Small Brown Bug in my Guinea Pigs Fur?

[MrGreyFish]

Two months ago I rescued two baby female piggies and since then they have been a dream, seeming very happy and cosy with their cage!

However, today I noticed a small brown bug crawling in the fur of one of the pigs. We have searched the fur of both for more bugs and could not find anymore, neither seem to be in any discomfort and there is no sign of fur loss. Is this normal? Or is this something I should be going to the vets for.

Thank you!

 

[Wiebke]

Two months ago I rescued two baby female piggies and since then they have been a dream, seeming very happy and cosy with their cage!

However, today I noticed a small brown bug crawling in the fur of one of the pigs. We have searched the fur of both for more bugs and could not find anymore, neither seem to be in any discomfort and there is no sign of fur loss. Is this normal? Or is this something I should be going to the vets for.

Thank you!

Hi and welcome!

The only visible skin parasites are lice. Pregnant sows with an immune system working on overload are particularly vulnerable to skin parasites and other opportunistic issues that are usually fended off by a healthy piggy with a fully functional immune system.

Please see a vet tomorrow and do NOT treat on spec with a low dosed broad spectrum pet shop product; especially not any pregnant piggy. There is a lot of conflicting information around as to the use of ivermectin in pregnant sows, so you want to discuss any suitable treatment with your vet. it sounds like you have noticed it very early on.

New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites

 

[Merab]

Welcome to the forum.
Hope you get a vet appointment quickly and can get your girl treated before it becomes too nasty.

 

[MrGreyFish]

Thank you for the advice guys, we are going to get them checked up as soon as and hopefully it won't be anything too bad! They both seem happy enough today which is nice.

 

[Merab]

Let us know how things go

 

[MrGreyFish]

Hi all,

Thank you again for your advice, took the girls to the vet on Monday and she couldn't find any bugs herself! She said seeing a bug in their fur every so often is normal but to make sure there weren't several bugs at any given time and that the pigs didn't seem in particular discomfort, scratching and chewing their fur constantly.

Sorry for the late update, been a busy week

 

[Merab]

Glad there’s nothing to worry about.
You must feel relieved