Mites/Lice eggs... help!

[DougalandDiego]

Hello everyone,

I’m not having the best of luck with my piggies health lately. I’ve noticed that the pigs have been scratching a bit more than normal lately so have been inspecting them for signs of lice or mites but never been able to see anything (black specks or anything!) tonight I gave both boys a brush and to my horror seem to have found left in the brush what I think are eggs! I feel absolutely awful and will of course be ringing the vets first thing in the morning (see pictures attached of what came out the brush for both boys) in the mean time what can I do if it is lice or mites? They’re bedded on fleece so do I put them clean fleece in and get rid of all hideys? They have HayBox hay and orchard hayfrom timothyhay.co.uk (which is where I think they must have come from) as I’ve never had problems with HayBox in the past! Do I Chuck the orchard hay and open a fresh box of the HayBox hay that I have?

Also which is the best treatment that I can request for whatever it could be? Thank you!

I have attached a picture of the pigs to show their hair/skin looks completely normally... I feel awful!

please help a very panicked pig

 

[Betsy]

Only a vet can diagnose mites. If it is s/he will give you some pippets of Xeno for treatment every 2 weeks. They will need 3 doses. You will need to wash all fleece (+ hideys) at 60 degrees and deep clean the cage at every cage clean for 6 weeks (I know it's a pain, I've just been through this myself). F10 is the best stuff.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/FabFinchesUK-Veterinary-Disinfectant-Reptiles-Cleaner/dp/B01E0CIWJ4/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-rsf-lq2a1_0?crid=3AR33JLPR9EIN&cv_ct_cx=f10+disinfectant&dchild=1&keywords=f10+disinfectant&pd_rd_i=B01E0CIWJ4&pd_rd_r=c4117eb3-572e-408d-be00-8456ccb1fb57&pd_rd_w=DlBdn&pd_rd_wg=3XtQm&pf_rd_p=dba4d345-033c-4a5f-bc00-6ee63ecee580&pf_rd_r=Q585GG7WWVY9Y1K67JPV&psc=1&qid=1610568571&sprefix=F10,aps,230&sr=1-1-569cd1f4-72a6-4f1d-b3c5-cf7f1ae39fbb It lasts for ages as this is the concentrate. Just put it in a spray bottle for a quick clean or for a deep clean put the solution in a bucket.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello everyone,

I’m not having the best of luck with my piggies health lately. I’ve noticed that the pigs have been scratching a bit more than normal lately so have been inspecting them for signs of lice or mites but never been able to see anything (black specks or anything!) tonight I gave both boys a brush and to my horror seem to have found left in the brush what I think are eggs! I feel absolutely awful and will of course be ringing the vets first thing in the morning (see pictures attached of what came out the brush for both boys) in the mean time what can I do if it is lice or mites? They’re bedded on fleece so do I put them clean fleece in and get rid of all hideys? They have HayBox hay and orchard hayfrom timothyhay.co.uk (which is where I think they must have come from) as I’ve never had problems with HayBox in the past! Do I Chuck the orchard hay and open a fresh box of the HayBox hay that I have?

Also which is the best treatment that I can request for whatever it could be? Thank you!

I have attached a picture of the pigs to show their hair/skin looks completely normally... I feel awful!

please help a very panicked pig
View attachment 164009View attachment 164010 View attachment 164017

Hi!

Please see a vet over potential hay mites. We cannot diagnose reliably just from pictures without any necessary hands-on examination (nor are we qualified to replace any necessary vet visits). All we can do is guess.

Please read the information in this guide here. You will find it helpful: New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites

 

[DougalandDiego]

Thanks so much both of you! Will be ringing first thing tomorrow morning!

 

[DougalandDiego]

Thanks so much both of you! Will be ringing first thing tomorrow morning!

 

[DougalandDiego]

Just a quick question @Betsy @Wiebke - if diagnosed with hay mites tomorrow and their first treatment starts tomorrow, I’m trying to wash their ‘clean’ bedding (clean but only washed at 40 degrees) overnight in 60 degree washes but don’t think it will be dry in time for their cage clean tomorrow after treatment. Will it be ok to use their ‘clean’ bedding if it’s only had a 40 degree wash after their treatment? Once the 60 degree washed bedding is dry I will of course deep clean again and put that in but just wondering if it will be ok for the time being for a day or so once they’ve had their first treatment?

I have ordered some f10 as recommended by @Betsy and I’m extremely over paranoid with little critters so I’m happy to deep clean and fleece wash every 3 days so I’m hoping the fact that they will only have the bedding that’s been washed at 40 degrees for a day or so won’t be too much of a problem?

