male guniea pig

Question
QUESTION: hi i have a male guinea pig that will be 2 months on the 15th and he is losing hair by his mouth you can see his skin.. what am i doing wrong or why is it happening

ANSWER: I'm afraid without a picture of him (as close but clear as you can get it) I can't really tell you what it may be.  There are a couple of things that might be causing it. When you describe it as only around the mouth my first thought is "what kind of fruits are you giving him?"

Acidic type fruits like oranges and apples can cause this irritation in and around the mouth, resulting in hair loss as you describe.  But again, without a picture it's impossible to say. It could also be fungal, hence the need for pictures.

If you do feed apples, oranges, grapefruits, peaches, etc. stop doing so. Give it a couple of weeks to see if the hair begins to regrow. If it looks worse then it's good indication it's fungal. In that case you need a vet to prescribe something for him.

I know you'd probably like a right now answer. I often have people who don't understand that although many many years of experience may give you answers most of the time, nothing is absolute. If you can help me by sending a picture I'm sure we can work this out.

In the meantime, cut any fruit goodies if you're giving them. Also, do you know what breed he is?  Does he have long hair or short? That's also a help in defining what's going on as some breeds go through a bit of a moulting stage when they're young.



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  QUESTION: is this picture good enough?

Answer
I know we've already discussed this on your previous post so I won't repeat it all now. I don't think this is any fungal infection. I still think it's related to the apples. But as I said previously, check the teeth to make sure.  If his teeth are not aligned properly it can cause drooling, but usually you see a wet chin that's green from pellets if that's the case.