Hair Loss Causes of Self- Barbering

Why is your other piggy in a separate cage (female perhaps?)? Maybe getting your male neutered and putting them together could help, maybe he is just lonely and needs a playmate.

piggies DO barber themselves (or mostly other pigs) if they get bored. honestly it might just help by putting him together with another boy buddy

Some pigs barber themselves, some pigs barber other pigs, some pigs don't barber. You'd probably have to ask a pig why they do or don't -- I don't think anyone else knows. I wouldn't worry about the barbering per se.

Is your other pig male or female?

Pointy poops can mean too many veggies versus the amount of hay they eat. What exactly do you feed them every day, and how much?

Cancer? Seriously? Of all the things that can happen to pigs, leukemia and skin tumors would be at the absolute bottom of my list to worry about it. First of all, they're not common at all. Second, they don't usually happen to young pigs, but to much older ones. I think you should relax and enjoy your pig and stop worrying so much if you can.

The only thing that concerns me in the slightest about what you've written is the crackling noise when he's sleeping. My first question is, is this a qualified exotic vet, or a dog-and-cat one? Next, what is his weight doing? (You should be weighing him weekly and recording the weights, and weighing daily if they seem to be ill.) Third, is it possible for you to post a video of the sound?

My other guinea pig is much older (approx. 6 old) and a boar as well. I have two males!!! When I first brought Spunky home he had similar symptoms - a tiny bit of crust around his nose, a few sneezes. So, back in January I treated him for an URI. By the time all his symptoms were gone ... he had gone into puberty. I figured it would be best to put him with my older guinea pig once he was over adolescence. I was trying to avoid fights!! I don't have anything to weigh Spunky and the last time the vet weighed him he was two months old. A scale is on my to-buy list - I know it's important to weigh often (when you suspect your piggie is sick). But, yesterday my vet did weigh him and seemed happy with his current weight. And yes, my vet is a qualified "exotic" vet - she only deals with rabbits, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, etc. I I really don't have anything to record the sound - I don't have a video camera and my regular camera doesn't pick up on sound at all. Does anyone know if an I-pod touch can record video? Maybe it would pick up on the sound??? After After our visit to the vet, Spunky was so traumatized. He slept from the moment he got back into his cage until 9:30pm. It was like he was saying, "Leave me alone"!! So I did. It took him a couple of hours until he ate the veggies I left in his cage. But by after 9pm, he was asking for food again - so that was reassuring. Oh ya, and my vet said the same thing about his poops ... I think they are pointy just because he is eating less pellets (- maybe less hay too) I'm really not concerned with the poo anymore. My vet gave me some bena-bac to help with his poop. But I do still wonder about that strange sound I hear. I feed my piggies romaine lettuce, cherry tomato, baby carrot, kale (which both my piggies rejected this week, not sure why, looks fine to me!!!), raddichio, red lead lettuce, one red grape (occasionally), cucumber, endive, baby spinach leafs, and parsley. I did read that Texels have dryer skin than other piggies. Do you think his skin is dry and he is in pain so he is self-barbering? My concern comes from the fact that sometimes guinea pigs self-barber because they are in pain. Since my piggy seems really tired, well that's why I worry. But I will be watching him and waiting ... if there is any change I will bring him back to the vet for that chest- x-ray. For now I think I will just hope for the best!!

Helena29 said:

My other guinea pig is much older (approx. 6 old) and a boar as well. I have two males!!!

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Why are your pigs living separately if they are both males? Having a buddy can help alleviatea lot of things like boredom (which might be causing the barbering) and lonliness or stress.

he had gone into puberty. I figured it would be best to put him with my older guinea pig once he was over adolescence. I was trying to avoid fights!!

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It's a myth that males will fight if they live together. As long as the cage is large enough, they should be able to live peacefully. I've had 11 males over the past several years and I've never had a problem with pairing the males.

I don't have anything to weigh Spunky and the last time the vet weighed him he was two months old. A scale is on my to-buy list - I know it's important to weigh often (when you suspect your piggie is sick).

