female guinea pig concern

Question
Hello. I have three female guinea pigs. The two older cagemates, Bailey and Oreo, are two years old, purchased at the same time. The younger female, S'more, is one year old and has been with the other two for almost a year. Oreo is definitely the dominate female, occasionally mounting the other two, but they seem to be getting along fine. My concern is with S'more. A few months ago, I noticed that she had some hair loss on her back rump. After a few days, it grew back. I also noticed that Oreo had nipped at her a few times. A few days ago, a LARGE amount of hair was missing from S'mores back, two stripped sections along her back, about three inches long, half an inch wide. I have her separated from the others. I cannot see any parasites/mites and others are fine. My first thought is that there was an argument at night as this happened very quickly!  I am concerned in returning her to the larger cage with the others. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Answer
Hello La Rae,

It sounds very much like S'more is being barbered. Barbering is one of the many ways piggies show dominance. Either the dominant pig will chew the hair off of another pig, pretty much giving them a very close crew cut or more aggressive dominant pigs will rip the hair out by the roots. Barbering itsself really isn't physically dangerous (except for the possible "hairball" blockage), however, if the piggy's hair is being ripped out by the roots, it is painful and is pretty much a form of piggy torture and it is very stressful to the less dominant pig. A number of emotional troubles can arise if she is constantly being barbered this way that all pretty much boil down to a constant fear of pain. She may spend most of her time hiding and scream in fear whenever anyone touches her. No piggy should have to live this way and it would be best to separate them. If she's just chewing off the hair (you can tell because there will be very short fuzzy patches instead of complete baldness), you can leave them together if you want but you will probably have a bald piggy and you *may* have to deal with blockage in the dominant pig. Even with the painless barbering though, if it is frequent, they should be separated because the risk of hair blockages increases the more hair that's consumed. Another possiblity is, as you suspect it could have also been the result of a scuffle. If S'more doesn't have any actual wounds (blood) and they are getting along ok now, they can still stay together. However, if they start bickering alot or if you do find wounds, they need to be separated, most likely for good. I don't believe it's parasites or a health issue, but if they are separated and the hair doesn't grow back or the baldness spreads, see a vet. Good luck.

-kkat
www.geocities.com/abyssinianguineapigs