Skin Problems Is this a Fungal Infection or Mites? Ongoing Issue and Just Need Advice.

[AllyLeeS]

Hello. My female guinea pig Stella has had a skin issue for some time now. I got her very young at Petco - yes, not too smart I know - and it has been a few years now - not sure of her exact age. I will be honest, this skin issue has been an issue for quite some time now. It has stayed contained to her rump area for the most part and has not spread or gotten worse I do not think. I watch her regularly and do not see any twitching/seizures, but the occasional reaching back and nipping at something. Also, when I do bathe her or sift through the fur around the infected area she either yelps or gets extremely agitated and starts biting whatever is near her (usually a towel or carpet, etc.). The fur that does come out (it is not coming out too easily) has dead skin at the ends of it. The infected area has these dead pieces of skin too as you can see in the pictures. Her rump area is just kind of patchy. There is also a small pink spot with no fur in the middle back of her rump area that used to have this yellow crust on it. I have posted pictures of the infection area - I think it is either fungal or mites but not sure which one? How can I treat this safely at home?

I also believe I need to start buying new hay for her and I will admit I do buy my things from Walmart (usually the food, hay and the bedding is a mixture of the paper products and kiln dried aspen).


If you need any more information/better pictures, please let me know. I greatly appreciate the help!

 

[bpatters]

I can't tell from the pictures where that lesion is. If it's on her side, it could possibly be ovarian cysts. But that's not likely if it's only on one side.

If she's scratching or biting at it, I'd start with treating for mites. The instructions are in the medical and veterinary forum, by the way: https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/111160-How-to-treat-for-mites-and-lice

Otherwise, I'd treat it as a fungal infection: https://www.guinealynx.info/fungus.html