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Nope. It's important to weigh on a weekly basis, regardless of health. If you have a weekly weight for your pigs, you can easily see when a weight loss occurs. Just weighing them when they are sick just tells you their weight at the time. Weighing every week gives you a running account of weights so you can see dips and spikes in weight. Pigs are prey animals and will hide most symptoms. The one they cannot hide from you is weight loss.

Thanks for the prompt response CavyMama. My guinea pigs have been living separately because they both had health problems and I wanted to make sure they were both in the clear before introducing them. That, and I was debating buying a new guinea pig for Spunky - keep reading. In fact, I really thought my older one was a goner (was going to pass away) ... so I was also thinking about pairing Spunky with a very young piggie (a piggy who had not yet reached puberty) - but I wanted Spunky to be past adolescence to do that. I made these decisions based on my experience.

I too, had two boars together. I introduced Squeekie (he died this past October - Thanksgiving Day!! - I think he was trying to tell me to be grateful for the time we had together!!) to Mr. Pacman when Squeekie was about approx. two months old and Mr. Pacman was close to one years old. It was love at first sight. They never fought. It was a match made in heaven. In fact, if Mr. Pacman was self-barbering it would make perfect sense.

But it is Spunky who is self-barbering. So, yes, boars definitely can live very happily together. In fact, Mr. Pacman was so depressed when Squeekie past away he stopped eating - that and he was sick - but I prefer to think he missed Squeekie. Anyhow, because Mr. Pacman is old I'm concerned about putting him with Spunky. I'm afraid Spunky will fall in love with Mr. Pacman - Mr. Pacman will die and Spunky will be so sad he will stop eating and never be the same.

Besides the self-barbering I actually thought Spunky was a very cheerful fellow. He is very chatty. But maybe all that chattiness is him saying, "I need another guinea pig to talk to?" Maybe? Thinking of buying a young piggie for Spunky isn't really fair to Mr. Pacman. It isn't fair to leave Mr. Pacman all alone - even if he does seem perfectly content in his cage.Maybe the only solution is to put Mr. Pacman and Spunky together, and then buy a third piggy? Oy!! And you are absolutely correct about the scale/weighing thing ... I'm working on it.

New Neighbours and Hide and Go Seek (Piggie Introductions)

Yay, Spunky has a new neighbour!! So, I just put Mr. Pacman's cage next to Spunky's cage and it's hilarious. Spunky already went to the side of the cage to look for his new neighbour but they must be playing Hide & Go SEEK because they keep missing each other. One goes up on his hind legs looking for the other piggy, while the other piggy goes back down. So they keep missing each other. I better enjoy the quiet while I can because soon they will be eating the bars trying to get to each other which is so annoying!!

I've been so proud of Spunky for NOT eating the bars ... I've kinda been dreading the eating the bars part of putting my piggies together.

Question : Spunky was just wheeking really loudly for food. How did Mr. Pacman sleep through all that noise? Mr. Pacman was fast asleep while Spunky was wheeking so loudly. Is that normal???

UPDATE:Spunky is still confusing me. His bold spot looks a little red today while before I saw very healthy looking skin. There is no scab so I am just watching and hoping it does not get worse. My vet did say she could test for ringworm but she did not think it was ringworm because some of his fur was shorter (short fur is indicative of self-barbering) ... and up until today his fur was not red at all. She also said it takes three weeks to get results. I figure in three weeks - his fur and his general behaviour/health will tell all.

NEW PROBLEM : My other piggy pees ALOT so I use kiln dried pine bedding which is perfect for him. It's cheaper than Carefresh. But Spunky is a texel and I can't use wood bedding for him. For Spunky, I've mostly been using cut up blanket with a little bit of more expensive Carefresh and similar products to Carefresh (recycled newspaper ...) What do I do when I put them together? Even the Carefresh gets into Spunky's fur causing really bad knots. And I don't think the blanket will obsorb enough of Mr. Pacman's pee. Thanks for your feedback!!

