Ringworm Paranoia

[Isla&Steve]

Hello, this is a bit of an odd one, for context, when I was around 16 I had my first ever job and thought “you know what I want to buy with my first few wages... pig” so I got two boars, Isaac and Newton, and despite having guinea pigs multiple times before, when I got these boys I was warned about ringworm, which seemed weird because I’d never heard of it before, fast forward like a week or two, the boys have ringworm (the shop 110% knew that they were probably infected otherwise they wouldn’t have said and as a result paid for treatment) we treated them, disinfected everything and that was fine.

Then I got ring worm, and that would have been fine if I was just a bit smarter and told the pharmacist that I visited that I had Guineas with ring worm because they gave me steroid cream thinking it was eczema (for anyone who doesn’t know, steroid cream feeds ringworm and made it double in size) So I have a pretty massive scar on my leg, luckily for me it’s faded and only I can see it really because I know where to look.

Sorry this is so long, the point is, now I have the boys and I am so paranoid every time they scratch after waking up from a nap and one time a little bit of Kuzco’s hair fell out and it terrified me, but I’ve checked them both thoroughly and there are no bald patches, no scaly skin and their ears are fine (Newton’s started on his ears) Does anyone know of something I could do to ease my mind a bit, I’m sure they are absolutely fine and they don’t seem anything like my boys who were poorly, I just had one bad experience and it’s still stressing me out. Sorry for rambling, I realised that this partially turned into a rant

 

[Wiebke]

Hello, this is a bit of an odd one, for context, when I was around 16 I had my first ever job and thought “you know what I want to buy with my first few wages... pig” so I got two boars, Isaac and Newton, and despite having guinea pigs multiple times before, when I got these boys I was warned about ringworm, which seemed weird because I’d never heard of it before, fast forward like a week or two, the boys have ringworm (the shop 110% knew that they were probably infected otherwise they wouldn’t have said and as a result paid for treatment) we treated them, disinfected everything and that was fine.

Then I got ring worm, and that would have been fine if I was just a bit smarter and told the pharmacist that I visited that I had Guineas with ring worm because they gave me steroid cream thinking it was eczema (for anyone who doesn’t know, steroid cream feeds ringworm and made it double in size) So I have a pretty massive scar on my leg, luckily for me it’s faded and only I can see it really because I know where to look.

Sorry this is so long, the point is, now I have the boys and I am so paranoid every time they scratch after waking up from a nap and one time a little bit of Kuzco’s hair fell out and it terrified me, but I’ve checked them both thoroughly and there are no bald patches, no scaly skin and their ears are fine (Newton’s started on his ears) Does anyone know of something I could do to ease my mind a bit, I’m sure they are absolutely fine and they don’t seem anything like my boys who were poorly, I just had one bad experience and it’s still stressing me out. Sorry for rambling, I realised that this partially turned into a rant

Hi!

I am very sorry about your experience.

What you can do to allay your anxiety (which we would normally NOT recommend unless you are actually dealing with an acute outbreak):
- deep clean your cage and any furnishings with a vet grade disinfectant like F10 (will come in handy anyway for the occasional deep clean) and wash any fabric in the cage at 60 C (140 F). This will take care of any ringworm spores they may have brought with them.
- give your boys a bath to wash out any potential ringworm spores sitting in the coat that could either wiggle their way down to the skin or fall on the bedding and be picked up from there. Bathing (including cleaning grease glands)
- the time between infection and acute outbreak is 10-14 days with piggies, so if there is no sign of ringworm after 2 weeks, then haven't been infected at the place you have got them from. Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

These measures will hopefully assure you that you have dealt with any potential ringworm having been carried in by your piggies and that your home is fully free of it.

For the future: Please consider adopting your pets of any species from a good welfare standard rescue with a mandatory quarantine and vet care upon arrival that will only put fully healthy animals up for adoption. Since anybody in this country can call themselves a rescue or a breeder without licence or supervision, you may need to do your research but starting with reading up on the prospective species at the RSPCA or Blue Cross (UK Welfare organisations), a good welfare standard forum (not always easy to find for all species) and then checking whether any prospective rescues are complying with or surpassing those requirements is not a bad way. You can also ask any rescue whether they have a mandatory quarantine and vet care for incoming pets.
That is the best way of avoiding all the usual pitfalls that can come with bought or informally rehomed pets, whether that is shops, breeders or online. Incidentally, you will not only get pets without hidden passengers but you will clear spaces at the rescue for another pair of piggies in need of expert and proper care and will not contribute to the growning flood of discarded 'toy' pets that you encourage to be produced in even greater numbers by directly buying piggies bred for sale.
For guinea pigs, we have a rescue locator of carefully vetted rescues in several countries (link to non-UK rescues below the UK map), which we can guarantee for that you are in safe hands together with a locator of recommended vets on the top bar; there is a recommended guinea pig rescue in Bristol: Rescue Locator

 

[Isla&Steve]

Hi!

I am very sorry about your experience.

