growth on my guinea pigs snout

Question
QUESTION: Recently I noticed a growth on my 2 yr old male guinea pig's snout,right above his mouth,right under his nose.He really doesn't have any other symptoms,he still has huge appetite,but still I am VERY worried about him. what do you think this could be & what should I do about it?

ANSWER: This is one of those questions that would be much easier if we had a picture. Is there a chance you could take one and send back to me? You don't describe whether this is a soft tissue or is it hard? The good new is that his appetite is the best indicator of how he feels. If his appetite is that good obviously whatever it is doesn't bother him, and may be something you don't need to do anything about.

Please, if you can send a picture and maybe we can get a better idea of what this growth is.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


picture   QUESTION: Sorry about that,I did send a pic,or at least I thought I did. I will try to resend it. As to whether it's hard or soft,it seems to be hard,he isn't exactly agreeable to letting us touch it,as I'm sure you can imagine. There is a bit of blood around it though.

Answer
Okay Josie, now I see the picture. It's a little hard to tell just what it is. I blew it up further but am still not able to see "a growth."  It looks a bit like a scab, and you say there is blood running around it. I wonder if maybe he just scratched himself with his rear toenails and cut his own lip, causing it to swell up?  

Whatever it is, I still think there's nothing to get greatly concerned with. If you can hold him for a second you might dab a little antibiotic ointment on it and see if that helps. Again, his appetite is crucial to his well being, and it sounds like he's feeling too good to have anything too serious at this point.