guinea pig not herself

Question
Hi, I rescued a very sweet guinea pig female with long hair approx. 5 months ago from a school classroom. She was beautiful when we got her and appeared healthy just nervous as to be expected from school. I read all the stuff on feeding and diet and I allow her out to play and run each evening. She has adapted well and seemed content. Now the bad part- she recently has been loosing a lot of hair and scratching more than she was,(which she always scratched some) but I noticed tonight she does have some scaly skin and the part in her hair which has become quite evident now appears red. She does not want to be touched as much and does not seem as happy. I first thought mites as I have read about but then remembered that a few weeks ago I did bathe her. AND I guess I wonder if possibly this is her problem as I did use a very special mild dog shampoo AND then used a couple squirts of MY own leave in detangler conditioner which was very expensive on her. Do you think this is the whole problem and if so, should I just bathe her again in plain warm water and what do I do about the dry red skin in your opinion? Any oils I can maybe purchase? I hope I do not have to make a vet visit as our exotic vets here are quite expensive, however I will if I do not get results. PLEASE write back and let me know what you think and how to maybe remedy this problem. (Also she had always used paper shreds only for bedding but lately I have added underneath that a lite layer of special "cozy critters super shavin's" that advertised is made of soft and natural wood shavings and screened to reduce dust and other stuff not good for them made from special blend of white shavings. I just started that though and doubt that is it. Her hair is all over her cage and she has lost so much mid way her back half on top only that I really notice. Please give your opinion, but I think I really did it with the shampoo and detangler. I feel SO bad. She is so sweet. thanks for your help, Tammy

Answer
Hi Tammy,

It definitely sounds like she has mites to me! The dog shampoo will either have been too strong a dose and caused the redness, or simply not made a difference. Human shampoo (other than mild baby shampoo) should not be used on guinea pigs. Try not to feel too bad; you didn't know!

Head to www.gorgeousguineas.com and get yourself a trial-size bottle of Lice and Easy. This is gentle on your piggy's skin and smells lovely. Not to mention I find it to be much more effective than insecticidal shampoos! Wash her with this twice; massging it in and leaving it on her (wrap her in a towel) for three minutes to get to work before rinsing. Make sure she's thoroughly dry before putting her back in her cage; towel-dry and then finish off with a hairdryer if she'll let you.

If her condition is advanced, you may need to take her to the vets for an injection. If she feels hot to the touch, take her straight there as it is an indication that she has mange which you cannot treat at home and which is eventually fatal. You will notice straight away whether the shampoo has worked as she will scratch less, and you should see the mites wash off. In time, her bald patches will heal over.

Hope this helps and if you have any other questions; just ask!

Jenny.