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Lice

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jess_2745

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I think my piggies might have lice. Am i right in that lice you can see, whereas mites are under the skin?

I can see very very small yellowy things moving in the hair. Their skin is slightly dandruffy, no sores or anything.

If it is lice i will need to treat with topical ivermectin won't i? How often will i need to do it? The same as mites, every 7-10 days? And how long for?
 
It does sound very much like lice.
You can treat lice with a Lice Spray by Johnson's. You'll be able to get this from any good pet shop and it costs about £4. It comes as a spritzer and you'll need to spray it through the guinea pig's coat and brush it out after about 30 minutes. Remember that you'll need to treat all the guinea pigs that have been in contact with your piggy that has lice. :)
 
Mites and Lice are two different things. :) I use Gorgeous Guineas Lice N Easy fantastic stuff. :)
 
i have used gorgeous guineas lice n easy before and it is very good stuff i also combed through the piggies fur with a human nit comb cleared up the problem very quickly
 
Hope you manage to get it sorted, Jess. It 100% sounds like lice to me, also called running or biting lice. I would only ever use lice and easy for my pigs, due to the fact other brands you may buy from pet shops can contain undesirable chemicals which can cause reactions.

If you can't get hold of any I can send you some, although even if I send it today I don't know if it would get there for xmas? You need something to smother the lice with, I also have some gorgeous guineas souffle which I used to smother the lice before washing them away.
 
Louise (Sunshine and twinkle) is kindly sending me a little bit of lice and easy, which will hopefully tide me over until GG opens again. I'm hoping it will do all 6 piggies as GG shampoos lather up from quite a small amount, don't they?

It's so annoying. Why do these things always happen at stupid times of the year? I think i will get some of their products to keep at home, so i can always treat them quickly.

Is there nothing else that will treat it? On Vet uk it said xeno treats fleas, lice and mites. But people have told me that it doesn't work on lice?
 
Glad Louise has sorted you out! Yeah they do seem to lather up well so you should be fine.

Xeno 450/Ivermectin doesn't work on lice especially well because lice are not really a blood sucking creature (they eat the dead skin flakes or something disgusting) & because they just live on the surface of the skin they don't get the full whack of ivermectin. So really the guinea needs to have the treatment all over their skin, not really ideal with ivermectin!
 
Will post AM for you Jess. I've plenty here. :) Agree with Starla also Xeno seems a bit harsh to use on lice, I'm using to treat for mites at the mo on 2 girls and its fab for that but cant help but think its a bit too much treatment for lice.

The Lice N Easy will sort them out. Will PM you once I've sent it! x
 
I've used the xeno on mites and it worked really well. I won't use it then if it doesn't really do anything for lice, don't want to use anything harsh. Thanks for all the advice :)
 
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