What you can do to allay your anxiety (which we would normally NOT recommend unless you are actually dealing with an acute outbreak):
- deep clean your cage and any furnishings with a vet grade disinfectant like F10 (will come in handy anyway for the occasional deep clean) and wash any fabric in the cage at 60 C (140 F). This will take care of any ringworm spores they may have brought with them.
- give your boys a bath to wash out any potential ringworm spores sitting in the coat that could either wiggle their way down to the skin or fall on the bedding and be picked up from there. Bathing (including cleaning grease glands)
- the time between infection and acute outbreak is 10-14 days with piggies, so if there is no sign of ringworm after 2 weeks, then haven't been infected at the place you have got them from. Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures

These measures will hopefully assure you that you have dealt with any potential ringworm having been carried in by your piggies and that your home is fully free of it.

For the future: Please consider adopting your pets of any species from a good welfare standard rescue with a mandatory quarantine and vet care upon arrival that will only put fully healthy animals up for adoption. Since anybody in this country can call themselves a rescue or a breeder without licence or supervision, you may need to do your research but starting with reading up on the prospective species at the RSPCA or Blue Cross (UK Welfare organisations), a good welfare standard forum (not always easy to find for all species) and then checking whether any prospective rescues are complying with or surpassing those requirements is not a bad way. You can also ask any rescue whether they have a mandatory quarantine and vet care for incoming pets.
That is the best way of avoiding all the usual pitfalls that can come with bought or informally rehomed pets, whether that is shops, breeders or online. Incidentally, you will not only get pets without hidden passengers but you will clear spaces at the rescue for another pair of piggies in need of expert and proper care and will not contribute to the growning flood of discarded 'toy' pets that you encourage to be produced in even greater numbers by directly buying piggies bred for sale.
For guinea pigs, we have a rescue locator of carefully vetted rescues in several countries (link to non-UK rescues below the UK map), which we can guarantee for that you are in safe hands together with a locator of recommended vets on the top bar; there is a recommended guinea pig rescue in Bristol: Rescue Locator

Thank you this is all so helpful, I will definitely look to disinfecting their cage and furnishing just to be on the safe side, we’ve had them for 8 days now and I don’t think they have anything, it’s just a bit of dread when they scratch.

I definitely agree with what you say about rescuing, Kuzco and Kronk will definitely be my last shop piggies, I do not regret getting my boys but I’m not happy with how I got them, I’ve been looking at Little Wheekers rescue and I think if and when we decide to expand our herd I will be contacting them.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you this is all so helpful, I will definitely look to disinfecting their cage and furnishing just to be on the safe side, we’ve had them for 8 days now and I don’t think they have anything, it’s just a bit of dread when they scratch.

I definitely agree with what you say about rescuing, Kuzco and Kronk will definitely be my last shop piggies, I do not regret getting my boys but I’m not happy with how I got them, I’ve been looking at Little Wheekers rescue and I think if and when we decide to expand our herd I will be contacting them.

Are Kuzco and Kronk boars or sows? Boars are best kept in pairs; I would also recommend strongly to wait and see how they deal with teenage as people generally don't buy their pet shop piggies with an eye as two which two prefer to hang out together for a personality match.
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

You may find our our comprehensive information resource very helpful and highly interesting; it is great for bookmarking, browsing, reading and re-reading at need as you often take different things away from the guide, depending on your experience and understanding. Some do work on different levels but all do work. A lot has changed in the piggy world in the 15 years this forum has been running. The guide format allows us to update and extend our information at need.
Here is the access link: Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides

You may also find our one stop emergency care link worth bookmarking so you do not have to search frantically when in a panic: Emergency Resources and Critical Illness Care - Contents list and subforum link

You can access our full and even more extensive information resource via the guides shortcut on the top, where it is thematically laid out in order. We do have one of the largest information resources currently around.

 

[Isla&Steve]

Are Kuzco and Kronk boars or sows? Boars are best kept in pairs; I would also recommend strongly to wait and see how they deal with teenage as people generally don't buy their pet shop piggies with an eye as two which two prefer to hang out together for a personality match.
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars

You may find our our comprehensive information resource very helpful and highly interesting; it is great for bookmarking, browsing, reading and re-reading at need as you often take different things away from the guide, depending on your experience and understanding. Some do work on different levels but all do work. A lot has changed in the piggy world in the 15 years this forum has been running. The guide format allows us to update and extend our information at need.
Here is the access link: Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides

You may also find our one stop emergency care link worth bookmarking so you do not have to search frantically when in a panic: Emergency Resources and Critical Illness Care - Contents list and subforum link

You can access our full and even more extensive information resource via the guides shortcut on the top, where it is thematically laid out in order. We do have one of the largest information resources currently around.

They’re boars and do not worry, I didn’t mean that I was planning to get more piggies any time soon, they seem happy with each other as things stand and there has never been any signs of aggression but we’re still going to wait and see how they go before we even think about getting any more piggies and even if we do I know not to add to Kuzco and Kronk because they’re boars and will not work in a boar trio or with a sow. It is more of a hypothetical, down the line kind of comment.

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction with all of the guides, I will make sure I bookmark them