extra skin on front feet

Question
Hi there,

my 2 1/2 year old pig has a small peice of flesh attached to her front feet, kind of like a skin tag.  she doesn't walk funny, and the skin is dry, so i assume it has been there for a while.  Is this something I should get removed?  and is it a health concern for her?

thanks

Answer
Many guinea pigs get growths on the bottom of their feet, most often the fronts. It's a callus and is just dead skin. It's usually light tan in color. If you lift it up a bit you can see that it's not a wide spread large piece, it's just attached in one spot and spreads as it grows.

You can use toenail clippers to clip it off. It won't bleed, just make sure you're not too close to the healthy skin on the pads of her feet. Sometimes they grow back and sometimes they don't. It's just dead skin much like we get on the bottoms of our feet if we go barefoot a lot.

It's not a health concern, it's purely cosmetic. I have never been able to find a common denominator as to why some pigs get them and others don't. As you say, it doesn't bother the pig and they walk just fine. You should be able to remove them yourself so there's really no reason to go to a vet to have this done. It's an easy task. After you've done the first one you will relax and not feel uncomfortable doing it.