which fix their egg cases to the hairs which when you feel with your fingers are litk very tiny beads on a string. On lighter coloured piggies it can look like somebody has turned a peppermill over the back end.
Hay mites come typically with industrially harvested hay. They are the least harmful of the skin parasites although an advanced infestation can affect the whole body and cause hair thinning and then loss.
- Lice a pale crawling visible things that will cause hair thinning and loss in worse infestations.
Ringworm (the most aggressive form of a fungal skin infection) forms roundish patches of hair loss that are covered with white fungal crusts carrying the invisibly tiny but long lived and highly contagious and species jumping spores. You can find pictures of how a ringworm infection runs in the last chapter of our ringworm guide. It is quite unmistakeable.
We recommend to see a vet for a diagnosis and only treat with vet grade and not pet shop strength products. Ringworm and parasites need different treatment; hence why we do not diagnose sight unseen because it can cause more harm if we get it wrong just going by your own filtered perception.
PS: Please upload a picture via the Attach Files button under your post when you write it. This will be possible once your registration is fully processed.
Here are our guide links with more information:
1 Vets and your customer rights
- What makes newly bought guinea pigs so vulnerable?
- Do I need to see a vet?
- Documenting illness and your customer rights
2 URI (Upper respiratory tract infection) and sensitivities
- Typical symptoms in order of development
- What to do immediately
- Sensitivity to hay dust and pollen
3 Ringworm (highly contagious fungal...
1 What is ringworm and how is it treated?
- Ringworm facts
- Available treatments (UK-US-worldwide available products)
- Your customer rights with new guinea pigs
2 Ringworm hygiene during and at the end of treatment
- When to quarantine
- Recommended disinfectants (UK-US-worldwide available brands)
- Disinfection (plastic/hard surfaces, fabrics, wood/toys)
3 Ringworm hygiene/prevention and...
