Does My Guinea Pig Have Mites?

[Aryel]

My guinea pig Brownie has been scratching more lately. She turns her head and nips at a certain place and sometimes she has a few strands of fur in her mouth. She doesn't violently bite her skin though but is it normal for her to rip of a few strands of fur? Also, I do spot some white particles on her fur but I'm not sure if it is dandruff or lice or pieces of the bedding. The particles are sort of shaped like lice (like a tube) but some of them are also just angular particles that are definitey not lice. When I look at her fur, the cylinders don't seem to move at all. Some of the cylinders look quite thin, maybe a little too thin to be lice. Do lice just move really slow? Brownie mostly turns her head and nips at her skin in just one particular spot but in terms of scratching as in with her back legs no she doesn't do that alot. Also, sometimes she is relaxed and just lies there without scratching a lot but when she is moving around like when she eats, thats when she scratches a lot. She doesn't like it when I touch her back and she jumps but I don't know if it is from lice/mites b/c she hates being touched there anyway. But when she is eating and I pet her slowly from her head to her back she doesn't mind me touching her back area. Anyway, I did some research on this stuff and one person said they use Ivermectin. Also, people use drops and pastes as well. Are these safe to use even if I'm not absolutely sure if she has mites/lice? Are these effective? Do I have to take her to a vet or can I just use these things I can do myself? Brownie does not have any hairloss and eats perfectly fine. However, I did see her sort of popcorning and she kept thrashing her head left to right and doing little jumps but what if this jumping has to do with mites? Also, sometimes she is just lying down and resting but all of a sudden she raises her back area and gives a little jump with only her back legs as if its itching or something. How much scratching is normal?

 

[Aryel]

Update: Brownie also sometimes gives a sudden violent jump and shake out of nowhere and gives a small squeak. I don't know if something scared her or what. I think she definitely has some kind of skin problem but I don't know what. She scratches a lot.

 

[Lady Kelly]

It's not worth treating without a vet visit unless you are absolutely certain what you are dealing with. I have treated lice without a vet visit but it was obvious it we lice as I could see the lice moving.

If you are unsure as to whether it's a skin problem or lice or mites then a vet visit is needed.

 

[Tiamolly123]

My does the same as Brownie she is popcorning. She is happy Lol

 

[Wiebke]

My guinea pig Brownie has been scratching more lately. She turns her head and nips at a certain place and sometimes she has a few strands of fur in her mouth. She doesn't violently bite her skin though but is it normal for her to rip of a few strands of fur? Also, I do spot some white particles on her fur but I'm not sure if it is dandruff or lice or pieces of the bedding. The particles are sort of shaped like lice (like a tube) but some of them are also just angular particles that are definitey not lice. When I look at her fur, the cylinders don't seem to move at all. Some of the cylinders look quite thin, maybe a little too thin to be lice. Do lice just move really slow? Brownie mostly turns her head and nips at her skin in just one particular spot but in terms of scratching as in with her back legs no she doesn't do that alot. Also, sometimes she is relaxed and just lies there without scratching a lot but when she is moving around like when she eats, thats when she scratches a lot. She doesn't like it when I touch her back and she jumps but I don't know if it is from lice/mites b/c she hates being touched there anyway. But when she is eating and I pet her slowly from her head to her back she doesn't mind me touching her back area. Anyway, I did some research on this stuff and one person said they use Ivermectin. Also, people use drops and pastes as well. Are these safe to use even if I'm not absolutely sure if she has mites/lice? Are these effective? Do I have to take her to a vet or can I just use these things I can do myself? Brownie does not have any hairloss and eats perfectly fine. However, I did see her sort of popcorning and she kept thrashing her head left to right and doing little jumps but what if this jumping has to do with mites? Also, sometimes she is just lying down and resting but all of a sudden she raises her back area and gives a little jump with only her back legs as if its itching or something. How much scratching is normal?

Hi! The popcorning is an expression of joy and exuberance, but please have your piggy vet checked if the scratching is frequent/several times an hour, very vigorous or if you see bald patches appear.

Please do NOT treat on spec, especially not with low dosed broad spectrum pet shop products or home medications that do more harm than good and will certainly not get on top of a skin problem.
There are a number of issues that can cause itching: mange mites, while the most serious, is only one of them. There are also other skin parasites that are not necessarily visible to the naked eye. Fungal skin infections (not necessarily ringworm) can look and have very similar symptoms at first. Dry skin from air conditioning or radiators indoors can also cause increased itching. All these things require different treatments. In the end, it is usually cheaper and much more effective to see a vet for a diagnosis and the appropriate good quality treatment and ending there with a piggy in the advanced stages of a problem requiring much more expensive vet care on top of everything you have spent on home treatments.

Sadly far too many people still think they can wiggle out of their obligation with the result that their "beloved" pets suffer and often die a very slow painful death because of that. There are some truly horrible places online.

Please make sure that you lay enough money by each week that you can afford to see a vet at any time. It is the biggest part in any pet budget. Emergencies and illness never happens at a good time. If the manage mites or fungal come up within 2-3 weeks of you buying your guinea pigs, you should be able to reclaim the vet cost from the pet shop if you present the bill together with your sales receipt as there is good reason to assume that exposure has happened previous to the sale.

 

[Stayc1989]

If you touch her back does she start to nibble things and get really irritated? My piggies had mites and hated the centre of their backs touched and it would send them a bit mad if I touched it and they did this. I took them to the vets and they gave them ivermectin injections to treat the mites.