my pregnant guinea

Question
My guinea pig had two adorable babies this morning, and then kept pushing all her intestines out.  I had to take her to the vet and have her put to sleep.  It was just awful. I really was afraid she was too young. I found a female in town who has 2 wk old babies and is still nursing them.  We took the babies to her to see if she will take them in.  Have you ever heard of one mom "adopting" another's babies? I have no idea if it will work, but I couldn't have my 6 yr old daughter watch them fade away too after this whole ordeal.  I told you I would keep you posted, so there's the bad news.  Here is my new question.  When I was holding the other female today, I noticed that she had what looks like a rash on her tummy.  One spot looks a bit like an infected pimple.  I started feeling under all her hair and her skin is pretty dry and flaky in spots.  I have noticed her scratching just a little bit in the last day or two.  Is this something I can treat over-the-counter, or do I need to make yet another expensive vet visit for these "easy and inexpensive" Christmas presents!?  I read all I could on mites, fungus, etc., but nothing sounded the same.  She was also doing some weird kindof "jumping" around while she was exploring.  She would be walking around fine and then just kindof flip out for just a second, then go on as normal.  Yesterday was the first time I noticed this.  I thought it might just be something to do with the other guinea's stressful situation.  I hope they aren't mini seizures.  What do you think of all this?  I would appreciate any advice before I have another tragic outcome.  Thanks so much for your time.  Joy  

Answer
Oh yes, guinea pigs are known for that, they will take in another baby in a heart beat. But you must be careful, if there are more than 4 babies being nursed, she may not be able to keep her milk up with the demand, and not produce enough for all the babies, and this results in th fatality to the weaker ones. Other than that, she should take them in.That "freak out" is called popcorning. Guinea pigs do this to express a burst of excitment. This is a good sign that they are happy! It is VERY normal. As far as the rash goes, I would take her to a petsmart or petco and ask the people there if they have any recommeneded shampoo, like maybe a moisterizing shqmpoo, and just find out what they think. This is a free way for advice. If this dosent work, all I can say is back to the vet, sorry. All I would do for now is keep it clean. Good luck! Let me know whatever else I can do!