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Scratch or Mites?

PigsLovesYas10

PigsLovesYas10

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
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Location
Maryland, United States
Hey everyone! I’ve returned after a hiatus with a slight concern. It looks to me to be mites, but I wasn’t quite sure. Though my concern pushes me to treat for mites anyway, just to be safe, I wanted to get more opinions on it. The thing is, though, I didn’t notice this patch this morning when I checked in with the pigs. And he hasn’t been itching at it as far as I can tell. So overall I’m not sure, but I will use ivermectin just to be safe. I’ve also checked everywhere else on his body for something similar, dry patchy skin/scratch marks, and found none.

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I would take him to the vet so he can be prescribed what’s appropriate. If you use ivermectin and it’s not what’s needed then it wouldn’t work and you don’t want to make it worse.
 
Have a look here there’s a list of piggy savvy vets in US.
 
PigsLovesYas10 said:
Hey everyone! I’ve returned after a hiatus with a slight concern. It looks to me to be mites, but I wasn’t quite sure. Though my concern pushes me to treat for mites anyway, just to be safe, I wanted to get more opinions on it. The thing is, though, I didn’t notice this patch this morning when I checked in with the pigs. And he hasn’t been itching at it as far as I can tell. So overall I’m not sure, but I will use ivermectin just to be safe. I’ve also checked everywhere else on his body for something similar, dry patchy skin/scratch marks, and found none.

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Hi!

Please see a vet promptly for diagnosis; you are NOT dealing with mites but more likely with highly infectious and transmittable ringworm.
Importantly, if diagnosed officially in time, you can reclaim any treatment cost from the pet shop as part of your customer rights for having been sold damaged ware.
By proper treatment and absolutely crucial hygiene, you can also prevent the spread/reinfection problems. Just with a little DIY creaming you are in for very a long term battle... :(

If you DIY treat on spec, you will manage to make a real mess of it from treating wrongly, let your pets suffer unnecessarily and end up with much higher vet cost from having to treat an advanced case and general expenses you can no longer reclaim because of the time lapse.
Because of the highly infectious nature you need to treat all piggies in contact with each other (please do not keep guinea pigs single; they are group animals that are not wired to be kept alone) and yourself, too. Ringworm - if it is diagnosed - is the single most transmittable problem between any pet species and their owners. The time between infection and outbreak is 10-14 days.

Here is more information on your rights and typical new piggy problems: New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites

Here is important vet information (including lists of recommended vets in several countries): A guide to vets fees, insurance and payment support.
 
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