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Lice on my baby guinea pig :( HELP

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SJP

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My guinea pig is 7-8 weeks old. He has what I am sure is lice - dandruffy skin and brown flecks which I think are the lice and which I can see moving!
How can I treat him? I have contacted Gorgeous Guineas and have asked them about their 'lice and easy shampoo' because they say not to use on pigs under 12 weeks of age! Also, I have seen the Johnson Insecticidal Spray which I am thinking of going and buying from Pets at Home - this says it is safe from 8 weeks of age - but is it? Does anyone have any experience of this?
Any help or advice much appreciated.
THANK YOU
 
It may be mites, but you need to get a vet to examine your little one. Yes i have seen mites (and fungal skin infections too) in very young piggies and mites can be treated with Ivermectin safely on very young pigs. You can buy this without seeing a vet, but i would not reccomend it. At the size your baby will be now, it will be very easy to overdose him on ivermectin which can be serious if you happen to.
See a vet for an opinion first and then see if he needs treating?

Hope he starts feeling better soon. :(

x.

Ps. does your little boy have a friend or is he currently living alone?
 
Thanks for the advice. Will see a vet tomorrow. As far as I know Ivermectin will only get rid of blood sucking parasites and I'm not sure they are blood sucking. But a vet will be able to help with that I guess.
My little pig lives with my older pig. We lost the older pigs brother and friend of 4 years a week ago. :( The little pig is a new friend for him. They live together in the same cage, but at the moment are separated by a wire divider in the middle of the cage. I guess I will need to treat both pigs just in case?!
 
Keep us posted on this

Yes I'd say both pigs and cage should be treated, experts here will confirm or not though

So nice that you have got a little friend for your older piggie, I am sure they are both happy to have found each other! x>> x
 
I am planning to take them both to the vet tomorrow. My older pig Tommy is still missing his brother, but seems happier to have a friend. Both Tommy and my baby pig Sebastian are both a bit cross at still being separated though - they lie by the divider together. Was so hard to loose Tommy's brother Jerry - they were my first pigs and Jerry was such a lovely pig.
Will keep you posted as to the results!
 
Also, can someone help me tell the difference between mites and lice. I think that if you can see them - and I can see brown moving dots, then it is lice? Am I right?
 
Burrowing mites are too small to see (and are in the skin).

Hay mites (also known as static mites/static lice) look like grey/brown dandruff attached to the hair shaft, they barely move to the naked eye.

Lice are creamy coloured little wormy things, a few mm long and can be seen 'running' through the hair, also known as running lice.

HTH

Suzy x
 
Just a small update...
I contacted Gorgeous Guineas and asked about using their lice and easy shampoo. On their advice I used it on both my pigs - 2 treatments a week apart - and now all is fine. The lice have gone and Little Pig's skin is now much better too. Cage disinfected and so far... no more lice. Thank you all for your help xx
 
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