General Patches of hair missing? wrong shampoo?

Cheyenne Hall · Oct 13, 2014

Hi! I'm new here as of tonight, I've never owned a guinea pig until my friend offered me one. I'm glad I took one because in the end she turned out to be a careless owner (No surprise there, I wouldn't even consider her my friend but her boyfriend at the time was) and she was being not so careful and let the dog kill the other guinea pig. She had two and now I have the other. Truly sad. Poor guy.

Anyways, I'm so bad at this whole pet thing that I didn't even realize the one I got from her was male, we both assumed female. I never saw a penis and thought what I now know are balls to be just a big squishy...vagina. So I went and bought a mate from petsmart, and now I'm stuck with a male and female. They live in the same cage but with a divider, but he spends a lot of time trying to chew through to get to her. It's quite funny. I just hope that isn't stressing him out?

I do plan to get a bigger cage for them and maybe breed them later. She's just a baby though, and the male, Jiji (formerly known as Gigi) is fully grown now but isn't a year old even.

ANYWAYS, TO THE POINT,
I was told to use kitten shampoo to bathe them and to bathe them once a month, so I've been using Hartz kitten and cat shampoo.
I noticed some scratching after use but I assumed that's because the dogs had fleas, and so many they had fleas. Or maybe he was just itchy sometimes.
I kept trying to pull the fur apart to search for fleas, but never any luck because he squirmed so much. So I looked up if flea shampoo was safe for them and I was told it was okay. I used puppy flea shampoo, very little. That was last month, and just tonight, I was bathing them both, I finished with Kiki (the female) and then went to bathe Jiji. When I finished and was holding him, feeding him a carrot and drying him, I noticed patches of hair missing behind his ears. Two separate patches. They are also dark colored patches I'm guessing from irritation. Because since behind the ears is where I see him scratching.
I'm super scared and worried I'm doing everything wrong with them. I love them so much and I just want to be a good owner. I feed them hay and dry food, and veggies and fruits all day long, I take them out once a day if not more for playtime in my lap, and they even play around with our small dog. I don't wanna be using the wrong stuff to bathe them with or stressing them out. So please, please, help.

Um, also, Kiki doesn't bite me like Jiji tries to. I heard maybe it's just that teenager stage, or it could be because he's got mites?!

RuckusMom · Oct 13, 2014

I am professional groomer, and only going to comment on the shampoo portion of your post. I personally do not use any Hartz products, and wouldn't recommend them to my customers. I am a firm believer in more natural products. Each shampoo that I use has an ingredients list that is extremely easy to read, and often contains coconut oil, aloe, jojoba oil, cherry extract, etc... You can expect to find Earthbath, Tropiclean, Espree, and Kelco in my shampoo cabinet. Next I would not use any un-natural flea shampoo on any pets in my care. I find most flea shampoos have chemicals and pesticides, which I do not want on my pets or around my family. If you suspect fleas, and don't see any noticeable signs of flea debris, try using a flea comb to see if you can pick up any fleas or eggs off of them. If you do find fleas are causing the itching, you can use a dawn dish soap solution (1 part soap to 10 parts water) to wash the pigs. Make sure you change all of their bedding at the same time you bathe them, because there can be fleas and eggs in the bottom of the cage. Dawn dish soap is not a natural product, but most people have it on hand. It works wonders for both killing fleas and washing extremely oily pets, but I wouldn't recommend it as a permanent alternative to proper shampoo.
Best Wishes to you and your pigs, and I hope you find more answers!

Cheyenne Hall · Oct 13, 2014

RuckusMom said:
I am professional groomer, and only going to comment on the shampoo portion of your post. I personally do not use any Hartz products, and wouldn't recommend them to my customers. I am a firm believer in more natural products. Each shampoo that I use has an ingredients list that is extremely easy to read, and often contains coconut oil, aloe, jojoba oil, cherry extract, etc... You can expect to find Earthbath, Tropiclean, Espree, and Kelco in my shampoo cabinet. Next I would not use any un-natural flea shampoo on any pets in my care. I find most flea shampoos have chemicals and pesticides, which I do not want on my pets or around my family. If you suspect fleas, and don't see any noticeable signs of flea debris, try using a flea comb to see if you can pick up any fleas or eggs off of them. If you do find fleas are causing the itching, you can use a dawn dish soap solution (1 part soap to 10 parts water) to wash the pigs. Make sure you change all of their bedding at the same time you bathe them, because there can be fleas and eggs in the bottom of the cage. Dawn dish soap is not a natural product, but most people have it on hand. It works wonders for both killing fleas and washing extremely oily pets, but I wouldn't recommend it as a permanent alternative to proper shampoo.
Best Wishes to you and your pigs, and I hope you find more answers!

