Scabs From Bites, Or Something Else?

[Powerpigs]

Today while petting Voltti I noticed something hard on his skin. I have no experience what this could be, but my guess would be scabs. Voltti and Ohmi argued quite a lot a week ago, but I didn't notice any bites back then, though it's a possibility there still was some. The location of these marks is down his back, just in the middle of his body and a little to the side from his spine, which would fit for a bite wound, right? The boys are ok to be with each other right now, which is confusing if these really are bite wounds, I understood that boars would not agree to live together after full bites?

I tried to get some photos, sorry that they are not the best ones. First is the bigger mark close up, and second is both marks that I found. Do these look like healing bite wounds to you, or maybe something else?

 

[Wiebke]

Today while petting Voltti I noticed something hard on his skin. I have no experience what this could be, but my guess would be scabs. Voltti and Ohmi argued quite a lot a week ago, but I didn't notice any bites back then, though it's a possibility there still was some. The location of these marks is down his back, just in the middle of his body and a little to the side from his spine, which would fit for a bite wound, right? The boys are ok to be with each other right now, which is confusing if these really are bite wounds, I understood that boars would not agree to live together after full bites?

I tried to get some photos, sorry that they are not the best ones. First is the bigger mark close up, and second is both marks that I found. Do these look like healing bite wounds to you, or maybe something else?

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It could be a small burst sebaceous cyst or self-harm from an irritation in the skin. A bite from the companion is much more unlikely. You may want to see the vet if necessary for a proper diagnosis. If it is a burst cyst, you want to make sure that it cannot get infected. If it is self-harm, you want to find the source of the discomfort to address it.

 

[Powerpigs]

Thank you so much @Wiebke ! I haven't noticed Voltti scratching himself more than usual regarding the theory of self-harm, but I'll keep my eye on him more closely now. I think I'll monitor the area over the weekend, and book our usual vet next week during normal hours if it's still unclear what is causing this.

I'm so relieved that you think it is unlikely a bite from his friend!

 

[gizzy]

My guess would be, he has been feeling itchy (possible mite! Possible just itchy, ) and he has scratched with his insiors ,
If he do's it again l would treat him for mites
In the link below is a marvellous product that kills fungle, and mites
It says it is for cats and dogs, but my vet recomended it for my pigs many years ago and it has never ever failed to wipe out even the most stuban fungal infection in a matter of days


Surolan Ear Drops for Dogs & Cats

 

[Powerpigs]

Thank you @gizzy ! I'm so glad that you too think it's something else than a bite from his friend. I'll keep looking after Voltti for few days and then go see my vet if it seems I need something to treat him. As mites would be new to me, I'd like a vet to confirm that it really is mites. I'm in Finland so we might have some similar product to treat for mites, delivery from the UK usually takes a little over a week to arrive so would be nice to buy something from the counter.

 

[Tiamolly123]

Poor Ohmi is probably sitting there & saying IT WASN'T ME, & Voltti is saying YES IT WAS YOU.
ah the fun of keeping guinea pigs. Lol

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you @gizzy ! I'm so glad that you too think it's something else than a bite from his friend. I'll keep looking after Voltti for few days and then go see my vet if it seems I need something to treat him. As mites would be new to me, I'd like a vet to confirm that it really is mites. I'm in Finland so we might have some similar product to treat for mites, delivery from the UK usually takes a little over a week to arrive so would be nice to buy something from the counter.

In any case, treatment for fungal and mites differs, but you need to treat all piggies in contact with each other.

Mange mites need to be teated with ivermectin (like xeno) or selamection (stronghold or revolution). It is up to your vet to see whether it is fungal or mange mites.

Surolan (active ingredient miconazole) is one of a range of potential topical fungicidal treatment and it is one of the more effective ones - personally I have found enilconazole both milder and more effective when it comes to skin treatments, especially close to eyes.
Surolan does NOT kill mange mites!
These days, we recommend using an oral suspension (itrafungol, active ingredient itraconazole) as it gets to all places and is much less stressful to administer. If your patch is actually fungal, I would recommend one bath at the end of the treatment simply to mechanically remove any fungal spores sitting in the fur.

 

[Swissgreys]

Eddi had a series of similar looking 'wounds' and it turned out to be mites.
A full round of mite treatment sorted it fairly quickly.
Hopefully for Voltti is is something that is as easily sorted.

