Hay... mites?

[Sunshine114]

Sorry to post another question - seem to be having a bit of a crisis of confidence with my pigs - and sorry if it’s in the wrong place!

I just cleaned the pigs (daily clean) removing all soiled bedding etc. Went to refill their hay and used the dregs of what was left in the storage box, put it in and noticed straight away that it had small black mite type creatures in it.
Anyway I panicked, have taken the pigs out of their c and c cage, emptied all the bedding, washed the whole thing with hot water and have sprayed it with piggie safe antibac spray. The rest of the hay in the main bag it comes in looks ok (but obviously I can’t check every tiny bit!) I’m certain they were only in the shorter bits of hay that had fallen right to the bottom of the storage box.
Do I need to look out for anything in my piggies in case they have mites? Do you think they were mites? Feel quite lucky that in 5 years or more we have never come across this before!

 

[Lady Kelly]

I don't believe they were mites as you could see them. Mites are invisible to the naked eye.

 

[Wiebke]

Sorry to post another question - seem to be having a bit of a crisis of confidence with my pigs - and sorry if it’s in the wrong place!

I just cleaned the pigs (daily clean) removing all soiled bedding etc. Went to refill their hay and used the dregs of what was left in the storage box, put it in and noticed straight away that it had small black mite type creatures in it.
Anyway I panicked, have taken the pigs out of their c and c cage, emptied all the bedding, washed the whole thing with hot water and have sprayed it with piggie safe antibac spray. The rest of the hay in the main bag it comes in looks ok (but obviously I can’t check every tiny bit!) I’m certain they were only in the shorter bits of hay that had fallen right to the bottom of the storage box.
Do I need to look out for anything in my piggies in case they have mites? Do you think they were mites? Feel quite lucky that in 5 years or more we have never come across this before!

Hi!

Both types of guinea pig mites are invisible. What you can see in hay mites (chirodiscoides caviae) are the tiny egg cases that are fixed to hairs - and they don't move. They just look like somebody has turned a pepper mill over a piggy. Mange mites that burrow their eggs into the increasingly inflamed skin are not visible at all.
Guinea pig lice are small pale moving things.

So please take a deep breath. Whatever it is, is not a guinea pig specific parasite and can therefore not survive on them.
If in doubt, please throw any affected hay away or take it back to the shop/send it back to the place you have purchased it from.

 

[Sunshine114]

Thank you! I think they are possibly a kind of weevil. Hay box has been banished to the garden until I can deal with it tomorrow and area in the living room where the pigs live has had a very good clean!