Skin Infection On Our New Guinea Pigs

[mam2girls]

Hi
My family and I got 2 male guinea pigs on Sunday.
While holding one I noticed he had a small bald patch that felt scabby. When I looked it looked like he had dandruff round that area and his fur just pulled out. His ears were also crusty inside and when stroked behind his ears her would flick his head, he was crying a lot in his cage.
Took them both to vets this morning and vet said ear mites and fur mites. Got ear drops and a spot in treatment for both tango and cash(husband named them)
Got them home and administered the spot on to both and ear drops to cash.
Got back tonight and went to put ear drops in cash and it looks as if the bald spot has spread more down his back hind quarter. Also noticed he has a scab on the bridge of his nose
Phoned vets who said to bring him back tomorrow.
My question is could it be ringworm?
I have 5 children between the ages of 4 and 9 and a 2 year old dog. I've kind of quarantined them in the back room of our house until tomorrow but my children have been stroking both guinea pigs today and yesterdsy, made sure they washed hands after. Should I be worried that my children and dog may be affected if it is fungal?
I disinfected the cage and surrounding area this morning before going to the vets. Should I do this tomorrow morning aswel? Any advice would be helpful as I'm scaring myself stupid when I Google this.
Both guinea pigs are not scratching but cash does seem to squeak more than tango

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome

Could you please post pictures? From your description, it is possible that your guinea pigs could suffer from ringworm (where fur comes out in patches and the skin is typically covered in a whiteish crust) rather than mites; however fungal and mites can look very similar in the early stages. Fungal starts typically in the face or around ears while mange mites make a triangle from the middle of the back backwards, but can also appear in other places, so it is never a dead cert. Guinea pigs can suffer from both at the same time if you are unlucky; this is however usually only seen in neglected guinea pigs coming into rescue. Where did you get your piggies from? As far as mites are concerned, you should do a full 3 rounds course once you have started to make sure that you really kill off all mites. There is currently not any more you can do on that score.

Good hygiene will go a long way towards preventing a transmission of ringworm; which includes thorough hand washing after handling guinea pigs. I would also recommend to wash any clothes that have come into contact with the guinea pigs.
I would strongly recommend to get hold of F10 ( or if you are in the US) the equivalent brand, as they take really care of ringworm spores, too. It is a vet grade product. F10 disinfectant is widely sold online. You do not need to disinfect daily, but any further advice depends on the ultimate diagnosis.

It would help us a lot if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so we can tailor any advice to what is available in your country. Vet access, climate and medical brands can vary widely across the world and will influence any advice we can give. Please click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location.

You may find these links here helpful:
Guinea Lynx :: Parasites
Ringworm: Hygiene And Pictures
Gorgeous Guineas: Photo Gallery
Gorgeous Guineas

How to post pictures: How To Post Photos