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Suspected Ringworm

dannif_piggies

Adult Guinea Pig
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Certainly not a post I wanted to be making just a day after the new arrival, but here we are, these things happen... the new little girl has a crusty patch on her back, I suspect it to be ring worm, popped her straight back in the cage and antibacterial washed my hands and up my arms.

I've got her in the vets for 10.15 tomorrow, hoping they give her oral medication for it and get it under control fast.

I've read the forum advice pages on ring worm, but I'd like to ask a few more questions regarding it...

I read on the page that if on a carpeted area to move onto a plastic sheet or easily wipeable surface..
IMG_6840.JPG
this is the current set up, she's placed in the play pen, on top of a plastic back cage liner, will this be okay? Or is it likely to spread to the carpet through this?

My pigs are on the opposite side of the room, as long as I don't cross contaminate them, am I right in thinking there is a low risk for infection? Or can it still spread across the room?

Assuming she receive treatment tomorrow, what's the time scale for when I should deep clean her area, should this be done as soon as the treatment is applied?

As long as I am very strict with washing of appliances, my clothes, hands, bedding etc etc, is there low risk for it getting to my other girls?
 
The key thing is not to cross contaminate. Do everything for your existing piggies first and then the infected new girl afterwards. That means feeding cleaning, hay, handling etc.
I have separate aprons which never touch. One for my own piggies and one for anyone in quarantine.
I always wear long sleeves when dealing with new piggies and put clothing on a hot wash after handling the infected one.
 
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/ringworm-hygiene-and-pictures.115402/
Have a good read of this guide. It does explain things in some detail.
Thanks for providing me with the link, this is the one I was referring to in my post, is very informative but just had a few questions about my specific case.

The key thing is not to cross contaminate. Do everything for your existing piggies first and then the infected new girl afterwards. That means feeding cleaning, hay, handling etc.
I have separate aprons which never touch. One for my own piggies and one for anyone in quarantine.
I always wear long sleeves when dealing with new piggies and put clothing on a hot wash after handling the infected one.

As long as I provide for my other girls first, and am strict with ensuring clothes are washed after handing the new girl, is it highly unlikely my other girls get infected? Would you recommended a bath or deep clean of their environment just incase or should they be okay?
 
Personally we found with ringworm that keeping the infected piggy in a seperate room was easier, if they havent been introduced yet. Then you can change clothes at the door, have F10 hand gel to use by the door, keep disposable gloves in there, have a seperate small bag of hay and pellets in the room just for the ringworm piggy... I would F10 spray your carpet and F10 clean your healthy girls cage too and hot wash their fleece just to be on the safe side! I think we went a bit hygiene mad when Blod had ringworm, but it didnt spread...
 
Personally we found with ringworm that keeping the infected piggy in a seperate room was easier, if they havent been introduced yet. Then you can change clothes at the door, have F10 hand gel to use by the door, keep disposable gloves in there, have a seperate small bag of hay and pellets in the room just for the ringworm piggy... I would F10 spray your carpet and F10 clean your healthy girls cage too and hot wash their fleece just to be on the safe side! I think we went a bit hygiene mad when Blod had ringworm, but it didnt spread...
Realistically there isn't another space I could keep her, we live in a small house, downstairs we have a dog, and upstairs the only other room is my parent's and they (especially my dad) wouldn't allow a ringworm piggy in there :( will it be okay if I just always deal with the new baby last? I'm about to purchase some f10 disifectant. Should the first disifectant be on the day she's treated (so tomorrow)?

Do you think my other girls need a bath or am I being over paranoid?

Thank you for your suggestions on how you tackled the dreaded ringworm 😭
 
We F10 cleaned at every twice-weekly cage clean for a month until we got the all clear... but I think that might be more than is really needed, I'm sure @Wiebke can give the best advice as I think she's successfully managed ringworm many times in a room full of lots of piggies!
 
We F10 cleaned at every twice-weekly cage clean for a month until we got the all clear... but I think that might be more than is really needed, I'm sure @Wiebke can give the best advice as I think she's successfully managed ringworm many times in a room full of lots of piggies!
I'm probably going to be over the top with it too, rather be safe than sorry, thank you for your message :)
 
Thanks for providing me with the link, this is the one I was referring to in my post, is very informative but just had a few questions about my specific case.



As long as I provide for my other girls first, and am strict with ensuring clothes are washed after handing the new girl, is it highly unlikely my other girls get infected? Would you recommended a bath or deep clean of their environment just incase or should they be okay?

Hi!

If your ringworm girl has been in the guinea pig room:
You need to deep clean your normal piggy area at least once and also give all piggies within reach at least one fungal bath to remove any potential spores and prevent any potential infection from going acute.

If you then keep the ringworm piggy area strictly separated and avoid going directly from the treatment area back to the disinfected normal area then you keep the risk of carrying spores back to your other piggies low.

Quarantine upon arrival:
If the new guinea pig has never been in contact with your other piggies and has never been in your piggy room, then you do not need to disinfect and bathe the rest of your guinea pigs as your newbie will enter the room only once treated, bathed and absolutely spore-free - that is the purpose of a quarantine: to prevent carrying any infection across into a not affected population.
I would recommend to give any floors in the room a good deep clean before you bring the new girl across, though; specially if your piggies go on it.

I hope that helps?
 
Hi!

If your ringworm girl has been in the guinea pig room:
You need to deep clean your normal piggy area at least once and also give all piggies within reach at least one fungal bath to remove any potential spores.

If you then keep the ringworm piggy area strictly separated and avoid to go directly from the treatment back to the disinfected normal area then you keep the risk of carrying spores back to your other piggies low.

