Keeping Cool: Heat Rash? Chafing?

[MissFormosa]

Can piggies get heat rash/prickly heat/chafing??

I noticed Alton, who is slightly overweight at 2 lbs, 15 oz, has what looks like heat rash on his sac and right near his nipples. It doesn't look serious and he doesn't too seem bothered. The area did lose some hair. There is nothing else like this on his body.

There is a little scratch in the area, but I can't tell if he did that or if Carlton or something in his cage scratched him a little.

Here's what it looks like (please note - these were taken right before cleaning, so he is a little mucky):

[NicholsS10]

It almost looks like something that happened to my boy, Bodie. A week after his neuter, the place where is left testicle use to be swelled up to the size of a ping pong ball (I took him in right away, and eventually got everything fixed). He was housed on the softest, and most plush towels I could find, and he didn't move much, but it became red, and raw looking. When I showed the vet, he told me that it was probably due to him "dragging" it around, which made sense, so basically it was chaffing (and it was MUCH WORSE on my boy). He had this problem until he had a second surgery to open up and drain out what ending up being a concentrated infection. So, while it was all swollen, the vet suggest that I gently rub a little vasline on it a few times a day. It didn't seem to hurt him, and it DID help somewhat, but he only had this problem for about a week (until he went back under the knife).

That's MY experience with chaffing on guinea pigs. Whether or not that is what is going on with Alton, I'm not sure, only an experienced guinea pig vet can tell you that.

Does it feel warmer to the touch than the other areas around it? My boy's was warmer to the touch there than on the side without the swelling.

[MissFormosa]

No, it doesn’t feel any different or warmer.
Alton does drag quite a bit. I guess since he is boss pig, he needs to make sure the cage is covered in stink.
I’ll try the Vaseline and see if it improves in a few days.
He also is on some plush fleece.

[Ly&Pigs]

Does he tend to lay in areas where he's urinated? It kinda looks like urine scald to me. I had a sow that did that and she got urine scald pretty bad at one point.

[MissFormosa]

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

Does he tend to lay in areas where he's urinated? It kinda looks like urine scald to me. I had a sow that did that and she got urine scald pretty bad at one point.

No, not that I know of, although I work during the week. Who knows what goes on while we are at work.

We use fleece with hospital underpads, which we change daily (the underpads, not the fleece...we change the fleece every 3 or 4 days). It doesn't seem wet on the surface.

But the urine scald definitely makes perfect sense. Hmmm...

We have little pillows in there that he likes to lounge on. Actually, I had to take them out yesterday because he kept humping them, but they are usually in there. We also put some of those ice packs (the type in the hard plastic rubbermaid container, not in plastic bag like container) in little fabric sleeves and set those in there to give them something cool. He is obsessed with laying on them also. Maybe there is urine on those that is irritating him. I didn't notice any, but I'm going to check as soon as I get home!