My Teddy G.P seems to be moulting? Newbie to guinea pigs please advise!

[mummyemily]

Well Hello to everyone, just joined your forum as it seems to hold a wealth of information!
I have to guinea pigs one is a 12 week old "Teddy" have had them about 3 weeks now (one bought one rescued) and am loving everything about them!
I am a little concerned about the Teddy when i bought him his was supposed to have just had a spot on for mite? anyway a week after i got him he developed a scabby raised lump on his face and the same on his rump, the other one seems absolutley fine so as a precaution bought some guinea pig antibactial shampoo and some spot on for lice and mite (thank you got the imformation for bathing from this sight!)
The bathing went extremley well concidereding i have never bathed a guinea pig before !
The lumps and scabs seem to be getting better and no more have appeared so that is positive but I have noticed that he seems to be moulting (if it was a rabbit i would say she was nesting? as it looks like the inner soft coat of the teddy and it is spread around is indoor cage he shares?
Do they molt, his be being bullied by the other one (they seem to get on fine and call for one another if out of sight, eat together ect) or could it be sign of a bigger problem.
They have an large indoor cage for night time that i clean out every other day (they are in it for about 14hrs aday) and they have a outdoor hutch and run for the daytime (this is cleaned out every other day too).
I feed them a pellet feed and they have a selection of apples, celery, brocolli, carrot, sprouts, grapes and a good quility of hay both to sleep in and to eat am I doing anything wrong

 

[Lisajazz]

It sounds more fungal than mites to me.

Have you had a look on the gorgeous guineas website to identify? One of mine has a fungal thing at the mo and they are also losing hair

http://www.gorgeousguineas.com/photogallery.html

 

[mummyemily]

Thank you have had a look at gorgousguineas think it looks more like fungle that mites, could i so bold to ask what treatment you are offering? I am at a loss what to do for him!

 

[Lisajazz]

I am putting on the coconeem melt from there and then washing it off with the coconeem and manuka shampoo and then putting on super souffle cream.

 

[Laura-CCC4]

Welcome to the forum Emily.

Shedding is normal for many pigs to varying degrees - some shed a lot of hair, others shed none at all - and it is only the hairs from the top of the coat that are released. Fluctuations in temperature can sometimes affect the levels of shedding; if the pig is transferred from a cold to a warm environment then some hair will naturally be lost. However if the hair is visibly thinning, then there is usually more than 'just' shedding going on. Fungal is a possibility, you can treat as Lisa said which is as suggested by Gorgeous Guineas, or you can use a ketoconazole-based shampoo like Nizoral from the chemist.

The main thing to remember with anti-fungal bathing is to allow the shampoo to sink in for at least 3-5 minutes before rinsing. It's usually good to wash and rinse first to get rid of any loose skin/hair, then lather up the shampoo and let it soak in for 3-5 minutes before rinsing well.

 

[mummyemily]

Hi thanks for that, by me putting them out during the day and in at night is this not doing them any good? I feel that as they eat soo much hay that they will not have enough to snuggle down in at night whilst outside or am i being soft?

 

[Laura-CCC4]

It depends how warm it is in your house and how much of a temperature difference there is between indoors and outdoors, there's no problem with them being outdoors during the day and indoors at night as long as the temperature difference isn't too noticeable e.g. average spring temps outside but still a centrally heated house.

 

[mummyemily]

They are in a non central heated room with the window open slightly for fresh air (i know but i have every bedroom window open a little even in the snow)
Haved looked at many sights today about fungle infections and one thing keeps pooping up is grapefruit seed oil has anyone any experience of this?

 

[Laura-CCC4]

Sounds like temperature fluctuation isn't to blame then - and as I mentioned earlier if the hair is thinning, it's not going to be just shedding.

I've not tried nor heard of grapefruit seed oil for dealing with skin problems; Neem oil however is said to be the best at treating fungal problems, some of the Gorgeous Guineas anti-fungal products contain Neem oil.