Scratching

[chilwell]

How much scratching is normal for guinea pigs. I have noticed one of mine scratches quite a bit, could she have mites?

Thanks.

 

[lulu!]

check your piggies skin. is the fur shiny and soft? is the skin red or irritated?
if it looks like dandruff and the hair is thinning, then i'd say he has mites.
what bedding do you use? is there a chance it could be irritating them?

one of mine used to scratch a lot when she was a baby but she's grown out of it now- she was checked by a vet and had nothing wrong with her

 

[chilwell]

Her skin is fine and her hair isn't thinning, she is a baby do they scratch more?!

The bedding is Chipsi wood shavings but I'm soon changing over to fleece as I am sick of it going everywhere

Thanks!

 

[lulu!]

only one of mine scratched a lot when she was a baby, and she was very twitchy (she popcorned constantly) i think it was just that she couldn't keep still!

if you're not sure it might be worth taking her to a vet just to get it checked.

 

[Wiebke]

I would have her checked in case she had mites; right at the beginning you often can't see much apart from sudden vigorous cratching. Have an eye out for small irregular bald patches.

With a baby you can treat with xeno50, which is a weaker concentration of ivermectin than the adult xeno450.

If she is indoors, it could be simply down to dry air, but you should make sure that it isn't mites.

 

[chilwell]

Ok thanks, I think I'll just pop both of them along to the vet anyway for an overall health check.

I have a feeling one or both could be pregnant thanks to the stupid pet shop who had both sexes in one cage. I had no idea gp's could get pregnant at such a young age.

 

[chilwell]

Both piggies have stopped scratching since I changed to fleece so it must have been the shavings.

Thanks folks!