Try using fleece with Uhaul pads beneath it. I changed to fleece two weeks ago and it is way better than Carefresh.

New Symptom - Strange jerky movement - heart issue???

So I just went to check on Spunky and I saw something I have never seen before. My guinea pig was wide awake, and he was jerking forward with every heart beat ... I think. It was like one breath, jerk forward, one breath jerk, then forward. For a second, I thought he needed to vomit!! (But I know piggies do not vomit) I'm not sure I can even describe what I just witnessed but it was not normal, not the way he normally breathes. It was like there was too much time in between breathes and his breathes were very obvious because he kinda jerked up/forward. I picked him up because I wanted to get a closer look, and I wanted to see if I could her anything but I'm not sure I heard anything. Possibly that crackly sound once or twice when his breathing returned to normal.

Have any of you witnessed a guinea pig jerk forward? I'm not positive it even had anything to do with his breathing. But I could see on both sides his heart beat ... I think he needs to go back to the vet for that chest x-ray. But before I make an appointment I want to rule out one thing. There is very loud construction going on in my building. Could he have just been scared? He is asking for food now, and I even saw him run so I do not know what to think. He isn't hunched over in a corner. He is moving around, asking for food. I'm so confused. What do I do?

He probably had something in his throat. Mine do that now and again when they're eating something.

You really don't need to panic over every new sound and action that they make. Just observe them and enjoy them. If something is wrong, you'll almost always recognize that as a real problem, not just something you may have read about.

There's a very old saying taught to first year medical students -- "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras." It's just a way of saying that almost every time, what you're seeing is normal and natural (in the case of guinea pigs, maybe not in hospitalized patients). You're going to worry yourself to death over these pigs, all for no good reason.

With all due respect bpatters, EVERY time I have actually brought my guinea pig to the vet there has been a REAL problem that did require medication. From an eye infection, to an URI, to pneumonia. This most recent health issue episode is the first time I left the vet without medication.

I'm referring to Spunky's bold spot and my determination to understand why he is eating his own fur. Self-barbering could have been mites, I can not diagnose that myself, and I did the RESPONSIBLE thing my taking my guinea pig to the vet so an expert could tell me what to do. Moreover, you do not have all the facts. I do have another guinea Mr. Pacman who is older and could have health issues that could affect Spunky. I took Mr. Pacman to the vet back in Dec/Jan because he had stopped eating - almost completely. He would not touch his pellets, and only ate his favorite veggies. The vet noticed a fast heart beat, and felt something that did not feel right to her. And she is the expert - not me.

I THINK she felt something swollen or something. Sorry, I don't remember exactly. The vet did recommend an x-ray for Mr. Pacman BUT because of his age and the cost I said no. I refused, which probably upsets many people in this forum - but it was my prerogative. I decided to treat the obvious and wait and see - if he did not get better then I would consider the x-ray. I did treat Mr. Pacman for an URI and for that blockage (I can't remember the name of the medication but his poo returned to normal). And Mr. Pacman has been fine up until recently.

I don't know how one guinea pig is affecting the other but I do know that something is going on again. Mr. Pacman is showing similar symptoms to what I saw in Dec/Jan ... He is very lethargic and making a clicking sound. However, his nose and eyes are fine. I did notice his fur separating ... It truly is hard to describe. And I'm going to leave it at that for now.

The point is, I use this forum to ASK questions and learn. The best STUDENTS are those that ASK and therefore learn. For example, when I saw orangy urine in Spunky's cage I did not RUSH to the vet. I took a photo, used this forum to ask IF it was something to be concerned about, LEARNED that certain foods can cause orangy urine and stopped worrying. Finally, my other guinea pig Squeekie made a similar sound to what I am hearing both Spunky and Mr. Pacman making now. About this time last year, I heard Spunky make a strange breathing sound for the very first time. I only heard it occasionally and wasn't sure if I was imagining it. So, I waited and waited. And I should NOT have waited so long. I first heard the sound last May and did not take Squeekie to the vet until the very beginning of July at which time it was pneumonia and my piggy had a 50% chance of survival.

