hair peeling off!

Question
Aloha from Hawaii!
 My daughter's male guinea pig is losing its hair and
it looks as if you could just peel it off.  This fella lives
in his own cage, so it is not a barbering type of hair
loss. It really looks like it is peeling off.  I have not
attempted to brush him or pull it off; that seems
like it could hurt him.
 HIs appetite is fine, he runs around just like always
but he doesnt seem to be drinking as much as usual.
I totally cleaned his water supply this morning just
to make sure that wasnt the problem.
 He eats guinea pig pellets, romaine, spinach, celery
apples and all the Thomas Hay I give him each day.
 Do you have any idea what could be causing this
hair problem?  It looks as if it may effect his whole back
but I have not attempted to over handle him because
I do not want to stress him any further.  My daughter is
away on a trip and I am worried about her piggy.
 Thank you for your help!
 Teri

Answer
Teri,

Greetings from the Mainland! :)

It seems to me that your guinea pig is being very well taken care of, so I'm ruling out the possibility that the hair loss is caused by any sort of nutritional deficiency. Other than that, the usual cause of hair loss in guinea pigs is one of a few things: lice, ticks, or ringworm.

If the guinea pig lives outside, the likelihood of contracting these is much greater. However, I have had indoor pigs get them. It is OK for you to handle the guinea pig, just be gentle with him. Look through the hair for small white eggs and small brown parasites - this is a sign of lice. Ticks will look very similar but are more likely to hop around. You may also find little clots, similar to when ticks burrow under the skin of humans. Finally, the last option I can think of is ringworm. In order to treat this, you will need to buy a specially formulated cream at the pet store.

Do NOT attempt to pull out the hair further, and try to keep your pig from scratching at it and pulling it out. This may prevent the hair from ever growing back. Since I cannot physically see the guinea pig, I recommend a good veterinarian to have a look at him. He can diagnose and prescribe a solution much better than I can.

Good luck, Teri!

-Matt