Help guinea pig fleas easy ten points...help please?

Question

i dont know if this is fleas or dry skin but he is always iching and it scares the c**p out of me because when he iches he falls over on his back and i read somewhere that if a guinea pig is on his back to long his heart will stop and he will die....anyways hes losing his hair and we try to give him flea baths but he just hates them and i dont no if its an allergic reaction or something to the soap....is it okay to use cat and dog shampoo...when we got them the ladie gave use all the stuff like the soap but i dont think its from the soap because the other on doesnt do this.......please help!?!?

Answer 1

It's DEFINANTLY not ok to use dog shampoo. Cat shampoo is a little better but it's still better to just get guinea pig shampoo. See a vet also.

Answer 2

this is NOT an easy ten points (unless tyou give me the ten points :))

Answer 3

Flea baths will not help and can actually make things worse. The over the counter sprays and shampoos are toxic and useless.

Here http://www.guinealynx.info/hairloss.html

You need to find ivermectin and treat him for mites asap.  

Answer 4

Peppermint soap that we use is great for fleas. You can get it in the organic section of the grocery store.

Answer 5

go to the vet and tell whats happening

Answer 6

If its fleas use baking soda.

Get a little and sprinkle some all over him but away from the face and brush him.

And there are things made for guinea pigs.

And if you give them to many baths that will dries out the skin which will make him Itch even more.  

Answer 7

I agree -- this is not an easy ten points, or an easy questions.

Here are some of the more common reasons for itching and skin conditions in small rodents.

1) Allergic reaction to pine or cedar shavings.  Switch to recycled paper.

2) Ringworm.  Gotta see a vet for this one.

3) Mites.  Tick treatments will work for mites also.

4) Lice!  Yes, gross as it is, it's easy to clear up with one of the products for humans and a good cleaning of the cage.

5) Dry skin.  Try adding a small amount of an omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acid supplement to his food.

6) Fleas.  You can quickly find out if it's fleas by combing him with a flea come and looking for fleas or flea dirt.  Is he your only pet and kept indoors?  If so, it's not likely fleas.  If your other animals have fleas, well, that's a different story.

7) Over-bathing him could be exchanging one itchy problem for another.  You get rid of the fleas, but get dry skin instead.  Maybe a powder or spray would work better for fleas.

Try this link and scroll all the way to the bottom for "itchiness"

http://www.provet.co.uk/Guinea%20pigs/gu...

Here's another

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?...