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Mites?

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gemma1

gemma1

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi everyone! Not sure if I'm posting in correct section. I had noticed a scab on one of my pigs and turns out she has life and the scab is right in the position where her head can reach her back to scratch, can't find any on the other two but the vet has treated them all with Xeno and going back in two weeks for another treatment. I have also ordered lice n easy shampoo and neem oil from gorgeous guineas. I bought hay from a farm shop two days ago, and went to give them some yesterday and nearly had a heart attack when I saw the bag! There were literally thousands of bugs on the bag, they looked like dust! I will try to attach a pic and would love to hear if anyone knows what they are? I think hay mites are invisible so what on earth could these be?! I am in the process of gutting out the entire room at the moment and have just received delivery of oxbow hay so no chance of bugs there thankfully. Could the pigs have picked up the lice from the farm hay? The lice and the bugs on the hay bag are totally different creatures but maybe the lice were also in the hay! To top it all off, I then opened a new bag of burgess excel food and there were loads of moths crawling about as there seemed to be a cobwebby type nest in there! Argh! That got chucked as well!
 
Hay mites are visible as little specks, it's mange mites that you can't see. It does sound like the original lice could have come from the hay too. I would not use the neem oil if it is hay mites and lice you are dealing with as it is supposedly for very mild fungal issues. If you use the shampoo leave at least 24 hours between dosing with Xeno and the shampoo.
 
Thanks very much for the advice! Will leave the neem oil then and will just shampoo, will be leaving a good few days between the Xeno and shampoos.

If hay mites are visible then this must have been what they were! Do hay mites affect the pigs or latch on to them? I've taken a close up pic of one and it looks very similar to a dust mite but they were only in the room all over the hay bag!
 
As far as I aware they can make them itchy but do not affect them as much as mange mites would. Not had them in my own pigs so far.
 
Please do not treat on spec for fungal at the same time as for mites. You also need to leave at least 48 hours between topical treatments; that is as long as it takes for the ivermectin to be fully absorbed into the skin.

Hay mites are very small, but they leave their eggs on the hair usually at the bum end of piggies, which is why they are also called static lice.
http://www.guinealynx.info/parasites.html
 
Thank you! Will definitely leave at least 48 hours between treatments. I have the Neem oil now as I had already ordered it but will just keep it in case I need it in the future and only use the lice n' easy shampoo.
 
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