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Mites!?

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Leilalouise

Leilalouise

Junior Guinea Pig
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I noticed yesterday that BillyPig was chewing himself & the fur on his back looked a bit strange (he's white with black/pink skin & the skin was showing through in patches really oddly). When I picked him up & smoothed him a load of hair started just coming out in clumps & on closer inspection there were lots of orange 'dots' moving around at the base of his hair! I checked my other pigs & they all had 'dots' of varying degrees but poor BillyPig was the worst by far. I dashed straight out and bought mite shampoo, spray and also cage spray & all 9 pigs had a bath last night and a spray this morning along with their cage which has been cleaned & sprayed x2. As they are indoor pigs the only way I can think that they have got mites (I am assuming that is what they are) is from the hay I have been using for the past couple of weeks - a friend who has horses gave me a bale from her yard, whereas usually I buy hay from PAH. What I was wondering is will the bath/spray treatment have done the job or am I better off taking the pigs to the vets for injectable treatment (only ever had 1 pig with mites & that was years ago but cleared up after 1 injection from vet). Also, is there any way that I can treat the hay to get rid of the mites (steaming like you would do for horses maybe?) or is it best to just chuck the hay & stick to packaged stuff. Thanks for any advice. Sorry for the essay! :)) xx
 
Mites are not visible to the naked eye. You have described lice. Try Flea or Die, or Lice and Easy shampoos.
It is virtually impossible to prevent lice. Just use good quality meadow hay and, if need be, give the pigs a monthly bath. On the whole lice are more of a nuisance than anything else.
Hair tends to come out if the pig has fungal problem.
If you give the pig's hair a good rub and black bits, non-moving appear, that is a sign of mites. Mites are treated by Ivomec. The usual advice, worth following, is to treat for all conditions.
 
Thanks for that info. I've just been surfing the net as well & have totally confused myself - between all the pigs they have signs of lice, mites AND fungal infection! Will get some lice shampoo & give them all another bath later on & will give the vet a shout on Monday as well. Will definitely chuck the bale of hay - back to pre-packaged, treated stuff from now on! Thanks. xx :)
 
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