Should i worm?

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JellyBelly

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Erm should i worm my guinea pigs?
I have five now so i wouldn't want them all to get ill.
What does worming do?
What does it involve?
 
I have never wormed my piggies - although they have had Beapher (spelling?) ivermection which I'm told has a worming thing in it.
 
Some gp experts advocate that the piggies should be wormed every 6 months,alternating with Panacar and Ivermectin.

Panacur is a sheep wormer which is effective against intestional worms,but these are very rare in gps.

Ivermectin is an antiparasitic which kills external mites.

I only use Ivermectin if a piggy has mites which I cannot get rid of with GGs shampoos and melts.These generally do work.

I do not use Panacur because my pigs live indoors and do not have access to grass which may have been contaminated by foxes,dogs etc.

I also strongly beleive that the use of anthelmintics and pesticides as a routine precaution,could result in the worms and mites becoming resistant to these drugs.A lot of the drugs used in the treatment of malaria have been used as prophylactics by travellers,and this has resulted in the drugs becoming inefective.

This is my personal opinion and I know some forom members will disagree with me,and in the end of course,it iis up to individual owners to do what they think is best for their pigs.
 
There are also natural wormers that can be used though they don't deal with mange mites, but if your guineas are regularly bathed (4-6 wheekly) this shouldn't be a problem. See SPH Supplies for more details. I personally don't (and wouldn't) give the one that piggie has to eat of his own accord as you don't know how much each pig is getting.
 
I have never wormed mine in all my years of keeping them so I am not going to start now :)
 
There's also a natural one you can dose but as usual I haven't bookmarked the site but will post it when I have it. The one above is molassed (don't know how much) and contains alfalfa which some pigs don't need.
 
So is it safe to say that worming every 3 months is simply not necessary?

I know the CCT offer it regularly... we have got our boys booked in to do it for the 2nd time next Friday, but now I'm having doubts :-\

I may still take them up to get a general checkup and ask Vedra to leave the Ivomec and worming, perhaps just get it done once a year instead? We rarely put ours in the garden as we have loads of damn cats and foxes, no doubt there are other rodents dashing about as well, so I wonder if it would be prudent to do it after the summer every year just in case? Is regular shampooing with the Manuka and Neem enough?
 
Its certainly not necessary but I've had two rescues this year with intestinal worms, both came in seperately. I think if you pick grass etc for them its worth doing and some say they're on the hay too- I have my doubts unless its wet hay so who knows? Definitely do it after the summer (I would get the second time done too). I have always believed that they should have the complete course not just a one off because that would encourage resistance.


Julie when I find the supplier of the natural worming product I'll PM you so you can have a read.

Edit: I would definitely worm if you have rabbits and would be using Valbazen as opposed to Panacur because its more effective against E Cunicculi
 
karenrgpr said:
Its certainly not necessary but I've had two rescues this year with intestinal worms, both came in seperately. I think if you pick grass etc for them its worth doing and some say they're on the hay too- I have my doubts unless its wet hay so who knows? Definitely do it after the summer (I would get the second time done too). I have always believed that they should have the complete course not just a one off because that would encourage resistance.


Julie when I find the supplier of the natural worming product I'll PM you so you can have a read.

Edit: I would definitely worm if you have rabbits and would be using Valbazen as opposed to Panacur because its more effective against E Cunicculi
Click to expand...

Thanks Karen

When you say, ''Definitely do it after the summer (I would get the second time done too). I have always believed that they should have the complete course not just a one off because that would encourage resistance. '' is a complete course 2 x worming (not sure which wormer CCT use, I don't think it's Panacur) and 2 Ivomec? Id didn't realise it was a course as such.
 
Sorry, will explain better :)

If you are going to worm your guineas with Ivomec (or Ivermectin product) then I think they should have it on day one and day 10. Vedra has changed her thinking then, she only used to recommend a one off dose of Ivermectin.

I don't use Panacur, I use Valbazen because its more effective against E Cunicculi but apart from that its the same as Panacur.

I don't know if you're going back for a second Ivermectin or Panacur/Valbazen (whatever Vedra uses).
 
Ah, right thanks - I don't think Vedra used Panacur, it may have been Valbazen, and there was talk about it being done every three months. As Dylan got bad runs shortly after it last time (whether coincidence or not), I think we may just ask her to give them a general check over rather than dosing them unneccessarily, perhaps just get them done once a year.

With so many differing views by so many qualified and experienced people I think it's really hard to know what to do :-\ Sorry to have hijacked your thread Jelly Belly.
 
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