Possibly A Fungal Infection? Please Help!

[Roxie]

My guinea pig has been living with me for about 3 weeks now. I don't know exactly how old he is but he is less than a year. He's been eating and drinking really well and playing and running about normally. Yesterday I noticed a little patch of hair on his face that was messed up. I assumed that he had just scratched his face and the hair was ruffled. Today when I got him out of the cage I looked closer at his skin. The bald patch is really small, roughly the size of a q-tip. When you move the hair around it you can see really tiny black dots and the rest of the skin is white and flaky like he has been scratching it. I really want to help my little guy, but unfortunately I live in an extremely small town and can't take him to a vet. After looking at a few websites I think it may be a fungal infection, but it could also be mites? I'm not sure... If anyone has any idea on what it is or how to treat him, please help!​

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome!

Could you please add your country, state or (for the UK) your county/city to your details. We are dealing with people from all over the world, so conditions etc. can vary widely and we need to adjust our advice to what is available to you. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scrll down to location.

Please be aware that it is impossible to make a correct diagnosis over the internet without seeing the piggy itself. We cannot replace a vet visit. Anybody who does so is simply irresponsible! How far is your next vet?

Fungal (ringworm) and mange mites need very different treatment and are both not at all uncommon in new guinea shop piggies with a stress lowered immune system. Can you please post pictures for us to see? Most shop products are only geared towards the prevention and not the full treatment of these conditions. By undertreating or treating wrongly, you can easily make things much worse in the long run.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/ringworm-hygiene-and-pictures.115402/
http://www.guinealynx.info/fungus.html
http://www.guinealynx.info/mites.html
Picture posting guides: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/videos/ or http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/how-to-post-photos.112751/

 

[Roxie]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6gg5kpPiYZVNFVJVEs3UEtVSWF5YTltb0hWMHRrSVNaZE8w/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6gg5kpPiYZVaDBwNTJRdFlCX1NfbTJ6V2JXWl80dVFIbGFV/view?usp=sharing
Here are some pictures. I live on an island in Alaska. There's only one vet in my town and he only sees dogs and cats. I could take him to the pet store I got him at, but I don't know if that would do much good. They mostly cater to reptiles. If I wanted to take him to a vet that helped small animals, I would have to take a two hour airplane ride.

 

[Wiebke]

Can you spot a reddish ring around the rim? It rather looks typical for fungal.
You could try to get hold of medications in the Guinea Lynx link, as they are US based; many are available from a pharmacy or from online providers. http://www.guinealynx.info/fungus.html
The oral medication we recommend in our ringworm information thread is itraconazole/itrafungol, which is being sold under the brand name sporonox in the US. Could you get it online? It is not cheap, but it is the most effective as it works systemically instead of just topically.
I would also recommend to get a proper antifungal disinfectant; especially to prevent a reoccurrance of fungal as ringworm spores can survive to up to 18 months. I would recommend to treat for ringworm to be on the safe side, as it transmits really easily! We have got lots of tips for how best to care for a fungal piggy and avoid a transmission/re-infection in this thread here: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/ringworm-hygiene-and-pictures.115402/

You can add your state to your details, so we can always adjust our advice to you not having easy vet access straight away and give you US links and brands if possible. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location.