Now, can you understand where I am coming from?

Helen you shouldn't get upset at Bpatters. You asked if you were being neurotic without providing all the information about the piggies. I would say in some of the matters you are worrying too much. I would also quit making them miserable and allow them to be with each other as soon as the vet says they are fine to be put together.

Well, lunarminx I am in the process of following my vets recommendations. For example, they used to be in separate rooms but now they are currently in the same room. Their cages are next to each other. But because of Spunky's missing fur and the crackly sound I am hearing from both of my piggies - I have not yet put them together to play. Important to add, that my vet did say I could allow them to play together but that I should keep them in separate cages so I can monitor how much they eat, drink, pee and poo. I'm not sure it is a good idea to put them together, but then have to separate them at night... What do you think? I thought I read that once you introduced piggies, they should stay together or you "upset the process" ... Thus my reasons for hesitating!! There is method to my madness.

I agree that thinking cancer was neurotic but everything else I have been concerned about falls under the category of being a responsible care-giver. Guinea Lynx says that hair loss is not normal ... so I feel that I was correct in taking my guinea pig to the vet for that. And the crackly sound is not constant, so it is completely possible that there is something wrong but my vet just didn't hear it during the visit because guinea pigs are PREY animals which means they hide their symptoms well.

Just follow the vet's recommendations and just clarify how long you need to monitor them before putting them together fulltime.

I just want to post something from Guinea Lynx to explain why I was neurotic about cancer/tumors, "Self Barbering: Other pigs (like the two pictured here) barber themselves. Evangeline's black and white cavy would have hair 3 to 4 inches long if it weren't for her tendency to trim her hair shorter. Barbering can also be triggered by pain or discomfort(gas, bloat, or other discomfort). Tumors have occasionally been found internally in the barbered location." When guinea pigs self-barber - do you they pull out their fur or do they eat their fur or both? I think my piggy is "shedding" because I found a significant amount of his fur in his cage, stuck to a blanket, attached to his poo, etc. I think I will follow my instinct and keep them separated until either Spunky's fur grows back and/or I hear no more crackly breathing sounds.

More hair loss - I don't know what to do!!!

My guinea pig seems to me losing more fur and I don't know what I should do!! Exactly one week ago today, I brought Spunky to see the vet, and my vets first comment was, "Well, that is unusual!!" What does it look like to you, fungus or just self-barbering? I took some new photos. I'm posting again because I am wondering if I should do introductions and let my piggies play together or if I should keep them in separate cages?? Of course, because I finally realized my ipod touch could record video with sound - I barely hear the crackly sound - which is a good sign. But of course, I will feel so much better when the fur grows back. Right now, it seems to slowly be getting worse!! What would you do if you were me? Keep them in separate cages next to each other or let them play together? They have gotten to be very chatty! I think they are going to me good friends, although I still think Spunky would prefer playing with someone his own age, with another piggy who has as much energy as him. Anyhow, I appreciate all advice!! Thanks!! PS - Sorry, if I didn't attach photos properly. I'm not sure what just happened!!

The picture is a little fuzzy, but that doesn't look like barbering to me. Barbering usually is just chopped off hair at different lengths, and not particularly close to the skin. When the hair is gone from the skin, if the pig isn't digging at itself scratching, I'd think fungus. Some fungi can be itchy, but not usually as much as mites.

Self- Barbering or fungus or something else entirely?

The one thing I don't understand about a fungus diagnosis is that back in February Spunky lost fur, and then it grew back on it's own. For close to two months, Spunky had beautiful perfect fur and he seemed totally fine. Is losing fur, and then it re-growing (growing back, returning to normal) consistent with a fungus diagnosis? Could it be bacterial as well? Is fungus deadly? I know mites are.