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Scratching !

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Claire K

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Hi,

I have had 2 female guinea's for just over a week and over the last 4 or so days, I have noticed them scratching. How do i determine if they are scratching excessively or not or whether this is normal scratching?

I was wondering how its best to determine what is wrong woth them before I treat them. I have looked at the lice and easy shampoo but it states that its only for piggies 12 weeks or over and mine are only 8 weeks old!

I am not even sure if we are talking lice or mites as there are no bald patches etc!

Please help as I am really worried about them!

Claire :...
 
Hello to another Claire

and welcome
i am also a new piggie owner although i am at 6 weeks now so have gone through everything you are going through

there are some real experts on her so sure you will get good advice

i would just say scratching is normal - look for hair loss or flaky skin along with scratching before you panic
 
Hi There,

They have not been treated for mites yet - can you advise the best treatment for them.

Have not noticed any hair loss or flaky skin.

What is the best thing to treat them with at only 8 weeks old and can it be used as a precautionary measure just in case they have them?

Thanks so much for your help

Claire
 
If they are scratching with real vigour, it's most probably mites. I recommend you to take them to the vet and have them determine what to give as they are so young.

They can be scratching more often (but not with the same intensity) if they have come from an outdoors hutch to live in the drier air indoors.

Otherwise, contact http://www.gorgeousguineas.com They give advice as well as selling their skin products.
 
Ivermectin is the best for lice and mites - but I would contact your vet first to find out if they can have it at 8 weeks but I am sure they can because a runt I rescued at 3 weeks had mites and she was treated not long after...

I would excessive itching is when they appear to be getting irritant to having to itch, I wouldnt say my piggies scratch more than once an hour so I would keep an eye if it was in much excess to this.

What kind of area do they live in? Places of high humidity are likely to cause fungal infections.

Are they malting at all? Try lightly pulling on their hair and if alot comes out then it may be this, especially if attached to the end of the hair is skin.

Lice are visable so you probably would have noticed them (they are small and white), but mites arent visable to the human eye.

But as someone has said I would take them to a cavy-savy vet and get them checked but make sure they dont do skin scrapping to discover if its fungal because its unnecessary and quite painful for the pig.

it important it is done soon because both mites and fungal infection can get quite serious.
 
Just to add on to that I just looked at their old bills and we got Xeno 50 for the 2 younger pigs at that time whislt the eldest had Ivermectin. Hope that helps.
 
Hi, Thanks for all your advice.

Can you get Xeno 50 from anywhere other than vets or is it prescribed by vet only?

Can it be used as a preventative measure if i am not sure they def have them!
 
Have made a vets appoinment for this afternoon to get the xeno 50 for them to be on the safe side - does anyone know how long it takes to work and is it completely safe for my babies?
 
Yes, it is safe. The drops go on the back of the neck, very little chance of them ingesting any - even if they did, Ivermectin can be given orally, so it is highly unlikely to be of any risk to them.

They will need a minimum of two treatments, 7-10 days apart. You should see a reduction in scratching within 2-3 days.
 
Update re Scratching

Hi, Just to let you know, I have taken the babies to the vets and they have Lice !

Have had their first dose of Xeno 50 -mini and require a second dose in 14 days.

Thank you to everyone for their advice today.

Claire
 
"I have been given the tubes to do myself"

Do you have problems with mites?
 
I did actually mean that I have the tubes to give to the piggies myself so in answer to your question - no i do not have mites!

Thanks for your concern though !
 
That is a problem with a scientific background, there can be no room for ambiguity.
 
Another thing, I don't have much of a sense of "humor" when it comes to spelling mistakes!!
However, I am prepared to be tolerant to those in Australia.
 
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