Skin Problems Possible ringworm

[Mamaoftwo]

I think the guinea pigs have ringworm. My daughter got it on her hand and I noticed the guinea pigs are scratching behind their ears and had some flakey spots and scabs around their ears and one of them by her eye. We are using ringworm cream on our daughter but I’m freaking out because I’ve read it’s very difficult to get rid of because the spores can last so long. We can’t afford to spend a bunch of money at the vet for them but I just don’t know what to do. We have only had them for a few weeks and I noticed the itching about a week ago. One also had a bald foot when we got her but I didn’t think much of it at the time. Please tell me your experiences! I can’t allow my kids to get this repeatedly and I’m really nervous. I also made all their fleece liners and am not sure now if I need to throw them away. I’m scared to wash them in our clothes washer now.

 

[bpatters]

It's not a disaster. You don't need to throw the fleece away -- just wash it in hot water with a little bleach and dry them in the dryer. And there are plenty of things that will treat ringworm, it just takes a while for all of the fungus to be killed.

However, I'm not convinced that it's ringworm. It sounds more like mites to me. Can you post a picture? Click the third icon from the right at the top of the Quick Reply box to insert one.

 

[Mamaoftwo]

Here are pictures of both guinea pigs. I hope this works! I had so much trouble uploading them.

 

[bpatters]

It's definitely not ringworm, but it probably is a fungus.

See this for treatments: https://www.guinealynx.info/fungus.html

 

[Mamaoftwo]

Thank you. Do you have any idea by looking at the pictures of what the best treatment would be? I actually was looking at that website this morning and picked up a clomitrazol cream. I was also looking online at the duravet pour on treatment for mites thinking perhaps I should treat them for both. I called our vet too and am waiting to hear back from him but I’d really prefer to do this myself because of how expensive the vet is.

 

[bpatters]

Any of the things recommended at GL will work.

For the mites, see https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/111160-How-to-treat-for-mites-and-lice

 

[Soecara]

You can use any of the creams listed on guinea lynx, just be extremely careful around the eyes. Also make sure to rub it in very well so they can't get any off while grooming and ingest it. You could also get one of the listed anti-fungal shampoos and use that on the body and only use cream on the face, but bathing them isn't a good idea if they do have mites as water drives the mites crazy.

Ideally I would get an ophthalmic cream for the area so close to the eye, but to get that you would need a vet visit.

It doesn't hurt to treat for both mites and fungus at the same time.