Cleaning cage after lice

[jm_1234]

My 8 guinea pigs have lice. I have ordered Revolution to treat them and it should finally arrive on Monday or Tuesday. I know I have to strip the cage once they are treated and clean everything. I am wondering about the wood hidey houses and how to clean them. Should I put them in the freezer? Would just wiping them down with vinegar/water be good enough? I am really hoping I don't need to throw them out because I have 4 of them and they aren't cheap. Any advice would be greatly appreciated xx>>>!

 

[Pandora]

i had lice on my piggies before, (actually the first thing i ever had to treat them for about 6 years ago when i first started out and only had a trio)
they were in wooden hutches, which i still have today, in all the years since i've never once had lice re-occur.

i used johnsons products on them, insecticidal topical spray and insecticidal cage & hutch spray to get rid of them which worked perfectly.


when the first mice i bought had lice, i asked one of my college lecturers what i could do to save their their wooden cage, she told me that freezing it would kill the lice and eggs in the wood - but it would have to be in the freezer for around a month to do that

not sure about using vinegar and water or how effective it could be, but she told me that steam cleaning the wood and making sure to blast every surface and crevice with the steam jet would work and kill them perfectly

it worked too as i carried on using that cage for at least a year before moving onto plastic cages with better ventilation and haven't had any parasites on them since

 

[jm_1234]

Thank you for the suggestions. I don't think they sell the spray in Canada but I will see if I can find some! I was hoping only 6-12 hours or so in the freezer but a month would be difficult to do. The steamer is an awesome idea and I have one so I think I will do that, thank you so much |)

 

[Julesie]

Good thread. My new piggie has some lice it seems from his nonstop scratching so I'd like to know too.

 

[Poppy'sMum]

Good thread. My new piggie has some lice it seems from his nonstop scratching so I'd like to know too.

What sort of lice are they? If they are hay mites/lice they will be static mites, they look like little black specks on the fur near the skin they cling to the hairs like nits in hoomans. If they are those, you need to treat topically, ie bathe with Gorgeous Guineas Lice n Easy or Flea or Die shampoo, you need to bathe them once then repeat a week later from what I remember. Running lice (white lice) are also treated by shampooing, these can be seen.

http://www.guinealynx.info/furmites.html

Mange mites are different again, they can't be seen & cause hair loss on the back. Ivermectin drops treat those. Spot on etc doesn't kill static hay mites.

http://www.guinealynx.info/mites.html

 

[Lil-Ninnibig]

Ditto luckily has never had lice but i was just wondering where do they pick lice up from? He lives indoors in a plastic ferplast cage

 

[jm_1234]

Lice are transfered from one pig to another. I think mine caught it from a someone we know's guinea pigs. She told me a few weeks ago that her guinea pigs got infested with lice, they were all over them. Her daughter likes to hold our female guinea pigs so I think she either transfered some eggs or some actual lice to them. I noticed a few on two of our girls about a week later after she told me that. I couldn't find any on the males but I am assumed they would be getting some before I could order the Revolution in so I am treating them all since lice can travel between cages across the room from one another and my cage is 4 levels so it wouldn't be difficult for them to move to another cage. I am going to be so happy when this lice mess is over!