Wierd black something on front legs only

[Shirii]

Hi,

I have two guinea pig brothers, they are both two years old. Few months ago I noticed some black stuff on kiro's front leg.
I was easily able to take it out and didn't do anything else about it.
After I take it out it looks like this.


After some time it appeared on chiro's front legs as well and then I got suspicious and took them both to the vet.
She said that she has no idea what it is but that at least it's not living but is somewhat connected to their fur. Now they both have bald spots on their right front leg. I haven't been able to find anything about it.





They live indoors and I clean their space daily, they have blankets instead of bedding as they can free-roam in my whole room and with bedding, it would be very messy. I wash blankets in products that are not harmful to them. They have good quality hay and grass, filtered water in a glass bottle, and they receive a little bit of brit and nutrin granules and some herbs (dandelion, chamomile, green oats, ...) daily. And few pea flakes as a treat.

If you have any experience with this please let me know if it's something dangerous. The vet here has no idea and am not sure if it's serious enough to take them to a vet that specializes in guinea pigs.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi!

It looks like something stuck to the foot perhaps when drying? However, I have no idea what it could be.

 

[KathT]

Bald spots on the inside of their front legs is normal. If you check they will all have it.

 

[Shirii]

Hi!

It looks like something stuck to the foot perhaps when drying? However, I have no idea what it could be.

It's very unusual. Every time I take it out it's back is one to two days.

 

[Shirii]

Bald spots on the inside of their front legs is normal. If you check they will all have it.

Yes, I know that, but they didn't have those bald spots until recently, only chiro had one on the left leg, but now they both have them on the right leg. So chiro (the ginger one) has a bald spot on both legs and kiro (the gray one) just on the right leg. And that weird black something also appears only on the front legs.

 

[Wiebke]

Have you checked the mouth? It is the area that piggies lather with saliva (which has antibiotic qualities) which they then spread over the body in a 'piggy wash'.

 

[VickiA]

I was going to say, the bald spot is the area piggies use to lick and then groom themselves, so my guess would be that they have something in their mouth when grooming.

 

[Shirii]

Have you checked the mouth? It is the area that piggies lather with saliva (which has antibiotic qualities) which they then spread over the body in a 'piggy wash'.

I tried it now. Their mouths look okay to me. Pink tongue, tooths are okay as well. Is there anything specific I should be looking for? Only kiro had something black around his nostrils but chiro doesn't so that probably has nothing to do with it.

 

[Wiebke]

I tried it now. Their mouths look okay to me. Pink tongue, tooths are okay as well. Is there anything specific I should be looking for? Only kiro had something black around his nostrils but chiro doesn't so that probably has nothing to do with it.

There is obviously something around in your hay? that causes the black sneezes and the black crusts. It may be in powder form so you wouldn't necessarily notice, but one of them seems to have inhaled some of it and sneezed it out and the other is obviously eating it every now and then.

Perhaps worth changing your hay brand and see whether that makes a difference?

 

[Shirii]

There is obviously something around in your hay (?) that causes the black sneezes and the black crusts. It may be in powder form so you wouldn't necessarily notice, but one of them seems to have inhaled some of it and sneezed it out and the other is obviously eating it every now and then.

Perhaps worth changing your hay brand and see whether that makes a difference?

Sure, I will do that. Thank you so much for the advice, I didn't think of that at all.

 

[Shirii]

Hi,

I ordred a new Hay, can't say if it helped just yet, but another problem appeared. Yesterday morning when I was changing their water I noticed that they only drank about 70ml, which is very little for two piggies, and this morning again. They have glass bottle, as for vegies they get something every day either broccoli, carrot or cucumber peels and from fruits I only give them a bit of apple, when I eat one. We have filtration for water so it shoudn't be problem. They are a bit less active then they normally are, but they didn't stop eating, so that's good. I talked to my vet but she is very young and has almost no experince with guinea pigs. She promised me that she will ask some other vet, but am not sure if waitnig and not doing anything right away, to help them, is good.

 

[Piggies&buns]

The amount piggies drink will vary greatly, it also depends how much veg they have. They will drink the amount they need. if they are urinating well and you are finding lots of wet patches then they will be getting the fluid they need. It might be a good idea to get some more variety into their veg diet so that you include some more veggies rich in vitamin c but also just for variety.

The water level hardly ever changes on my boys bottles. I see one drink occasionally, but I’ve barely seen the other touch the bottle in three years! They get lettuce, cucumber, coriander, bell pepper every day with another herb or veggie usually added in for variety each day, in summer they are on grass all day every day so they get enough water from their diet and don’t feel the need to drink a lot more beyond that.

All About Drinking And Bottles

 

[Shirii]

The amount piggies drink will vary greatly, it also depends how much veg they have. They will drink the amount they need. if they are urinating well and you are finding lots of wet patches then they will be getting the fluid they need. It might be a good idea to get some more variety into their veg diet so that you include some more veggies rich in vitamin c but also just for variety.

The water level hardly ever changes on my boys bottles. I see one drink occasionally, but I’ve barely seen the other touch the bottle in three years! They get lettuce, cucumber, coriander, bell pepper every day with another herb or veggie usually added in for variety each day, in summer they are on grass all day every day so they get enough water from their diet and don’t feel the need to drink a lot more beyond that.

All About Drinking And Bottles

For two years I have the, every morning the bottle was almost empty (250ml). I do not give them vegies with a lot of water because I used to do that with my first piggie,who then had problems with theeth. I know it was not the cause as I bought him in pet store and he had many health issues, but I am still a bit afraid to give them a lot of vegies. They get a vitamin C in their granules and drops with vitamin C, I don't put it directly in their bottle but syringe feed them with it. And they do not eat other veggies rich on C besides broccoli. I didn't change anything in their diet, so that's why it worries me.

 

[Shirii]

But it's true that their poops looks normal.