 

[Powerpigs]

@Tiamolly123 haha exactly! I can imagine the bickering

@Wiebke thank you again! I'll discuss this with the vet then.

@Swissgreys thank you for this, it is starting to sound like a vet visit is in order. I'm glad to hear Eddi's condition was quickly cured, let's hope this is too!

I'll just have to say how glad I am to have joined this forum! The amount of knowledge here is so large, and to have someone to ask and receive help is so wonderful. Especially when I come from a country with not so much experience in guinea pigs. I do not even know anyone else owning guinea pigs!

 

[Powerpigs]

I gave Voltti another check just now. The bigger mark has stayed the same as far as I can tell. The smaller mark had fur still on it on Friday, but just now as I searched for it all the fur on the mark came off in a single bundle of fur. Tried to take some photos to monitor the progress.

This is the bigger mark, looks same to me:


This is the smaller mark, a bit raw since the bundle of fur just came off:


And this is the bundle of fur that came off with some tissue:


I have found similar bundles of fur without such tissue in the cage just last week, a bundle from each pig. Back then I assumed they had just managed to pull some hair off each other during an argument... I guess this means I'll give Ohmi a through check to find if he has marks, too.

Our usual vet is booked for Wednesday, I've bagged the bundle of fur with the tissue to take in as a sample alongside Voltti.

Voltti seems fine in himself and the marks don't seem to bother him at all. I tried to press them gently, and it didn't seem to cause him any discomfort. Fingers crossed the vet finds a diagnose for this on Wednesday!

 

[Mishka]

Hi, our new baby girl is losing clumps of fur with scabby bits on the end like that and her issues are a fungal infection. The meds already suggested above are good for this, wishing your piggy a speedy recovery

 

[Powerpigs]

Thank you @Mishka ! It's nice to hear this looks familiar and something that is treatable. I'm wishing your girl a speedy recovery too!

 

[Powerpigs]

Okay, we visited the vet yesterday with Voltti. Turns out that these scabs were really just scabs, formed due a scratch in the skin. The vet said it's most likely that Ohmi has managed to deliver a bite and caused the skin to break a little. The vet did take samples of the skin and the samples were clear of anything funny. The areas affected were healing well, both scabs have already come off and healthy new skin is now showing. Voltti is still missing fur on these spots, but the vet said there's no reason why the fur shouldn't grow back. The vet also gave Voltti a general health check, and said he's perfectly healthy.

Now I just feel so bad for poor Voltti getting bitten, I just wanted him to have a new friend and be happy
Fingers crossed our little hormone-driven teenager Ohmi behaves himself better in the future!

 

[Wiebke]

Okay, we visited the vet yesterday with Voltti. Turns out that these scabs were really just scabs, formed due a scratch in the skin. The vet said it's most likely that Ohmi has managed to deliver a bite and caused the skin to break a little. The vet did take samples of the skin and the samples were clear of anything funny. The areas affected were healing well, both scabs have already come off and healthy new skin is now showing. Voltti is still missing fur on these spots, but the vet said there's no reason why the fur shouldn't grow back. The vet also gave Voltti a general health check, and said he's perfectly healthy.

Now I just feel so bad for poor Voltti getting bitten, I just wanted him to have a new friend and be happy
Fingers crossed our little hormone-driven teenager Ohmi behaves himself better in the future!

Glad that it is not illness. The hairs should start growing back within a month.
Here are our tips for dealing with hormonal boars in order to prevent a fall-out: Boars: Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

 

[Powerpigs]

Glad that it is not illness. The hairs should start growing back within a month.
Here are our tips for dealing with hormonal boars in order to prevent a fall-out: Boars: Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

Thank you Wiebke. I'm also glad Voltti is healthy.

Trust me, I have read and re-read those tips already multiple times during these weeks! They are such good tips. We had a rough time two weeks ago when Ohmi was especially piped up, and that's when Ohmi became the top pig. Now they have the occasional teeth chatter, but Voltti tends to turn and run from the face offs, instead of staying put to defend himself. Ohmi is now excactly 6 months old, so I'm hoping this is the worst of his hormonal behaviour we will see. I know they have been very close to falling out, but as far as I can tell both pigs are still happy with each other and I'm doing everything I can to get them through this together.

