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Please help - I think my piggies have lice

  • Thread starter Thread starter Pinky & Perky's Mum
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Pinky & Perky's Mum

Have just been cuddling Pinky and noticed two tiny yellow coloured things crawling around in her crown area - both Pinky and Perky have very smooth fur with a crown on the top of their heads. Last week I noticed what looked like black specks in the same area & didn't really think much of it but now I am wondering if they were eggs. :...

Both Pinky & Perky scratch themselves but assumed this was normal until now.

Am I right in thinking these are running lice that I have seen, they are tiny & only just about noticeable when I look very very closely.

Also, don't know whether this is connected or not but Perky has recently become a lot more nervous about being picked up, she used to freeze as if scared but let us hold & stroke her but the other day she let out a squeal when my boyfriend picked her up which scared us so he put her straight back down. She is still trying to avoid being picked up although seemed ok when I picked her up for a short while yesterday. Haven't noticed anything lice like on Perky so far but surely if Pinky has them Perky will too?

What confuses me is that we have had them since mid Feb and bought a massive bag of hay which we still haven't finished, despite ensuring they always have a supply of it & we have taken them to the vet twice since we got them, once a week after we got them for a check up and once since then to get their nails clipped, and she checked them all over & didn't find anything so if they have caught them from the hay - why only now seeing as it is the same bag? :{

What do I need to do to treat them as won't be able to get to the vets until Saturday now!

They have a cage lined with vet bed - which is changed and washed twice a week - we have two lots so put one in & clean the other - so they are kept clean but do I need to get rid of this in case lice are living in it?

Sorry for all the questions but want to get this sorted as soon as possible for them.

Thank you in advance for any advice anyone can give me.
 
Extremely common in guinea pigs.
Shampooing is probably the best treatment.
Lice and Easy or Flea or Die are good shampoos.
You could try washing the Vet Bed at 90C
There is nothing really, at a practical level, you can do to stop the problem.
 
Don't worry, mine had running lice too, I went into panic mode! I used the shampoo from Gorgeous Guineas, Lice N Easy, very fast delivery but I itched for days too! rolleyes

http://www.gorgeousguineas.com/index.html

They are very helpful at Gorgeous Guineas and you can email for help and advice.
 
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Thats strange that they have them only now, after being with you 3 months. I wonder how that could have happened? Are the inside?

Do live transfer from Dog to Pig? Do you have dogs? If so I wonder if dogs have brought the lice in the house?

Anyone shed any light on how piggies get lice?
 
LennyPig said:
Thats strange that they have them only now, after being with you 3 months. I wonder how that could have happened? Are the inside?

Do live transfer from Dog to Pig? Do you have dogs? If so I wonder if dogs have brought the lice in the house?

Anyone shed any light on how piggies get lice?
Click to expand...

This happened to my piggies too, I assumed that they could catch from the grass when out in the run ?
 
I wondered that, thats why I asked if they are inside? it would make sense to me.

Pesky little critters! (the lice not the guineas lol )
 
LennyPig said:
I wondered that, thats why I asked if they are inside? it would make sense to me.

Pesky little critters! (the lice not the guineas lol )
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more, my skin crawled for days!!
 
Thanks for all of the replies & advice.

They live in the house & don't go outside & we don't have any other pets so I have no idea how they have caught them - if it was a new bag of hay it would make more sense but it's not.
 
then maybe YOU passed on lice to them :)) (only kidding!)

you've got me puzzled on this one.
 
interesting to know, thanks Nikki.

i thought lice couldn't survive of a "host" though? or is that fleas?
 
Lice are very strange.
I have many pigs, including two pigs living together and have been using the same bale of hay for a month. A few days ago I noticed that one of them was covered in lice, but her cagemate wasn't - and nor were the rest of my gang! So out of 26 pigs, only one had the lice..how weird? mallethead
I use Johnson's Insecticidal Spray and they're all gone now.
They're really common too so don't worry :)
 
Thanks everyone, I feel a lot better now that I know they are common and not my fault!

One other question though, I have ordered some lice n easy from gorgeous guineas but will my piggies know to close their eyes when we rinse them? I don't want to hurt them! Sorry if that is a stupid question! :red
 
What you do is shampoo the body then use some of the foam (not shampoo) on their faces, then rinse - they'll work it out!

Also it's really important to repeat it 7 days later as instructed - it can look like the first shampoo has done the trick but if you don't repeat it then the eggs hatch and it starts all over again

Sophie
x
 
I treated all of mine over the last couple of weeks, even though only one pig had lice. I used the Lice 'n' Easy, it's great stuff. I also used conditioner afterwards (not necessary as Lice 'n' Easy already contains conditioners, I only used it as Gwen was *covered* in black specks and she's a semi-long-hair).

Could be that the lice had camped out in a nice, snug bit far down in the bag. How they survived, if they did, is anyones guess!
 
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