My guinea pig won't stop scratching. Could its bedding be the problem?

I would highly recommend taking baby to a vet for a good exam. Young guinea pigs can have skin mites like scabies and this needs to be addressed by a veterinarian. Certain skin mites can also be contagious to people so please monitor yourself for itching. Allergies, skin infections and fungal disease can also cause itchy skin. I hope that helps

This is probably due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

What a hard situation to try to handle while you are away from Frodo! The reason for the scratching may be any of the things you mentioned - an infection caused by bacteria or fungus, parasites, allergies, or another cause. Until you get home, you can recommend to the person who is watching him for you to make sure there is nothing in the environment that he could be reacting to - pine and cedar shavings can be irritating to the skin, and should be removed if present. Otherwise, it will be supportive care until you get back and can take him in to see a vet and get treatment. His appetite and activity should be monitored closely - getting a digital gram scale (found in the kitchen section on many department stores) is a good idea so he can be weighed daily to make sure he is not losing weight. Make sure his fecal pellets (poops) also continue to be normal in size, shape, and moisture content. If anything changes about any of these parameters, he needs to go to the vet before you get home.

Congratulations on your new guinea pigs! The most common cause of itching and dried skin in a new guinea pig would be mites (more common) or lice of the skin. Unfortunately you usually will not be able to see these with the naked eye and a vet will need to check your guinea pigs over and do a skin scrape to check for the parasites. In the US we most commonly use a product called Revolution to treat these parasites, but it is prescription only and also requires the guinea pigs to be accurately weighed to determine the safe dose. For these reasons, unfortunately, I would not recommend rubbing coconut oil on their skin. It could cause further irritation and delaying treatment could result in more expense if skin lesions appear and become infected.

Hi, he could have mites. I would suggest your ring your local vets to have him checked over and if anything else is excluded you could treat him with drops on the back of the neck for mites. Hope this helps !

Thanks for reaching out about Bo Linny. Coughing could be caused by multiple things but "dusty" bedding (such as wood products) or aromatic woods (cedar, redwood, pine) can cause respiratory irritation or inflammation, and therefore don't make to best bedding, especially if living directly on top. Recycled paper products seem to work the best, as being low dust and highly absorptive. Good luck.

It's not likely to be fleas (not common in guinea pigs and you would usually see them) , it's more likely to be mites, which are tiny creatures that you cannot see with the naked eye. you will need to buy a treatment against mites, you can find those at pet shops and veterinary clinics.