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End Of My Tether! Fleas!

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Almostmad

Almostmad

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Someone please help! Since we have gotten our Guinea Pigs, we have had fleas...not once...not twice...but three times! Tonight is the third time we have physically seen a flea and I'm really loosing it! The two times before we have treated our pigs and our hamster and completely annihilated the house with flea sprays, hoover (replacing and spraying hoover bags each time), washed every single bit of clothing, blankets, bedding etc in house and they keep coming back! What are we doing wrong? And why do we keep getting them?! Our house is kept clean and I regularly hoover 3/4 times a week! The only thing I can think of that's bringing them in is me being involved with horses but, never in all my years with them have I had a problem with fleas when living with my parents?! Just recently moved into this house in Nov 2014. Another thing is if the people before us had left fleas here?! Can Guineas just "get" fleas? Help help help! I want to cry :(
 
The chances are your house had fleas before you moved in. This happened to us!
We had to move out for a few days whilst the house was fumigated. It's horrible having it done, but it completely got rid of the problem.

Flea eggs can lie dormant in any nooks and crannies, even carpets, and it is warmth that wakes them out of their stasis and causes them to develop and hatch.
I am convinced it's not the guinea pigs, but likely cat or dog fleas left from the previous owners. Ours were cat fleas (they had cats). I feel for you, it's horrible.
 
I'm pretty sure the residents before us had a dog or puppy, so this would explain it! I said to my partner about this but he's set on it being the horses...! Seeing as our place is rented, who would pay for that treatment? And would the fleas have found a suitable host in our pigs? We really only noticed them the first time in sort of April/May? Also...the landlord doesn't know about our pigs which could make things a bit awkward in terms of getting the place fumigated? Thanks for your speedy and brill reply by the way! :)
 
Have you not got anyone who can hide your piggies away for a few days until the place has been sorted. I hope you get it fixed as I know how horrible infestations of things are.
 
Pods my parents, but don't know if they'd be funny about it seeing as its the third time we've had fleas. They associate fleas with the Guinea Pigs :/ I'll definitely ask them, we maybe didn't do it as thoroughly as we could because we have the animals and had to wait whilst each room was cleared of treatment before putting them back so, maybe we missed a few places. Do you know if the 'Foggers' are good? Apparently fumigating may cost a lot :(
 
It's advised to move out while a place is fumigated anyway for a few days, so it would be worth checking your pigs into a friend's house if you can if you get this done, they shouldn't stay anyhow, while the fumes are around. If you all move out then hopefully the landlord will not see any evidence of piggies.

The fleas don't like to cross species generally unless they have no choice. They bite others when their preferred hosts are not around. I your case, if you have dog fleas then they (the fleas) ideally need dogs, and so will bite humans only when there are no dogs around. Whether or not they will move onto your piggies or not I just don't know.

If the landlord doesn't like your guinea pigs then I am surprised he/she let the previous owners keep a dog.

xx
 
Almostmad said:
Pods my parents, but don't know if they'd be funny about it seeing as its the third time we've had fleas. They associate fleas with the Guinea Pigs :/ I'll definitely ask them, we maybe didn't do it as thoroughly as we could because we have the animals and had to wait whilst each room was cleared of treatment before putting them back so, maybe we missed a few places. Do you know if the 'Foggers' are good? Apparently fumigating may cost a lot :(
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I have never heard of guinea pigs having fleas, but perhaps someone else on the forum will be able to state that they have? It seems rare anyhow, if it happens. They can get mites and lice, both of which are harmless to humans and are species specific, only affecting the pigs, but fleas - I have never heard of guinea pigs carrying fleas.
 
@Pebble @Wiebke would a dose of Ivermectin spot-on kill off any fleas trying to live on the guinea pigs? I get the impression Ivermectin kills most parasitic insects and mites. I am not recommending you go and buy the Ivermectin until one of the other members gives their opinion, but my thought is that it might reassure your parents if you show that you have given them a bath, treated them and take them round with fresh, clean, new bags of unopened hay and wood shavings (or whatever bedding you use) and a disinfected cage.
What ever you do, do NOT treat them with flea powder, flea powder meant for dogs and cats will likely kill your piggies!
 
OK - well doing a quick search reveals that yes, they can be affected by fleas. Most likely dog and cat fleas that can't find a dog or cat to live on.
You can get products designed to help with the problem http://www.vetuk.co.uk/guinea-pig-supplies-guinea-pig-flea-mite-treatments-c-665_838 but again I would wait for more experienced advice before shelling out money on them. But it may reassure you parents, and if it encourages them to look after your pigs while the house is blitzed then it may be worth it :)

Is there any evidence that you pigs are suffering from bites? If so they need to be treated quickly, by a vet, as they can give injectable forms of Ivermectin which is more affective than the spot-on.
Do they have any scabs? Red marks? Fur loss? Itching/scratching?
 
They do itch and scratch but not often enough for me to remark on really :/ it seems to be me that is suffering! My legs are covered in bites again and I have marks from the previous time :( its really upset me! They've been treated before with a Spot On specifically for small mammals and the dosage went on weight. I had the pigs out downstairs yesterday and then this evening we spotted a flea :( I just really cannot face washing and spraying everything and everywhere again lol! But I'm going to have to. Should I treat the animals first before we treat the whole house?
 
We used the Bob Martin spot on before :) I've just realised we missed our 4 week spot on treatment! It was meant to be last Friday they were treated again :(! Could this have been the key reason why we see fleas again?! I'm so stupid!
 
I still think the key reason is that even after the flea spray you used, some eggs were left in nooks and crannies somewhere in the house.....
No you are not stupid at all!
I really feel for you, it's a horrible job, getting rid of fleas.
For yourself I recommend some citronella spray, it's all natural and it helps discourage insects from going near you when you wear that.
I have not heard of the Bob Martin spot-on.
 
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