Gunea pig itchy skin

Question
We gave all my guinea pigs baths with a natural pet shampoo, but that
only slightly helped my guinea pigs' skin problems. Each of my guinea
pigs has a small itchy spot on their back, in the same spot on every pig.
On at least two of my five guinea pigs the itchy spot has begun balding
slightly. What can I do to help them???

Answer
I am not sure about it being the same spots. There are many things that can be the culprit. Including mites, ringworm, and even allergies to the bedding. If you see the spot is like a circle completely bald then you are looking at ring worm. This can be treated with an anti-fungal medicine you can get either at a vet or the local pet store. If you see what appears to be white flakes in the hair and the balding spot is inflamed then you are looking more like mites. This is something that you can treat it at home with Ivermectin. This takes 7-10 days of treatment but is easy and is just applied to the back of the ear. You can also give neosporin to the area of the sore if it is infected. Another reason that can cause itching is if you are using a ceder bedding. It is recommended that you use carefresh or aspen. Ceder has oils in the material that can cause irritability to the skin, it is unusual that they each have the same spot and I cannot explain this. If you are unsure of exactly what you may be dealing with after all your research your best bet is take them to a vet. Make sure that they know about guinea pigs and are not going to take you for all your money. I should be under $50 for all the guinea pigs to be seen plus medicine if they are good vets. Here are some websites that may help you:

http://www.guinealynx.info/hairloss.html

http://www.freewebs.com/aaguineapigs/health.html

http://www.simplepetcare.com/pet-diseases/8/GUINEA-PIG/


IMAGES:
1st image is ring worm
http://s2.hubimg.com/u/2564881_f260.jpg

2nd image is mites
http://www.cottontails-rescue.org.uk/images/gen_gp_bald_patch_websize.jpg