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Mange Mites

weepweeps

weepweeps

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Noticed last night that Patrick has a V shape on his back.

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So I’ll be getting him in at the vets today as it’s probably mange mites. But a full check up won’t go a miss anyway.

My question is will they be on Pebble too? He’s not got any symptoms.
 
weepweeps said:
Noticed last night that Patrick has a V shape on his back.

View attachment 265173
View attachment 265174

So I’ll be getting him in at the vets today as it’s probably mange mites. But a full check up won’t go a miss anyway.

My question is will they be on Pebble too? He’s not got any symptoms.
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Hi

That looks suspiciously like a mange mite outbreak, I agree.

It could be from an mange mites egg reservoir in the skin - the mite eggs can't be killed off with ivermectin/selamectin but are usually kept under control by a fully working immune system. They can however make a return whenever the imune system is lowered for some reason (illness or stress) or in a piggy with a weaker immune system.

My Macsen is in the first group - he is another to develop the classic V on his back about once a year on average and my Nye had mange mites off and on throughout his life; thankfully none of his mates ever picked them up from him. The hay mites he carried into the Tribe I thankfully managed to get rid of in two goes. I am happy to say that Macsen is coming up to his 6th birthday and that Nye lived past his own 6th birthday nevertheless... In their case it was just a matter to step in quickly and make sure that none of the others picked them up.

You always have to treat all piggies in contact with each other as Pebble may or may not be able to fend off the parasites with his own immune system - you just can't rely on that and you certainly don't want them to establish a second base.

For more information on guinea pig specific skin parasites and their treatment:
Wiebke

Thread 'New Guinea Pigs Health Problems: URI - Ringworm - Skin Parasites'

1 Vets and your customer rights
- What makes newly bought guinea pigs so vulnerable?
- Do I need to see a vet?
- Documenting illness and your customer rights
2 URI (Upper respiratory tract infection) and sensitivities
- Typical symptoms in order of development
- What to do immediately
- Sensitivity to hay dust and pollen
3 Ringworm (highly contagious fungal...
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I can’t believe how quickly the “V” came up. He’s been away on “holiday” recently so it was probably the stress of that. 🤷🏻‍♀️

He’s in at the vets this evening at 6.30.
 
weepweeps said:
I can’t believe how quickly the “V” came up. He’s been away on “holiday” recently so it was probably the stress of that. 🤷🏻‍♀️

He’s in at the vets this evening at 6.30.
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All the best. It sounds like a classic mites reservoir case. The sooner you get into it, the quicker it will subside. With him back home, he will also hopefully have his immune system back on his side helping to suppresse the outbreak.

I would recommend to have some ivermectin at home in the future so you can step in with treatment asap. I do have with my own Tribe but then I have got a room full of piggies so keeping it from spreading through the whole place is the last thing I want!
 
Urrrrrrgh. I hate going to the vets.

So for £32 the advice I have been given is:

The vet thinks they have seen lice on them both. And the lice are brown (I thought lice were pale).

The vet was unsure of the length of treatment so I told her I’ve been prescribed 1 pippett every two weeks for 3 treatments so 6 weeks in total. She said “oh that sounds okay” 🙄

Xeno450 is out of stock nationwide so I should go to Pets at Home and get Beaphar Spot On. She said it’s the same as Xeno450.

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Well I get home and I know it’s not going to be strong enough.

Beaphar is 150ug in each pippett so that would only be 300ug

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Xeno450 is 450ug in each pippett.

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So now I’ve got to call them back tomorrow and ask them if I can use three pippetts of the Beaphar on each piggy each time! And also ask if I can do it every 2 weeks for 6 weeks! So 18 in total!

What a waste of £32 😡
 
😪 Drove are supposed to have some good vets. This one must have been very inexperienced, with piggies at least.

It's a pity Xeno 450 is in short supply too.
(Does one suppose that people in the States are stockpiling it in case of Covid as they're so convinced that the vaccines are turning everybody 'woke' rather than preventing illness...)
 
Lice come in a range of colours from brown to orangey to whitish. That's why they are usually prescribed as 'pale' crawling things because you can see them.

Getting hold of meds certain can be sometimes tricky for vets because demand surpasses production. :(
 
So I’ve had to chase the vets again today as they didn’t call back yesterday.

Does anyone know what an alternative is to Xeno? @Piggies&buns?
 
One of the guides on mites etc says to use Ivermectin or Selamectin. The latter is sold with the brand name Stronghold in the UK. But availability and dosing is something I don't know about.
 
weepweeps said:
So I’ve had to chase the vets again today as they didn’t call back yesterday.

Does anyone know what an alternative is to Xeno? @Piggies&buns?
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I remember when I couldn't get hold of it online during the last shortage and I emailed the cat and rabbit clinic to see if they had any in stock and they didn't but they said they had kitten stronghold which is a similar product.
 
The xeno 450 is usually available on amazon but when I had a look it's not there now. All their ivermectin is the same strength as the beaphar ones.
Just found it on ukpetdrugs.co.uk £32.50 +£2.99 delivery.
 
fluffysal said:
The xeno 450 is usually available on amazon but when I had a look it's not there now. All their ivermectin is the same strength as the beaphar ones.
Just found it on ukpetdrugs.co.uk £32.50 +£2.99 delivery.
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Xeno450 is in short supply - there have been supply issues for a while now.
Beaphar is much lower dosed than xeno 450
 
Well the vet receptionist just called and told me just to use two pippetts of Beaphar for each piggy.

No other options were given by the vet.

So they have just had their first dose.
 
Is the treatment every two weeks? I’ve got a mind block. 🤪
 
No advice unfortunately just wanted to share that I’m in the same boat with my piggies! Can’t get a hold of Xeno 450 and currently waiting on a delivery of Naqua spot on treatment from Amazon. So frustrating isn’t it 😩 fingers crossed the beaphar works for your piggies x
 
Britt said:
No advice unfortunately just wanted to share that I’m in the same boat with my piggies! Can’t get a hold of Xeno 450 and currently waiting on a delivery of Naqua spot on treatment from Amazon. So frustrating isn’t it 😩 fingers crossed the beaphar works for your piggies x
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Hope your piggies are soon feeling better.
 
Oh what a nuisance. Hopefully the supply issue for Xeno 450 will be resolved soon. Hopefully the Beaphar will help
 
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