Ringworm need avice ASAP - first time owner(s)

[Krkuinea]

We brought home 4 baby guinea pigs ( all male ) about 8 weeks old from a pet store. Me and my siblings were naming them when we got home when about 20 minutes later we realized 3 babies have little tiny missing hair patches behind their ears, and 1 baby had a much bigger of no fur on his back that was not noticable at the Pet Shop. The baby with the big patch, (more infected ), Had little redish-purple' dot-specs?'.. Flaky skin... Scabbed on the infected area.

I searched on the internet and found it was most likely ringworm. My sibling searched online and found it ok to use athlete foot cream on the infected area.
Yesterday they applied that on all the guinea pigs. Today they noted that the 3 'healthier" pigs look already better,, My sibling describes how the sicker ones area appeared As. "looked at in the morning as I work up to apply again. Now ths scab looked like scabs after you take a shower <--mushy purpl-sh?_), looked tender," She did not look at too much was around the area. Added.

Later toda just decided they want to reaply a bit more on the more infected one as they don't think they were able to put it on properly in the morning because of moving.( the first apply yesterday he didn't move much at all) When she came to check again today she found a second patch of hair which she assumes she probably missed seeing it ealier in the morning. She also noticed the patch from earlier looked -noted Tender, wound looked - raised-up / swollen a-bit ,,looked pink-ish red around the area and irritated.( liekd stated earlier he would move constantly now and didn't want the cotton tipped applicator even touching around his fur.)

EXTRA information: I was able to call the people who sold them, which is a very nice pet shop I explained the first symptons,(flaky,scabbed,red/purplish,etcc,etc.)
we noticed and I told her I think they have
ring-worm... she just kept telling me they probably bit each other and pulled some fur and that happens all the time at there place with pigs. And to coconut oil will heal them all in a week. I didn't say anything more about it after that, since she said the same thing on the phone to my dad before it was handed off to me..
Second extra information is that before we got them my dad made me agree he is not taking them to the vet because of bills ( before we knew they would come home sick ) If we need to take them to the vet very soon It will take alot of convincing and an angry dad. But as long as they see the vet. I just really need advice and anyone who knows if the medicine hurt him or good advice thanks. distressed highschooler~

Edit) please let me know if you need pictures. thank you.

 

[sport_billy]

Hello, please have a read of this guide on ringworm and fungal here Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

Please get your Guinea pigs to a Guinea pig savy vet. Part of owning pets is responsibility to look after them when they are poorly. Offer to do chores around the house to help pay for vets visits and treatment.

If you are US based which I presume you are based on high school comment then Guinea Lynx has a us vets list here Guinea Lynx :: GL's Vet List

 

[Krkuinea]

Hello, please have a read of this guide on ringworm and fungal here Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

Please get your Guinea pigs to a Guinea pig savy vet. Part of owning pets is responsibility to look after them when they are poorly. Offer to do chores around the house to help pay for vets visits and treatment.

If you are US based which I presume you are based on high school comment then Guinea Lynx has a us vets list here Guinea Lynx :: GL's Vet List

Thank you. will do.

 

[Lady Kelly]

Just to confirm that it is perfectly normal to have small bald patches behind the ears and every guinea pig has them but obviously the larger patch isn't normal. If you want to get on top of ringworm properly you will need to see a vet but can claim the costs back from the pet shop as they sold you "faulty goods".

Are you keeping all four together at the moment or in two pairs? A word of warning as more than a pair of boars are unlikely to get on long term especially after hitting teenage years

 

[Tiamolly123]

You need to see the vet, you need to be using F10 on the cage & all the piggies will need treating, people in the house can catch it. Who told you to put athletes foot cream on it. I would say they are pretty high on the vet list. Good Luck.
Hi & Welcome to our friendly forum.

 

[Krkuinea]

Just to confirm that it is perfectly normal to have small bald patches behind the ears and every guinea pig has them but obviously the larger patch isn't normal. If you want to get on top of ringworm properly you will need to see a vet but can claim the costs back from the pet shop as they sold you "faulty goods".

Are you keeping all four together at the moment or in two pairs? A word of warning as more than a pair of boars are unlikely to get on long term especially after hitting teenage years

We had a pair and pair at first. Right now three are in a new cage together. They finnished looking at the sickly one and might return it back to the group In the cage. I will go talk about how they should be situated. Thank you about the "faulty goods" We can check about that.

 

[Krkuinea]

You need to see the vet, you need to be using F10 on the cage & all the piggies will need treating, people in the house can catch it. Who told you to put athletes foot cream on it. I would say they are pretty high on the vet list. Good Luck.

