Hello, everyone! Some backstory on my piggies' medical history... I adopted Rosie and Raisin together a few months ago. They were healthy. I adopted Luna two weeks ago and waited 5 days before introducing for some supervised bonding/sniffing. Luna remained separated in her own cage and continues to live alone. In hindsight, I realized that 5 days is insufficient time to determine the health of a pig; I know better now. Around 1 week in, I realized that Luna had a developing sore on the top of her foot. Her feet were already rough to begin with and I bathed her the day before to wash the dried poop off her rear. Since the sore looked bad, I brought her to the vet, who diagnosed her with potential ringworm and gave me 1% clotrimazole. Luna's foot has improved greatly after being treated for the past week; it is no longer splotchy and looks like a simple bald spot now.
A couple of days ago, I noticed that Rosie seemed to be scratching more than usual. She has no hair loss. I thoroughly inspected her and noticed that a small part of her ear seemed flaky, reminiscent of a minor fungal infection a previous guinea pig of mine had. I have been using Luna's medication to treat her ear. While too soon for any changes to be noticeable, the ear has not worsened at all, and it does not appear to bother her. She mainly scratches/bites at her sides, yet when I play with her she does not indicate that any of these areas hurt. I had bought Ivermectin previously, just in case. Would the scratching warrant a treatment? I only suspect mites due to the scratching; she does not seem to be in pain otherwise. All three of my piggies have had consistent weights the past 2 weeks.
The other strange thing is a mark on her stomach that I had not noticed before. Admittedly, I did not analyze the part of hair between her belly that closely, and the lump that I found was very small. It feels like an old scab and does not hurt her, but given her scratching, I am particularly paranoid.
Is the lump on her stomach a belly button or something else? I have seen similar pictures on the forums and some looked different (especially in the case of skinnies) while others were similar, but it appears that guinea pig belly buttons are very diverse. I figured that I would ask just in case as I have never noticed belly buttons on my previous piggies. I attached a picture; apologies for my dirty nail, I noticed it right after the picture!
Thank you for any help and for reading my many long, worried words.
A couple of days ago, I noticed that Rosie seemed to be scratching more than usual. She has no hair loss. I thoroughly inspected her and noticed that a small part of her ear seemed flaky, reminiscent of a minor fungal infection a previous guinea pig of mine had. I have been using Luna's medication to treat her ear. While too soon for any changes to be noticeable, the ear has not worsened at all, and it does not appear to bother her. She mainly scratches/bites at her sides, yet when I play with her she does not indicate that any of these areas hurt. I had bought Ivermectin previously, just in case. Would the scratching warrant a treatment? I only suspect mites due to the scratching; she does not seem to be in pain otherwise. All three of my piggies have had consistent weights the past 2 weeks.
The other strange thing is a mark on her stomach that I had not noticed before. Admittedly, I did not analyze the part of hair between her belly that closely, and the lump that I found was very small. It feels like an old scab and does not hurt her, but given her scratching, I am particularly paranoid.
Is the lump on her stomach a belly button or something else? I have seen similar pictures on the forums and some looked different (especially in the case of skinnies) while others were similar, but it appears that guinea pig belly buttons are very diverse. I figured that I would ask just in case as I have never noticed belly buttons on my previous piggies. I attached a picture; apologies for my dirty nail, I noticed it right after the picture!
Thank you for any help and for reading my many long, worried words.