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Advice on Lice

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Goldie

Goldie

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My cousin in Oxford rang me tonight. Her friend ... yes, word does get around if you are a guinea pig addict ... recently bought two of piggies from a local pet shop. She has noticed white specks on their fur as they are dark haired and on looking further into their fur seen lice running around! :(

I have to say that I have never had this on my piggies. What is the best advice that I can pass on please?

Can she bath them with insecticidal shampoo or does it need to be a visit to the vet for injections such as Ivermic?

The worry is that she has two other pigs although housed separately but cleaned out with the same dust pan and brush. Could the lice be passed on this way?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
Lice n easy from gorgeous guineas, repeated as per instructions. Get rid of the current batch of hay and give the cage a good old clean!

It is brilliant stuff;)

It most likely came in on the hay, so I would say examine the other 2 guineas and if suspect lice, do the same.
 
when i got my 3, i noticed they do have a bit of a scrat now and then, i've checked out their hair and skin and cant see anything there, when they went to the vet for a checkup, she checked them too, but said that it was probs normal and probs only lice/mites if they were scratting constantly and pulling chunks of hair out. Is this right? its just the vet couldnt even tell the sex of my sows, so not really confident with her! oh and the girls are still scratting!
 
it doesnt sound to hopeful to be honest :{
lice can be seen in fur as tiny brown things, looks like wrigling tiny worms if you look closely.
Mites cannot be seen with the naked eye-pigs scratch and bite area at bottom of spine which results in hairloss in this area.

Lice needs treatment with shampoo-lice n easy from www.gorgeousguineas.com

mites needs ivermectin (xeno 450).

All guineas scratch a bit now and then though, so it may be normal!
 
I've been reading a few posts and bits of info, and i think my 3 do have mites! although i dont think its very bad YET!

they are scratching & biting either side of the spin as lavenderjade described, but no particular hairloss or other signs. To be on the safe side, would it harm to treat them anyway? and is ivermectin only available from a vet? and is it safe? as reading up on it its not recommended for piggies under 16 weeks!
 
Xeno 50 is a lower dose for mini pigs, it does advise dosage per weight on the packet, annoyingly it seems to come in packs of 9!

It gives dosage per bodyweight but most mini pigs will be over 200g (1 tube)

It says

200-300 - 1 tube
300-400 - 1.5 tubes
400-600 2 tubes
600-800 3 tubes

She should weigh them before ordering as if they're quite heavy then it might be better to use the stronger Xeno but less of it?

Sophie
x
 
Sorry to sound dumb, but if it is biting lice as she was told, would just a shampoo did the trick on a couple of occasions?

I have never heard of biting lice .... I assume that she meant running lice.
 
I think they can be called biting or running lice. I guess Ivermectin does work on them but I always assumed it didn't because the lice don't suck blood. Maybe it only works when applied topically?

I would use lice and easy from GG, I wouldn't use anything else because A) it might not kill the lice and B) it might contain less that great ingredients.
 
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