Guinea pig question, mites?

Question

My guinea pig seems to be having problems with itching. When i get him out he very regularly scratches himself, he also uses his teeth to relief the itching.

I had a thorough look at his fur and his skin but i didn't see anything. He seems in discomfort when being petted.

Earlier today i had him out he ate his veggies perfectly well but when i touch him slightly he turns around almost aggresivly and starts scratching where i touched him. Im very confused because while being out he will make the same happy noise that my other pigs do and then he will suddenly change, today he showed me his teeth although i couldve mistaked this with yawning. So i put him back in his cage and he started popcorning. What could explain this behavior?

Answer 1

Hi I looked up some answers for you, seems they can be allergic to bedding or have mites, best to look up a vet in your area who deals with the cute little piggies! GOOD LUCK!  http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&...

Answer 2

Your pig could have some sort of skin condition, my friend's pig did and sadly died. My first two guinea-pigs came from not a very nice place and when we got them home we noticed they had mites. We asked a vet what to do and we got something to get rid of the mites.

Hope you find out what's wrong with your pig!

Answer 3

i would say he was maybe scratching because he had mites on him or he has a rash. you can bath a guineapig but don't wet his or her head . bath behind the neck no far then behind the neck and down.

Answer 4

Well, it sounds like mange mites to me...but is he losing hair? If he's losing hair (or starts losing hair soon) on his rump, that means it's mites. If he loses hair on his face, that means it's probably a fungal infection.

Fungal infections and mites often have the same symptoms...you just have to pay attention to where the hair falls out.

As to his odd behavior: I don't think he showed you his teeth, I've never heard of a piggy doing that when they're mad, I think he just yawned. And he makes the "happy noise" when he's out of his cage, probably because piggies have evolved to act happy even when they're in pain. It's because they're pray animals; they have to hide their weaknesses so that they don't get targeted by a predator.

The popcorning...I dunno, are you sure he's popcorning? Piggies with mites often do little twitchy 'dances' that kinda look like popcorning. If you're absolutely SURE he's popcorning, I guess it's because that's his personality....

If your piggy is a baby, or if it's over 5 years old, you should bring it to a vet immediately because very young/old piggies are weak against mites and it could kill them.

If it's a reasonably healthy adult piggy, I would still bring it to a vet, but it isn't as urgent because healthy adult piggies hardly ever die from mites.

Oh, and lastly, you should separate him from any other piggies you have. Mites AND fungal infections are contagious. Don't wait until you know for sure - separate him now.

Hope that helps!

Here's a great website about piggies:

http://www.guinealynx.info/

Answer 5

Take him to a vet, sometimes mites move in because the guinea is weak from an underlying illness, so it's best to get it checked out by a vet that knows about small animals. I've actually had guineas show me their teeth too, but usually only when something else was going on to make them feel out-of-sorts. Mites themselves are not that difficult to treat - (you put flea powder in a large plastic bag, and 'shake and bake' them - i.e. put piggy in with his head sticking out, and shake the powder over his body - Note do NOT do this without the advice of a vet - flea powders are toxins and need to be used within very specified amounts based on things like the size of your piggy - if you use the wrong amount you could really hurt him, and possibly miss an underlying cause of his symptoms).