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Possibly Lice

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CarnivalPiggy

Adult Guinea Pig
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I have found small brown things on the three piggies this morning. I'm pretty worried as they seem to be quite large. I'll post pictures in a minute.
 
Pretty sure I might see some leftovers from Ginny for diarrhoea on his private areas? I can't go today and I'm panicking. My granddad died recently and it's been havoc for my mum doing the funeral arrangements.
 
I can see them manifesting at the dozen right now on each piggy? I'd really really appreciate any help. I'm sure I can see blood marks from the bites.
 
Please have them seen by a vet as soon as possible, so he can treat according to his findings and the severity of the attack. Please don't treat on spec with a low-dosed spot-on product, as that may not be effective enough.I am not quite convinced that these are guinea pig lice.

If you REALLY can't get to a vet today or tomorrow, you can try the anti-parasitic shampoo from pets@home. We do not recommend it, but it may provide relief to your piggies for a day or two. You will have to tell that to the vet once you can see him, though!

Take your guinea pig off fresh food for a day and see a vet if he the poo doesn't firm up again within 24 hours or there is a deterioration/weight loss over 50g in that time.Weigh daily at the same time in the feeding cycle.

I am very sorry. These things tend to happen at the worst moment. :(
 
:D They don't look like any type of lice that I know of. They look more like seeds or grass heads to me. Have your piggies been out in long grass lately? Some grass heads have a sharp point and backward pointing barbs and can get worked into the skin. This would leave small pinpricks in the skin, like small bites. I think that most of the bloodsucking mites have round flat bodies. Hay mites (static lice) have long thin bodies with a dark thorax and transparent abdomen. Neither have long tails.
 
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:D They don't look like any type of lice that I know of. They look more like seeds or grass heads to me. Have your piggies been out in long grass lately? Some grass heads have a sharp point and backward pointing barbs and can get worked into the skin. This would leave small pinpricks in the skin, like small bites. I think that most of the bloodsucking mites have round flat bodies. Hay mites (static lice) have long thin bodies with a dark thorax and transparent abdomen. Nether have long tails.
Must admit I thought that too.
 
You can't usually see them on guinea's can you? The only things we've noticed when ours get them is either a V shape on their back which they have atm and are being treated or we have a white guinea and he had some dust type stuff on his rump. If you do think it's mite then the vets would be the best thing as they can do a tape test to find out if they have them and what type they are.
 
:D I have found hay mites on some of my pigs. They are on the bums and look like tiny specks of dirt stuck to the hair. If you shine a bright light on them, you can see them move. They don't like the light.
 
How embarrassing if they are hay bits :P Mind's on panic today so I haven't been looking too closely at the negatives before making them worse :mal: However I'm sure I saw something wriggling after looking at it for a few minutes. It was quite small and barely seeable even among one of my girls white hair (fur? ahah). I'm taking all three of them to Taverham on Saturday in any case. I have a feeling if there was anything it was from the hay as when I went to clan out the hay bit today it was atrocious, I didn't realise I piled up so much hay for them to use as a toilet instead of actually eating it.

I've done a tape test for Min before and nothing came out (though I'm sure it could have been dandruff :hmm:). In a bit of pickle currently as my mum accidently threw away most of their fleece thinking it was a normal black rubbish bag. I've been resorting their entire cage and run out of enough corex for anything more than currently a 2x5 or 6 ish. They'll only be in there for the night though and I'll finish it off tomorrow? Does that sound ok? I don't want to make the whole cage stink up because Ginny fires like a cannon and cause any infections through dirty cages.
 
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How embarrassing if they are hay bits :P Mind's on panic today so I haven't been looking too closely at the negatives before making them worse :mal: However I'm sure I saw something wriggling after looking at it for a few minutes. It was quite small and barely seeable even among one of my girls white hair (fur? ahah). I'm taking all three of them to Taverham on Saturday in any case. I have a feeling if there was anything it was from the hay as when I went to clan out the hay bit today it was atrocious, I didn't realise I piled up so much hay for them to use as a toilet instead of actually eating it.

I've done a tape test for Min before and nothing came out (though I'm sure it could have been dandruff :hmm:). In a bit of pickle currently as my mum accidently threw away most of their fleece thinking it was a normal black rubbish bag. I've been resorting their entire cage and run out of enough corex for anything more than currently a 2x5 or 6 ish. They'll only be in there for the night though and I'll finish it off tomorrow? Does that sound ok? I don't want to make the whole cage stink up because Ginny fires like a cannon and cause any infections through dirty cages.

Poor you! Sorry, my eyes are not the best, but on closer inspection, it rather looks like seed capsules; it doesn't look like lice.
You are all very much upset and under stress, so please don't beat yourself up right now. You have done the right thing in coming here for confirmation.

But I wouldn't do any treatment right now; there is no need as the immune system will keep any lice in check for a few days. They are not going to be overrun that quickly even if they have them, as they are well cared for.

I am very sorry for your bereavement.
 
Thank you for your kind words. I'm taking them on Saturday anyway as I'm worried about Ginny's stomach and they need a checkup anyway :D
 
So it turns out they do have a small amount of lice and awaiting treatement as the vet doesn't stock large amounts of it. The main concern is Ginny. He's at a low weight, but the vet at Taverham can't find anything wrong with him. She looked in his mouth and was very thorough compared to the Haven vets last time I was there with the guinea pigs (and much cheaper too! We were charged £30 today compared to Haven possibly costing £70+ and not doing as much). She said to keep an very large eye on his eating and separate him during eating time. If his weight drops any further, he'll be given an ultrasound.
 
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