(And just to demonstrate how lost I would be without this forum: I do trust my vet and she's the best you can get here regarding piggies and I don't want to talk badly of her, but she still suggested castration as an option if Ohmi does not calm down I don't know if I should have asked if she really has proof of this, but I was just in loss of words after that suggestion!)

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you Wiebke. I'm also glad Voltti is healthy.

Trust me, I have read and re-read those tips already multiple times during these weeks! They are such good tips. We had a rough time two weeks ago when Ohmi was especially piped up, and that's when Ohmi became the top pig. Now they have the occasional teeth chatter, but Voltti tends to turn and run from the face offs, instead of staying put to defend himself. Ohmi is now excactly 6 months old, so I'm hoping this is the worst of his hormonal behaviour we will see. I know they have been very close to falling out, but as far as I can tell both pigs are still happy with each other and I'm doing everything I can to get them through this together.

(And just to demonstrate how lost I would be without this forum: I do trust my vet and she's the best you can get here regarding piggies and I don't want to talk badly of her, but she still suggested castration as an option if Ohmi does not calm down I don't know if I should have asked if she really has proof of this, but I was just in loss of words after that suggestion!)

I've had my Nye neutered just before he turned 6 months old in January, and I can reassure you that he was just as "juicy" as any other boy and that he went through all the usual stages of a teenage boy, including being a perfect pest in the weeks around 8-10 months of age. I managed to get by with a temporary divider in their pen on two occasions and plenty of extra roaming time, singly or joined to let Nye get rid of his excess energy as much as possible and to allow Nosgan to calm down again whenever he'd been pushed past his endurance and he stared to flip out.
You just have to take it as things develop. The phase around 6 months is usually the trickiest as that is when the hormones are at their highest ever. Later on, there is usually a phase when teenage boars wind the other one up and go right up to the limit all the time, but they are generally careful to not go any further.

The boys are fine together now apart from the odd teeth chatter and are still very much hanging out together. Their personalities really complement each other.
You can see them in this little video here, which I posted on my facebook page yesterday.
(And yes, they live next to a mum/daughter pair since spayed Nesta has sadly died in May; neither of the two boys is very dominant boar by nature, so it works.)

 

[Powerpigs]

I've had my Nye neutered just before he turned 6 months old in January, and I can reassure you that he was just as "juicy" as any other boy and that he went through all the usual stages of a teenage boy, including being a perfect pest in the weeks around 8-10 months of age. I managed to get by with a temporary divider in their pen on two occasions and plenty of extra roaming time, singly or joined to let Nye get rid of his excess energy as much as possible and to allow Nosgan to calm down again whenever he'd been pushed past his endurance and he stared to flip out.
You just have to take it as things develop. The phase around 6 months is usually the trickiest as that is when the hormones are at their highest ever. Later on, there is usually a phase when teenage boars wind the other one up and go right up to the limit all the time, but they are generally careful to not go any further.

The boys are fine together now apart from the odd teeth chatter and are still very much hanging out together. Their personalities really complement each other.
You can see them in this little video here, which I posted on my facebook page yesterday.
(And yes, they live next to a mum/daughter pair since spayed Nesta has sadly died in May; neither of the two boys is very dominant boar by nature, so it works.)

Thank you for this insight! I haven't yet tried a divider, but it's good to know that it's a possibility too. For how long did you use the divider on those occasions? I've managed the two times when Ohmi was at his worst by putting both pigs to the floor pen, to give them more space as my cage is only a 2x4 c&c. The bigger space worked both times, and I kept the boys there until Ohmi was calm again.

That's a lovely video if Nye and Nosgan, thank you for sharing it! It also gives me hope that one day also my boys could be a calm and happy pairing and all teenage drama could be forgotten!

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you for this insight! I haven't yet tried a divider, but it's good to know that it's a possibility too. For how long did you use the divider on those occasions? I've managed the two times when Ohmi was at his worst by putting both pigs to the floor pen, to give them more space as my cage is only a 2x4 c&c. The bigger space worked both times, and I kept the boys there until Ohmi was calm again.

That's a lovely video if Nye and Nosgan, thank you for sharing it! It also gives me hope that one day also my boys could be a calm and happy pairing and all teenage drama could be forgotten!

1-2 days - in may case, it was mostly waiting until the sows in season were past it and the sow pheromone level in the room was down again. The boys would just go back to normal with each other on the roaming ground. Best do any re-intro on neutral ground anyway.
Illustrated Bonding / Dominance Behaviours And Dynamics