warts

Question
Hello my guinea pigs name is tuff and she keeps getting this wart looking thing on her hand. She's only a year old. I had one time by mistake took it off but she bleeds like crazy. And it grows back. When it gets to big for her she chews it off. I would like to know if there's anything I can do to HELP her. I don't know if its causing pain or not. Please help me. And let me k.ow if this is common within her family.

Answer
If you are speaking of a growth on the bottom of her feet (especially the fronts) yes  that's a common thing on some cavies. It's not a wart, it's a callous. Warts have a blood supply, callouses do not. They tend to grow primarily on the bottom of the front feet. They are easy to remove but you need to be careful.

Don't try to pull it off. You can use a pair of small toenail scissors. Carefully lift it up so you can see where the bottom of it is. Cut just above the bottom, being careful not to cut into the pad of her foot. If you cut the foot pad it will bleed as you've already found out. That's why it's important that you identify where it starts.

These callouses are typically flattened out and when you lift it a little you can see where it starts. That's where you're going to trim, being sure you're only cutting the rough callous. They are just dead skin and will not bleed or hurt to cut it off unless you hit the actually foot pad. They don't hurt the pig in any way and if you don't want to cut them off it won't hurt her to live with them.

We don't really now where they come from and not all pigs will get them. It's just one of those quirky things.