If you haven't already read up about guinea pig's skin problems, PLEASE do so before you get caught out. There is lots of information on www.gorgeousguineas.com as well as products designed to prevent & treat fungal skin.

Below: 6 year old Leo had severe fungal problems that claimed his life.
There are 5 simple things you can do in order to help PREVENT skin problems happening in the first place:

1. SHAMPOO your guinea pig every month with Gorgeous Guineas shampoo. See our bathing & grooming page for details.

2. WORM your guinea every 3 months. Most vets don't do this, but if you join the CCT, consultations, worming, nail clipping and teeth are done for free as part of the membership (just £20 per year).

3. BEDDING - never use shavings / sawdust for your guineas. Not only can they cause respiratory problems, but they are very absorbent and take out the natural oils from your guinea's skin and can cause major skin problems. What can you use instead? Megazorb, Vetbed, Dengie MediBed (short chopped, medicated straw). or even a thick layer of newspaper with lots of nice fresh meadow hay.

4. HYGIENE - cages need to be cleaned out and thoroughly disinfected (using DETTOL) at least every 3 days. If you can't do this, then maybe you have too many guineas.... This is particularly important in the spring / summer when everything is growing really fast - including fungal spores.

5. CHECKS – Check your guineas for dandruff, greasy coat & hairloss reguilarly. Visit the gorgeous guineas site for more detailed advice on diagnosis of fungal problems. Remember most vets are no good when it comes to diagnosis & treatment of fungal problems in guinea pigs. So its down to you. Check sides of mouth for signs of internal fungal.

left: A close up of a piggy suffering with fungal skin.
Fungal spores are everywhere - in the air, in your hay, on your grass, on your cages, on you hands, on your clothes etc etc. If you follow the 5 steps above, you will go a long way to helping to prevent your guineas from fungal problems! Remember fungal problems can be really nasty & if they become systemic they may even claim the life of your pig. Please heed this advice & protect your pigs & in the event of a fungal problem, treat it promptly before it gets more serious using Gorgeous guineas oil soaks.

Mites

The second type of skin problem is paracite infestation. Little critters that live & feed on our poor pet piggys. These can be crawling or still mites. You may notice exessive scaratching, Or dark fleck like debris in the coat. You treat this with Prioderm cream head lice treatment (for human so available at chemists) but again regular shampooing can prevent this & the gorgeous guineas website has more detailed information on diagnosis & treatment of paracytic skin complaints.

Last of all just remember that most vets are not clued up about diagnosing fungal skin conditions. They often perform unneccisary, painful precedures such as injections of ivermectin & skin scrapes. For this reason, by all means take your piggy to a vet but ensure you consult a rodent specialist firt. The gorgeous guineas website (linked left) is a great place to start. Contact Chrisie for advice.