Our Latest Surrender 'Joseph '

On the 14th December we received a call from a member of the public who had just rescued a baby guinea pig from a local petshop. This is our second baby guinea pig rescued from a petshop in a month. The Petshop told the lady that the guinea pig was quote ' born like this ' and that their was nothing wrong with him even though the member from the public spoke with the owners and mentioned their was and what it would be. Petshop staff having minimal knowledge of small animals is not uncommon which is one reason ACS don't support the selling of live animals in petshops. We believe staff should have the qualifications in animals and their care that is needed to maintain and look after them correctly and to know the signs and symptoms of disease not only for the animals health and welfare but for the members of the public that end up buying the animals as they will only leave with incorrect or no information about their chosen pet or they can often leave with a new pet that has underlying health problems.

Joseph is 5 weeks old and has a large patch of hairloss the size of a 5cent piece spread across his face. The patch is scaly with white flakiness. The condition is ' Ringworm' a highly contagious fungal condition which can spread rapidly in patches across a guinea pigs body if left untreated. Basically if Joseph had been left for sale in the petshop he not only would've become more unwell himself but fungal spores would have spread to his other guinea pig roommates and throughout the bedding and enclosure. Fungal spores probably have remained in the enclosure and sadly unless the enclosure is sterilised and the other guinea pigs are treated with a wash then they may as well develop the ringworm.

Once the petshop staff were spoken to by the member from the public they were reluctant to sell the baby guinea pig although also didn't believe he needed treatment for his condition so the member of the public persisted and was finally able to purchase Joseph and he was then passed on to ACS for treatment.

For further information on fungal conditions in guinea pigs please visit the following page from the ACS Website FUNGAL INFECTIONS.

Guinea pigs can be more prone to fungal infections during the summer months due to high humidity levels combined with the summer heat.

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