My sibling looked online and watched a popular guinea pig owner youtuber who was very experienced.. she was using it for herself aswell in the video to treat herself. Thank you for your advice. :^

 

[Lady Kelly]

My sibling looked online and watched a popular guinea pig owner youtuber who was very experienced.. she was using it for herself aswell in the video to treat herself. Thank you for your advice. :^

I have been told to use the cream previously while waiting for a prescription to come in. Unfortunately it won't get rid of all the spores as they start in the hair. You need something that will kill fungal spores so a top quality disinfectant like F10 is great. It's all I use at the moment for cleaning now since Donald had a stubborn case of ringworm.

I would also consider keeping your boys in two pairs to minimise the risk of total fall out and 4 single boys when the hormones hit

 

[Krkuinea]

Yes, thanks for the advice.. I'll see about the disinfectant and see what they recomend to us for use.. I read some forums and watched videos about male guinea pigs after you let me know about fighting problems. We've started trying to watch to see which might get along/dominant/or submissive pigs.
I'm wondering if I should seperate them as soon as possible while small or before agression can start at 4 months or less. Thank you for letting me know about the male pigs problems.

 

[Lady Kelly]

Yes, thanks for the advice.. I'll see about the disinfectant and see what they recomend to us for use.. I read some forums and watched videos about male guinea pigs after you let me know about fighting problems. We've started trying to watch to see which might get along/dominant/or submissive pigs.
I'm wondering if I should seperate them as soon as possible while small or before agression can start at 4 months or less. Thank you for letting me know about the male pigs problems.

I would aim to separate them out well in advance of the hormones. If they do cause a fight you could end up with all of them refusing to live with any of the others

 

[Krkuinea]

Alright. That sounds good. Thank you! Sicker one is looking better today, but we are still taking him to the vet as soon as possible. Thank you everyone for your kind advice~ Much appreciated!

 

[Merab]

Welcome to the forum
Hope you can get your sick boy sorted .
As the pet store should cover these vet costs it gives you time to start working on a vet fund for possible future needs.

You sound like a very caring and responsible owner. I hope you get a lot of joy from these wonderful animals.
Please do post pictures.
We love seeing pics of all the forum piggies

 

[Lady Kelly]

Alright. That sounds good. Thank you! Sicker one is looking better today, but we are still taking him to the vet as soon as possible. Thank you everyone for your kind advice~ Much appreciated!

Not a problem, most of us have learnt through experience... sometimes the hard way! Whatever treatment your vet suggests, I would recommend buying imaverol online as I managed to buy it without a prescription. You mix some with water and use a face cloth to rub it into the hair and skin for all piggies so that none are spreading the spores. It's worth doing this when the ringworm has died down and is disappearing as it helps to prevent reinfection

 

[Krkuinea]

Welcome to the forum
Hope you can get your sick boy sorted .
As the pet store should cover these vet costs it gives you time to start working on a vet fund for possible future needs.

You sound like a very caring and responsible owner. I hope you get a lot of joy from these wonderful animals.
Please do post pictures.
We love seeing pics of all the forum piggies

Not a problem, most of us have learnt through experience... sometimes the hard way! Whatever treatment your vet suggests, I would recommend buying imaverol online as I managed to buy it without a prescription. You mix some with water and use a face cloth to rub it into the hair and skin for all piggies so that none are spreading the spores. It's worth doing this when the ringworm has died down and is disappearing as it helps to prevent reinfection

Thank you both! ..We managed with the pet store and can not pay any costs for us, they believe we made them sick. They agreed to take two pigs back to the store to give them treatment.. Because I though this best I agreed and sent the two pigs away. I'm not going to keep them, as I think they will get proper care there. Sadly it is most probably for the best so we can have less fights in the future. Will update photos when my happy two pigs are all set and more comfortable from the new move in. Thank you everyon! |:^)

 

[Lady Kelly]

Thank you both! ..We managed with the pet store and can not pay any costs for us, they believe we made them sick. They agreed to take two pigs back to the store to give them treatment.. Because I though this best I agreed and sent the two pigs away. I'm not going to keep them, as I think they will get proper care there. Sadly it is most probably for the best so we can have less fights in the future. Will update photos when my happy two pigs are all set and more comfortable from the new move in. Thank you everyon! |:^)

Oh dear that's such a shame, I don't know the full rules and the member that can usually reel off the information easily is not too well at the moment and having a short break from the forum. Still like you say you can focus on the two that you have and hopefully keep them getting along well. It's worth keeping an eye out for these two getting ill as fungal spores can lie dormant for months on end before reappearing

 

[Krkuinea]

Oh dear that's such a shame, I don't know the full rules and the member that can usually reel off the information easily is not too well at the moment and having a short break from the forum. Still like you say you can focus on the two that you have and hopefully keep them getting along well. It's worth keeping an eye out for these two getting ill as fungal spores can lie dormant for months on end before reappearing

Yes, thank you. I'll look up about it, and keep checking the pigs.

 

[Merab]

Such a shame