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3 neglected piggies

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jess_2745

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My mum's friend has three boars and she noticed one was losing hair. I finally persuaded her to let me have a look at them and i am really annoyed. I wanted to make sure if this is right what i'm doing.

Cookie is the one i'm most worried about. He has lost absolutely loads of hair and has big bloody scabs on him. I'm 99% sure it's mites as i can't see anything and the skin is flaky. I don't think it's fungal as the skin isn't red and the hair isn't greasy. I'm starting tomorrow, giving him 1 pipette of xeno 450 every 7 days. He's going to probably need at least 6 treatments. I'm surprised he isn't having fits or that he is still alive.

Fruitcake had food stuck to his mouth and on closer inspection has overgrown front teeth. I'm persuading her to go to my vet to get them done. He possibly has lice as i can see small brownish things on the hair.

Romeo is ok but has clumps of hair coming off of his back.

They are all going to be bathed with manuka and neem for gorgeous guineas once i can order when they re open. This will help with lice and mites won't it?

I know i'm interfering but i don't care lol, their welfare is more important. Hopefully, she will decide to find them a better home. Sorry about the long post but any advice is appreciated.
 
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Aww those poor piggies thats awful, they shouldnt have to go through all that

I think you're doing the right thing, you're not interfering just helping because you certainly cant leave them like that :o

well done and good luck hope they get better soon keep us posted xoxo
 
i've just noticed that pet supermarket have got xeno 450 in offer at the mo if anyones interested think its around £14 for 6 pipettes
 
You sound like you've got everything under control and good on you for helping those little piggies :)
 
all the piggies need to go to the vets if one has scabby skin as the other two may catch mites. does she feed them veggies? let her know they need a mixture as that can help a little. good luck! x
 
Lice are transferable from guinea to guinea, but mites aren't.

Assuming all 3 live together, that means all 3 will have lice, sounds like you have an idea what to do, the neem will kill them off.

Mites are usually caused by stress, is it possible that they are fighting (because there's 3 of them) or maybe because they aren't being looked after correctly, this has brought on mites. All you can do is keep a close eye on the other 2 to see if mites occur.

Remember to wait 48 hours after a mite treatment before using manuka/neem otherwise you'll wash all the xeno off!

Like Claire said are they getting veg and lots of hay? Lots of hay should wear the teeth down to some extent.
 
yeah, i thought mite were caused by stress. I did think of them fighting but there doesn't seem to be any scrapes of anything that would suggest they're fighting. They've probably got this due to the fact they are basically neglected.

The hutch is tiny she houses them on shavings. She only puts hay in the nest box so one nest box for three guineas = lots of smelly poo hay that they won't eat. They do get veggies but she feeds them too much of one thing like loads of dandelions and she feeds them too much fruit.

I think the one with overgrown teeth might just have teeth that don't grow straight. They look wonky at the bottom so they don't meet. If it was lack of hay and tough veggies the other twos teeth would be bad aswell, i think, but they aren't.

My mum is in the process of telling her i will take them on for her if she wants to. She bought them for her kids and they don't care now. She's one of these people who thinks that no one else can look after her animals better, when really she is cruel. Sorry about the rant but it's doing my head in and i feel so sorry for them. Hopefully, she will decide to give them to me or a rescue, before they die.
 
Sounds like you're doing a great job, it's so frustrating when you know they're living like that and there is only so much you can do to help them. I hope she either gets her act together or hands them over to you or someone who will give them the care they need. I always feel so sorry for pigs with mites, they look soooo sore and when it's a severe case like that I think it's very distressing for them. Good on you for helping!

Sophie
x
 
Well done you for helping. Don't think that you are interferring.

It could be fungal or mites. Mites can occur when the piggy is under the weather or stress, or just badly fed I guess. I am sure that you have checked for bite marks, if not then please do.

I hope all goes well. Please keep us posted to how things go.
 
I think you're doing a great job. It must be hard getting involved when it is someone you know.
 
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