If the new guinea pig has never been in contact with your other piggies and has never been in your piggy room, then you do not need to disinfect and bathe the rest of your guinea pigs as your newbie will enter the room only once treated, bathed and absolutely spore-free - that is the purpose of a quarantine: to prevent carrying any infection across into a not affected population.
I would recommend to give any floors in the room a good deep clean before you bring the new girl across , though; specially if your piggies go on it.

I hope that helps?
Unfortunately the new girl has been in the room with the others, on the opposite side of the room, in her own set up. I shall disinfectant the whole room just to be on the safe side and ensure to f10 and Hoover the carpet. Will it be okay if once I've cleaned everything I just keep everything separate in the room and as mentioned deal with my healthy girls first, then the baby, then remove plastic gloves etc before exiting the room and washing my hands etc?

In terms of the anti fungal baths for my other girls, what's the best product to use? Should I ask for something from the vets?

I'm sorry for so many questions, just really don't want to make a mistake and find myself in a cycle of ringworm 🙄
 
Unfortunately the new girl has been in the room with the others, on the opposite side of the room, in her own set up. I shall disinfectant the whole room just to be on the safe side and ensure to f10 and Hoover the carpet. Will it be okay if once I've cleaned everything I just keep everything separate in the room and as mentioned deal with my healthy girls first, then the baby, then remove plastic gloves etc before exiting the room and washing my hands etc?

In terms of the anti fungal baths for my other girls, what's the best product to use? Should I ask for something from the vets?

I'm sorry for so many questions, just really don't want to make a mistake and find myself in a cycle of ringworm 🙄

Hi!

As mentioned in our Ringworm guide, nizoral from a pharmacy for yourself (please use as a whole body shampoo; many of us make unconscious gestures to face head and neck, for instance; arms and legs are the other most common areas where spores can land; more often in summer than in winter, but your underarms are always at risk) and it also does for a one-off bath for your guinea pigs (or two if necessary). If you are treating your ringworm piggy with a fungal shampoo or dip; then you use that for your other piggies.

If the piggies are all in the same room, I would personally recommend to deep clean and bathe everypig, human and the room again be fore you move your ringworm piggy across, just to be on the safe side (i.e. deep cleaning twice).
Ringworm is not the most dangerous of illnesses, but it is by far the most obnoxious, simply because it is so transmittable and the spores are so long lived and hard to kill. That is also the reason why pet shops struggle so badly on the ringworm score! :(
 
Hi!

As mentioned in our Ringworm guide, nizoral from a pharmacy for yourself (please use as a whole body shampoo; many of us make unconscious gestures to face head and neck, for instance; arms and legs are the other most common areas where spores can land; more often in summer than in winter, but your underarms are always at risk) and it also does for a one-off bath for your guinea pigs if perfectly OK. If you are treating your ringworm piggy with a fungal shampoo or dip; then you use that for your other piggies.

If the piggies are all in the same room, I would personally recommend to deep clean and bathe everypig, human and the room again fore you move your ringworm piggy across, just to be on the safe side. Ringworm is not the most dangerous of illnesses, but it is by far the most obnxious, simply because it is so transmittable and the spores are so long lived and hard to kill. That is also the reason why pet shops struggle so badly on the ringworm score!
Thanks once again for this added information, i guess all I can do as of now is ensure I don't touch the pig or area, and the road to treatment will start tomorrow after the vet appointment, depending how they decide to treat it. Many thanks
 
I feel rather stupid for asking this question, but seeing as everyone has suggested that the new baby should really be in a separate room I feel the need to ask, stupid or not, can ringworm like transport itself across the room, or does it need to be transported, I.e cross contamination by me for example/direct/indirect contact?
 
The spores are microscopic and can travel in the air, or on stray hairs your piggy sheds, or on your feet as you walk around... I think if an infected piggy had a good scratch there could well be spores flying around!
But if you dont have another room its not your fault, it just makes things a bit tougher to make sure the others dont get infected.
Best of luck!
 
The spores are microscopic and can travel in the air, or on stray hairs your piggy sheds, or on your feet as you walk around... I think if an infected piggy had a good scratch there could well be spores flying around!
But if you dont have another room its not your fault, it just makes things a bit tougher to make sure the others dont get infected.
Best of luck!
Thank you for the information, just trying to understand the nature of what I'm dealing with 😩
 
I wouldn't be too worried about spores travelling on their own across the room. I work at a vets and at the moment we have a cat with ringworm staying with us to be treated as his owner also got infected. He is in the same room as all the other patients, but nurses must wear scrubs and gloves to handle him and his bedding ect. Antibacterial scrubs won't work; any hand wash or bedding and bowl washes need to be antifungal. Hibiscrub is the best for this.
 
I wouldn't be too worried about spores travelling on their own across the room. I work at a vets and at the moment we have a cat with ringworm staying with us to be treated as his owner also got infected. He is in the same room as all the other patients, but nurses must wear scrubs and gloves to handle him and his bedding ect. Antibacterial scrubs won't work; any hand wash or bedding and bowl washes need to be antifungal. Hibiscrub is the best for this.
Thank you for this! I am being very conscious of ensuring I don't make a stupid cross contamination mistake. Today she was given treatment for it, and before going back, I deep cleaned her pen, disinfected the floor and units/spaces around her :)
 
Sorry, I'm a little confused about what stage the ringworm is no longer contagious, as in from the site, I'm aware spores can stay present for up to 18 months, but when does the infection stop emitting spores? How will I know?
 
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