Sorry for the rambling and thanks for the advice so far!

 

[Wiebke]

Just a quick question @Betsy @Wiebke - if diagnosed with hay mites tomorrow and their first treatment starts tomorrow, I’m trying to wash their ‘clean’ bedding (clean but only washed at 40 degrees) overnight in 60 degree washes but don’t think it will be dry in time for their cage clean tomorrow after treatment. Will it be ok to use their ‘clean’ bedding if it’s only had a 40 degree wash after their treatment? Once the 60 degree washed bedding is dry I will of course deep clean again and put that in but just wondering if it will be ok for the time being for a day or so once they’ve had their first treatment?

I have ordered some f10 as recommended by @Betsy and I’m extremely over paranoid with little critters so I’m happy to deep clean and fleece wash every 3 days so I’m hoping the fact that they will only have the bedding that’s been washed at 40 degrees for a day or so won’t be too much of a problem?

Sorry for the rambling and thanks for the advice so far!

Hi!

Keep in mind that it takes around 2 days for any spot-on to be fully absorbed and working anyway, so a normally washed fleece is perfectly OK; the eggs and mites should be washed off.

What I would recommend when you come home from the vet is to give your piggies a shorthair cut (unless your vet is applying the first dose of ivermectin themselves, in which case you need to wait two days); cut out all the hairs that have egg cases fixed to them. The hairs will grow back again but that is a lot of eggs removed before they can hatch and only then can be killed by the medication; ivermectin cannot penetrate well into the egg cases. Never underestimate the very simple mechanical measures. What is not there, doesn't need to be treated in the first place - like washing your hands with Covid or between treating different ill piggies.
However, your vet needs to see your piggies as they are in order to make the appropriate diagnosis first.

All the best! Take a deep breath. Hay mites can be in some cases persistent, but they are the least harmful of all skin parasites as they live off debris on the hairs and skin. I would recommend to consider changing your hay brand to UK provider who is not harvesting mass produced hay on an industrial scale in a way that churns up the ground a lot more and allows more bugs to get into the hay than traditional harvesting methods. Most hay mites come with imported internationally branded hay; we've only seen a steep increase in hay mites once Uk pet shops started to import their hay.
A Comprehensive Hay Guide for Guinea Pigs (incl. providers in several countries)

 

[DougalandDiego]

Perfect thanks @Wiebke - yes that’s great about the hair cut, luckily my vet kristina is ace and very piggy savvy and has come strongly recommended by @VickiA so I’m sure she won’t mind doing a little haircut for me before I take them home.

Glad the bedding will be ok for now. I have a fabric chair in their room that I sit in when holding them. Am I being super paranoid by asking about what I do to clean that or do the eggs just eventually die off on fabric surfaces? Many thanks again!

 

[Wiebke]

Perfect thanks @Wiebke - yes that’s great about the hair cut, luckily my vet kristina is ace and very piggy savvy and has come strongly recommended by @VickiA so I’m sure she won’t mind doing a little haircut for me before I take them home.

Glad the bedding will be ok for now. I have a fabric chair in their room that I sit in when holding them. Am I being super paranoid by asking about what I do to clean that or do the eggs just eventually die off on fabric surfaces? Many thanks again!

Have your piggies sat strictly on a towel on your lap that you can then wrap up, remove and wash at need after use.

 

[DougalandDiego]

Great thanks will do!

 

[DougalandDiego]

They’re booked in for 4.50 today. The vet asked for pictures (typically they see kristina but she isn’t in today) and she thinks it looks like ‘scurf’ and oil from the pictures but said so bring them in to be safe which I would want anyway.

Does this seem like a likely possibility from the pictures? When I’ve looked at mites the eggs are brown/black and these are more orange in colour? or is it better to treat them for mites when I go just in case even if she doesn’t think it is mites? I’ve read online that sometimes when they take samples for mites they’re not present in the sample spot sometimes. Can this sometimes be the case? Just want to be prepared in case she doesn’t ‘find’ anything if that’s quite common as I don’t want them suffering with mites but don’t want to be cleaning their stuff like a crazy person if I don’t have to either!

Hope my rambling makes sense again x

 

[DougalandDiego]

Update: back from the vets! The vet took a sample and had a good look under the microscope and said that it definitely wasn’t hay mites. She thinks that the brush collected a lot of dry skin and oil/grease as their skin looked really healthy.

I’m taking Diego back again in two weeks for his cartrophen injection with their usual vet so I will just get Kristina to double check but surely she would have seen if it was hay mites today under the microscope? Feel really relieved, just hope it’s definitely not the crawly critters and she’s right!