• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

2 questions : mites and fighting

Status
Not open for further replies.
poco and figgys' mummy

poco and figgys' mummy

Joined
Jul 11, 2009
Messages
319
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
France
Hi everyone, I'm new here, please be nice!:)
Firstly, I have had poco and figgy for about 2 years, but recently I was checking their skin and I realised they have little white bugs crawling on their skin! We do wash them regularly but the bugs won't go away. Is this mites? What should I do?:{

Secondly, lately poco has been biting and mounting figgy! this makes him squeal and I keep having to get figgy out so that poco won't hurt him. Does anyone know what brought on the sudden change of character in poco? They were best friends before! What can I do?:{
 
Welcome to the forum. :)

It can take a while for people to get on here, and it is much quieter at weekends; someone will get back to you but it can take a few hours!

The mounting is dominance behaviour. If this is the only problem between them then they are actually doing pretty well. How large is their cage? Provided they have plenty of space to escape each other should they wish to, they should continue get on fairly well now that they are past the most hormonal stage.

The white bugs sound like lice. Mites are microscopic, so cannot be seen as lice can. Lice need treating with a short course of baths. Lice 'n' Easy shampoo - by Gorgeous Guineas (www.gorgeousguineas.com) - is one of the best treatments. The instructions are included with the shampoo, I believe it is one bath once a week for 2-3 weeks. Wash and rinse, then wash and allow the lather to soak in for 5-10 minutes before rinsing and drying the pig. Lice 'n' Easy contains conditioner which will help prevent the lice gripping onto the hair, or you can apply a separate conditioner after shampooing. A comb through with a human nit comb is also beneficial while the shampoo is soaking in.
 
CCC4 said:
Welcome to the forum. :)

It can take a while for people to get on here, and it is much quieter at weekends; someone will get back to you but it can take a few hours!

The mounting is dominance behaviour. If this is the only problem between them then they are actually doing pretty well. How large is their cage? Provided they have plenty of space to escape each other should they wish to, they should continue get on fairly well now that they are past the most hormonal stage.

The white bugs sound like lice. Mites are microscopic, so cannot be seen as lice can. Lice need treating with a short course of baths. Lice 'n' Easy shampoo - by Gorgeous Guineas (www.gorgeousguineas.com) - is one of the best treatments. The instructions are included with the shampoo, I believe it is one bath once a week for 2-3 weeks. Wash and rinse, then wash and allow the lather to soak in for 5-10 minutes before rinsing and drying the pig. Lice 'n' Easy contains conditioner which will help prevent the lice gripping onto the hair, or you can apply a separate conditioner after shampooing. A comb through with a human nit comb is also beneficial while the shampoo is soaking in.
Click to expand...



Thakyou very much for that informationa dn welcoming me to the forum :)

My piggies do have alot of space to run around in, floors that they jump up and down from using specially made (by my dad) arches, 3 large rooms on 1 floor, and 1 on each of the others.

Are the lice hurting them do you think? I don't want to put them through any additional stress by washing them with running water. I usually get warm wet cotton pads and massages them with them.

What should I do? mallethead
 
A full bath is not as stressful on a pig as having an advancing skin condition would be, and if done efficiently the bath need only take up to 15 minutes (bearing in mind the time required for the shampoo to soak in). Lice can cause some irritation, the scratching could in turn lead to the development of sores on the skin. In my experience mites and fungal infections cause far more irritation and pain than lice, which could be seen more as unwelcome visitors than anything - the same as headlice in children! They can still cause noticeable irritation and scratching though.

The best way to get rid of the lice once and for all is to follow a bathing programme, like the one mentioned above. There is a treatment in the US called Advantage, a spot-on application which apparently kills the lice without bathing - but it is rather rare for a guinea pig to be treated with it in UK, and you would still have to bathe the guinea pig to wash the lice (dead or alive) away in any case. It is fine to fill a shallow bowl or a sink with a few inches of water, no need to have taps running.
 
I have just gone through the mites issue myself. It does make piggies grumpy, my Eyebrows' (yes, my piggy is called that! LOL), is a very placid boar, but he bit me.

I too regularly checked my piggies. However, take the piggies to the vets. They sell stronger solutions to treat the mites straight away. Then I was recommended to use xeno 450 in the long term to keep mites at bay. If the ifestation gets worse again, to go back to the vets.

My vet said that use of low dosage (weak solutions) of ivermectin and other such spots is what's causing mites to become resistant. He says it's much better to hit the mites full on with strength. It's a bit like humans finishing off the full course of antibiotics, rather than I feel better now, I'll stop taking them..

Hope you sort your piggy problem

Cavy2009
 
As Laura says, if you can see them with the naked eye, they are lice - small white wriggly ones are called running lice, ones that look like dirt are static lice.

Mites are microscopic and can't be seen with the naked eye... and if it is mites then xeno 450 or similar will treat it. However lice requires different treatment, as above, shampooing is very effective.

Sophie
x
 
thankyou everyone for your helpful advice! I bought some special shampoo and now I wash them properly and it seems to work although I think that they could have mites as lately they have been getting agitated when I hold them and poco the older male sometimes has started to bite...
 
PS I would also invest in some nit combs too.

X
 
Mites you notice by increased itchiness, bald patches of skin with flaky skin that make the guinea pig squirm when you gently stroke over them.

Your boy is probably just fed up with you treating him! My boy doesn't like being manhandled, either.

For more info about the different kinds of skin problems look here:
http://www.guinealynx.info/index.html
 
small white crawly things and a sore

Hi my little guinea pig called chive has been scratching for a while, it seems anyway, and i have noticed a sore the size of a 5p and white things crawling through his fur? Is this lice and could the sore be caused from the itching and scratching?

Also he lives on his own and seems to be happy apart from the itching and sore, he eats and drinks well too.
One more thing that i forgot is that he always seems to sit in the corner where he does his toilet, does anyone have any idea why?
thanks
Nancy
 
Chive said:
Hi my little guinea pig called chive has been scratching for a while, it seems anyway, and i have noticed a sore the size of a 5p and white things crawling through his fur? Is this lice and could the sore be caused from the itching and scratching?

Also he lives on his own and seems to be happy apart from the itching and sore, he eats and drinks well too.
One more thing that i forgot is that he always seems to sit in the corner where he does his toilet, does anyone have any idea why?
thanks
Nancy
Click to expand...

Hi, welcome to the forum. :)p

It sounds like Chive has running lice. Have a look at this website- their treatments are highly recommended on the forum.
http://www.gorgeousguineas.com/parasitic.html

You might want to start a new thread for Chive in health and illness to get the most responses. :)
 
Hi Nancy, welcome to the forum. :)

It does indeed sound like lice, these are typically tiny white parasites most commonly white, cream/yellow or brown/black in colour. Treatment will require weekly bathing for 2-3 weeks in an anti-parasitic shampoo. As well as the link provided above by flips, you may find the following thread useful for general bathing info:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=47314
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top