Thank you bunches! I'll keep all this in mind.

barbaramudge · Oct 13, 2014

I see you're very new. Please read this https://www.guinealynx.info/breeding.html before you think about breeding.

Cosmic · Oct 13, 2014

First off, please don't write in all bold. It gets quite annoying.

Bathing them hem once a month is too often, it dries out their skin. Plus it's very stressful for them. Only have about a centimeter or two of water in the tub or sink so they don't have to swim, and so they don't get water in their eyes (and near their face in general).

If the bald patches are right behind both ears and nowhere else on the body, those are normal. A majority of guinea pigs have bald spots behind their ears.

Take a look at the link barbaramudge posted about breeding. It is super stressful on the momma pig and also adds to the overpopulation of guinea pigs.

Cheyenne Hall · Oct 13, 2014

Cosmic said:
First off, please don't write in all bold. It gets quite annoying.

Bathing them hem once a month is too often, it dries out their skin. Plus it's very stressful for them. Only have about a centimeter or two of water in the tub or sink so they don't have to swim, and so they don't get water in their eyes (and near their face in general).

If the bald patches are right behind both ears and nowhere else on the body, those are normal. A majority of guinea pigs have bald spots behind their ears.

Take a look at the link barbaramudge posted about breeding. It is super stressful on the momma pig and also adds to the overpopulation of guinea pigs.

.. I'm really new here, I use bold so I can see what I'm saying and other people. It just...is better for me to read is all. Um.
I use very little water and such. How often should I bathe them then?

He never had the bald spots before though. :/

Cosmic · Oct 13, 2014

Sorry, I came off as a little rude. Maybe just making the first sentence in your posts bold, if that helps.

They don't really need baths unless they are particularly dirty. I personally wouldn't bathe them more than once or twice a year, though some people like to/need to more often. Even then I'd say no more than every three months. Long haired guineas may need butt baths, however.

Are you sure the bald spots weren't there before? Some people just don't notice. Anyways, I wouldn't know or a sure. Pictures would help.

So so sorry it took forever to reply. My ipod is so stupid. I had a more detailed post written and then my iPod froze probably ten times (though I used the Restore Auto-Saved Content button). Then eventually something happened and I couldn't restore it, so I wrote this. And then it froze another three times, and then another four times, just while writing this last paragraph. Sigh.

bpatters · Oct 13, 2014

Bald spots behind the ears are totally normal.

If you keep their skirts trimmed, you won't need to bathe very often. Guinea pigs are very clean animals. Rather than using dog or cat shampoo, which is too harsh for them, you need something made for pocket pets. Squeaky Clean is one readily available brand. Gorgeous Guineas has some great products, but you have to order online.

Ditto @barbaramudge about reading before deciding to breed. You're a new guinea pig owner, and admittedly don't know much about them. The mortality rate is very high for sows and pups, in no small part because the pups are HUGE in relation to the size of the sows. Guinea pigs are very inbred in this country, particularly those who come from large pet stores, and they're susceptible to genetic conditions that can cause lethal white syndrome -- the pups are born blind, deaf, with wonky and/or missing teeth, immature digestive systems, and other problems. If they survive, they require lifelong care.

Additionally, there are thousands of unwanted guinea pigs that need good homes. If nobody ever deliberately bred a guinea pig, the species would survive very well. There are plenty of accidental pregnancies that will keep them going.

Where People & Piggies Thrive

Newbie or Guinea Guru? Popcorn in!

General Patches of hair missing? wrong shampoo?

Cheyenne Hall

Member

RuckusMom

Member

Cheyenne Hall

Member

barbaramudge

Well-known Member

Cosmic

Well-known Member

Cheyenne Hall

Member

Cosmic

Well-known Member

bpatters

Moderator

Similar threads

Share this Page

Newest members

Online statistics

Key Resources

Members online