• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Wound on guinea pig/mites?

Markatavr

Markatavr

New Born Pup
Joined
Sep 6, 2019
Messages
30
Reaction score
18
Points
155
Location
Faroe Islands
Hi I just noticed this wound close to my guinea pig's rump rosettes.
1f615.png
:/ It's their 3rd week with ivermectin (behind the ears) as I had noticed they had been scratching a lot. But I don't see any improvement. I took them to the vet three weeks ago,I had noticed a bit of dandruff/flaky skin) There is no exotic vet where I live, ( Faroe islands), only a general one. She told me without -really checking them- that it's most likely mites. My other guinea pig doesn't have anything I have noticed but sounds in pain when scratching
1f641.png
. (It is a peruvian one)

What do you suggest I do? Is there anything extra you would recommend?I cleaned the cage and washed the fleece on 60 degrees. Also put their wooden stuff in the oven for 20 mins on 100 C degrees (I read that it kills mites)

I also have an anti-lice shampoo from gorgeous guineas but I am not sure whether I should give them a bath ( they're a year old and they never had one).

Also, is there anything I should put on the wound? Thanks in advance 💜
 

Attachments

  • piggie.webp
    piggie.webp
    100.6 KB · Views: 14
  • wound.webp
    wound.webp
    39.5 KB · Views: 14
  • 20191103_223316.webp
    20191103_223316.webp
    50.5 KB · Views: 20
That does look sore. I’m afraid I don’t know what you can do. It’s all the more difficult when you don’t have experienced vets. We’re a U.K. based forum so majority are asleep now. But someone with more experience will hopefully answer you later on today.
 
I am also wondering, could it also be from the other one biting him? I am not really sure the cause is scratching as I am not sure he can even reach there?
 
Whereabouts is the wound? You’d be surprised how nimble they can be when they’ve got to scratch.
 
Siikibam said:
That does look sore. I’m afraid I don’t know what you can do. It’s all the more difficult when you don’t have experienced vets. We’re a U.K. based forum so majority are asleep now. But someone with more experience will hopefully answer you later on today.
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome

Where the wound on the body? At this stage it is impossible to say whether it is self-inflicted (most wounds are) or whether it is the result of a scratch.

If it is the second, then it should just scab over and heal off. If a bald area appears around the wound or if a white crust develops around the scratch, if you see increased vigorous scratching and biting, then you are more likely dealing with either a fungal skin infection (ringworm) or with skin parasites (most likely mange mites). In the second case please come back to us on this thread and we can help you with any treatment.

Could you please tell us how old your boys are and how big your cage is? Teenage is a tricky age and tussles/fights can happen. We can advise you on that too.
 
Hey, my cage is a little bigger than 140x70cm (so around 4x2)
The wound is just over his back/rump rosettes- I put betadine on it last night.

My biggest concern is the scratching/mites, the other one makes a lot of noise when scratching ( although he is also pretty vocal in general).
I posted the same issue on a facebook guinea pig advice site and they told me that the ivermectin dose the vet prescribed might be too little.
(They also weigh quite a bit)- she didn't weigh them , she just told me to put a small drop behind each ear for 4 weeks and she gave me two small tuberculine ml syringe (the really thin ones.)
 

Attachments

  • cage.webp
    cage.webp
    36.9 KB · Views: 9
I don’t know if the ivermectin dose is dependent on weight...someone else can answer that.

The one thing I would say is that unfortunately their cage is too small for boars. They need at least 150x60cm, although bigger is always better. Is there any way you could expand it? And are there two hiding areas? piggies experience teenage months from 4-14 months of age. Boars need more space regardless of age, and lack of enough can be a Nail in the coffin of their relationship. So something for you to think about.
 
Markatavr said:
I can't find any bald patches so far though. But the scratching is definitely real! :/
Click to expand...

Which country are you in?

Please accept that we do not recommend any home treatment on spec - we have too often been confronted with the sorry results of it going wrong. Any skin parasites need vet grade ivermecting treatment; Gorgeous Guinea shampoo won't help with mites one bit.

If it is really mites, then you should see balding areas appear any day now; that is the time to have them vet checked.
 
It is actually 150x70, so its 10 cm longer on width. I have two of everything as well as an extra wooden floor( 30x40). You can't see those on the photo because did go to the vet as I said on the first post. I live in Faroe islands
 
It is actually 150x70, ( as i said a little bit over 140 plus its 10 cm longer on width. I have two of everything (fleece tunnels, hammocks as well as an extra wooden floor( 30x40). You can't see those on the photo because I was also just washing them on 60 degrees today and ive taken the extra wooden level out to de-mite it. I did go to the vet as I said on the first post, I live in Faroe islands.There is literally one vet clinic here and not an exotic one. She prescribed ivermectin without really checking them, she said it's probably mites when i told her I saw a bit of flaky skin/dundruff and scratching. The gorgeous guineas shampoo as i said, was something extra I was thinking of doing after the round of ivermectin they got prescribed.
 
Markatavr said:
It is actually 150x70, so its 10 cm longer on width. I have two of everything as well as an extra wooden floor( 30x40). You can't see those on the photo because did go to the vet as I said on the first post. I live in Faroe islands
Click to expand...

Could you please add your place to location in your account details (accessed by clicking on your username on the top bar) to make it appear with every post you make so we can tailor our advice to a non-standard location with limited vet access straight away with just a quick glance to the left and you do not get our default UK based advice. Thank you!

Here is our information on skin parasites and their treatment:
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites
 
Markatavr said:
Thank you, I did now and it should be showing.
Click to expand...

Thank you! We are following best practice in the UK, which is not to treat on spec and to seek a vet diagnosis whenever possible but we are aware that our members from other countries may not be able to do this and do not have easy vet access. The link I have given you contains the necessary information for the second case.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top