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Brown specs in fur?

Dilly's Piggies

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Hi, I was just cutting my piggies hair and I noticed they are covered in these little brown coloured specs, on white hair they look brown and on black hair they look white. They don't move and there are hundreds of them mainly on the rump/back end of the piggy. My piggies have been itchy for a while and they have a little bit of dry skin/dandruff, but other than that there's nothing serious like hair loss or redness, they all still have healthy coats.

Can anyone tell me what they are, and how to get rid of them?

Thanks in advance! :)

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They look like they might be static mites. They cause itching and some hair loss, so they'll need to go to the vet to get rid of them. My piggies had them recently and the vet prescribed them Ivermectin to be put on the backs of their necks every 2 weeks for 6 weeks (so I applied it 3 times in total).

Disclaimer: I'm no expert, so I may very well be corrected! :)
 
They look like static lice to me, too. The vet can diagnose and give the correct treatment at correct dose. OTC stuff is rarely strong enough to deal with the problem so we’d really recommend a trip to the vets.

To help things along you can also use Lice n Easy shampoo from gorgeous Guineas. But you must allow 2 days after the vet treatment before you bathe them in it as otherwise you risk undoing the benefit of the vets treatment. I would stress that this is in addition to not in place of vet treatment. As an added bonus, whatever is in the shampoo gives your piggies the whitest, brightest, softest fur.
 
I thought ivermectin doesn't treat static lice because they aren't bloodsuckers and the lice n easy shampoo is the best way to get rid of them? (I do already have the shampoo so that's convenient.)
 
I've just googled that and it seems there's differing information out there. Gorgeous Guineas website says Ivermectin only works on blood-sucking lice (which static lice aren't), but Wiebke has responded elsewhere in the forum regarding a similar topic and advises you g to the vet for Ivermectin (Static Lice Treatment).

I'd rather trust my vet than the internet on this one, and it did get rid of the mites.
 
Yeah I'm going to pick up some ivermectin today anyway and do that treatment, the shampoo did a great job but there can always be more plus eggs that I can't see as they're so tiny! Plus bathing 10 piggies is a huge chore haha :)
 
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