Hair Loss Guinea pigs missing hair??

[Elena]

Okay so i did make a mistake of buying my two guinea pig boys from a local pet store but they did come from licensed breeders. When i brought them home i noticed behind CeeLo's ear he was missing hair like a patch behind both and it was very dark and like dry dark skin. My other guinea pig Charlie is getting it behind one of his ears so i don't think its like from them fighting with other guinea pigs before i got them. They are both about 5 months old. I have noticed they do like itch behind there ears or somewhere else so im also thinking it would be like mites or lice or something.

 

[foggycreekcavy]

Many guinea pigs do have bald patches right behind their ears. However, the one in the picture looks like a bite wound. How large is your cage? How large is the cage they were kept in? Young males especially need lots of room, or they will fight and injure themselves, sometimes severely.

 

[MySpottedFrog7]

I'm with foggycreekcavy on this one. One of my boys has bald spots behind his ear as well but its totally normal. However, the second picture you showed looks like it could be a bite wound of some sort. Also, the bald spots are usually really dry like you describe. I'm wondering if there could be a problem and would recommend seeing a vet to make sure everything is ok. With pigs, sometimes little things can become big problems in no time so its best to see if its an issue now. Hopefully its nothing.

 

[CavyMama]

That's normal. Most pigs have a bald patch behind each ear.

 

[nicoleb]

When we got our first guinea pig, unfortunately from a pet store before I had learned from this site, he ended up having ear mites. The vet was surprised I knew that was it when we got there, but I had done a LOT of research the night before, both here and on guinelynx