guinea pig losing hair

[sparks19]

One of my guinea pig has two big bald patches. She is not scratching, the bald spots are not red, they aren't chapped or anything. it almost looks like she was shaved. it is smooth and light pink.

She is eating and drinking fine and her bowels are fine. she is not lethargic and her eyes are wide and bright.

She doesn't appear to be sick or to have anything wrong with her skin.

What could cause this?

[Jess's_mum]

The same things happened to my daughter's Guinea pig, she was almost completely bald on her belly, but seemed otherwise healthy. Our vet gave us some special shampoo to bathe her in twice over the course of a week and her hair grew back fine. :) Apparently this is fairly common in Guinea pigs. Good luck!

Louise xx

[sparks19]

OH OK thank you very much Jess's mum. We gave her a bath yesterday in some very mild handsoap. I will keep an eye on her.

[chrissycat21]

Check her skin for lice or mites. If this doesn't clear up soon, I would see a vet about it. My RB pig Taffy had the same thing and the bugs weren't visible on his skin unless you saw it through a microscope.

It doesn't sound like an allergic reaction, but what kind of bedding are you using? Wood shavings do sometimes carry mites or lice inside them, so she mights have gotten some sort of bug from there.

[sparks19]

Check her skin for lice or mites. If this doesn't clear up soon, I would see a vet about it. My RB pig Taffy had the same thing and the bugs weren't visible on his skin unless you saw it through a microscope.

It doesn't sound like an allergic reaction, but what kind of bedding are you using? Wood shavings do sometimes carry mites or lice inside them, so she mights have gotten some sort of bug from there.

ACTUALLY now that you mention it. We had to use a different kind of shaving this past week.

Our pet store was OUT of bedding except for aspen. We were going on vacation so I had to take it to change them right before we left. I don't think it sounds like an allergic reaction because she is not itchy at all. I am in the same room with her all day and very rarely does she scratch. Could the new shavings cause that? We are getting the usual pine shavings they like today and I will change it as soon as it gets here. I am going to call my vet and see what he says too.

[chrissycat21]

I'm not sure if she would be really itchy if it was an allergic reaction. Hopefully your vet can let you know when you talk to him!

BTW, are you using kiln dried pine shavings? If they aren't kiln dried they can give a piggy URI, and that brings along a whole new string of problems! (I'm pretty sure Kaytee brand is kiln dried, but it should say on the back if it is or not.)

Carefresh and Yesterday's News are supposed to be really good beddings. You also don't take the risk of getting bugs with them. I'm not sure how reasonably they are priced, though.