Worms

Zorro1

Zorro1

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Mar 16, 2021
Messages
4,509
Reaction score
2,911
Points
975
Location
TNQ, Australia
Hello,
My 13 week old guinea pig has a light, minor case of worms. I'm not sure what type of worm he has, but I was wondering if worms are transmittable from a guinea pig to a human.
Do I have to sterilize my hands after touching my piggy? Should I take safety precautions when handling my piggy?
Thanks
 
No, haven't taken him to the vet. Hoping the "Aristopet Small Animal Wormer" will get rid of the issue.
 
Should I be careful of him transmitting the worm to people? Should I take safety precautions when handling him?
 
:agr:

You should never be tempted to self diagnose and use any products yourself. A vet is the only person who can make a diagnosis and prescribe the correct treatment. You can do more harm than good using off the shelf products as they are often ineffective thereby make the problem worse and delay starting the treatment which will actually help.

What evidence have you seen that he has worms?

We cannot answer your questions regarding transmission because we do not know what sort of worms he may have, plus piggies picking up worms in the UK is a very rare event.
 
I agree piggie needs treatment off a vet,
Worms are horrible and its defo not piggies fault, before it gets worse pls seek help,
 
Please don’t self-diagnose. You are not qualified nor experienced. I would strongly suggest you don’t use any meds you’ve bought yourself. Firstly, even those suitable for piggies aren’t strong enough. Secondly, you don’t know what ingredients are in the dewormer. And thirdly you could end up masking the real problem, or lack thereof.

Please have him checked by the vet soon. How are you getting on with finding him a friend? I remember you saying you’ve made progress. Did you contact the rescues that were recommended to you? He really is too young to be living alone. He will really bloom once he has a friend.
 
Ok, thanks for your golden advice. 🙂
Because my piggy was alone, I needed to give him a friend. I introduced a new piggy without quarantine! :doh:
Very Sadly, the two guinea pigs didn't get along at all and had to return the bought one. :( The reason why I think my piggy may have worms, is the piggy I introduced was FILTHY. And was formerly kept in a very dirty cage. I thought she must have worms because she was unbelievably filthy. Because I hadn't quarantined it I thought my piggy might have worms. And was thinking of treating him just incase.
Looking back, he might not have worms. :hmm:
 
You should not be introducing a sow to your boar. That would be intentional breeding. If you go back to one of your threads (unfortunately I can’t remember which one) you were given the names of a few rescues. It would be better to contact them and see about getting him bonded.

Buying a piggy can lead to incompatibility so you must have a plan b. But leaving him alone isn’t an option.

Being in a dirty cage won’t necessarily mean piggy has worms. They may have come with something else but I think worms are rare.
 
:agr: As @Siikibam said, worms are rare. I’ve had one piggie with a Giardia infection but this can only be identified with lab analysis following a vet visit.
Intestinal worm burden is common in larger mammals but not so much piggies or rodents.
It is of utmost importance than you get the piggy seen by a vet for correct diagnosis. Never medicate yourself.
 
If one of the piggies involved is under four months of age then you must not quarantine anyway. Piggies under four months are too young to be alone so it is right to not go through the two week quarantine process given their high need for social interaction. Where a piggy under four months is involved, you do need to take the risk of one bringing and illness in and then (had the bond been successful) have treated them both if the new one had indeed brought something in.

When we mentioned to you before about quarantining the new piggy it was on the basis that you still had the other boars at that time so no piggy was actually alone (even if they had fallen out and had to live in separate cages). Now you only have one piggy and while he is under four months, quarantine cannot happen. Using a rescue centre to find a new friend will help on many fronts, including compatibility, and as rescue piggies are health checked prior to being rehomed the risk of bringing something in is greatly reduced.
 
Natalie Clancy said:
Ok, thanks for your golden advice. 🙂
Because my piggy was alone, I needed to give him a friend. I introduced a new piggy without quarantine! :doh:
Very Sadly, the two guinea pigs didn't get along at all and had to return the bought one. :( The reason why I think my piggy may have worms, is the piggy I introduced was FILTHY. And was formerly kept in a very dirty cage. I thought she must have worms because she was unbelievably filthy. Because I hadn't quarantined it I thought my piggy might have worms. And was thinking of treating him just incase.
Looking back, he might not have worms. :hmm:
Click to expand...

Quarantining isn't recommended for very young pigs as the need for socialisation is paramount. How did you do the introduction? What actually happened?
 
I introduced them on neutral ground (a space that both piggies didn't know), and I provided 2 of everything and a lot of hiddies. I kept my existing piggy in a carrier cage where he could see and sniff, but not interact with the other piggy. The reason why I did this is so that his initial excitement would eventually pass, and the interaction would be more calm. Once I let my piggy out of the cage, he was all over the other piggy. This is normal, but the new guinea was not comfortable with him around and the more time they spent together the more she was scared of him and would not come out of hiding and the other piggy would not leave her alone. 🙁
 
You don’t put hideys in the neutral territory bonding pen. It should just be empty except for a pile of hay.
Obviously we didn’t see the interaction, but a hormonal young boar meeting a sow can cause quite a stir and his reaction of being over the top would be expected.

I know we have mentioned it before, but do be careful with spayed sows - make sure you see vet records to prove the spay has actually taken place. If it was a private seller with cages that are filthy, then I’d be concerned they were saying they were spayed to make it off to ‘off load’ her.
 
Last edited:
Natalie Clancy said:
The female I attempted to bond with my male, was spayed.
Click to expand...
Aw that’s good then, no babies 😄
Poor piggie sounded like she needed a good home, such a shame that she was living in such awful conditions and very dirty but I doubt that she would have intestinal worms which is extremely rare in guinea pigs. Have you actually witnessed any worms on your piggies bottom or in his droppings?
Occasionally people find tiny clear worms in the corner of their poo corner, these tend to be fruit fly lava which feed on decaying vegetable matter I.e. poop, and leftover veggies, while they look horrid and people think they have come from their piggie, they haven’t, it can be corrected by poop picking and a more regular clean out
 
I made sure she was spayed. Thanks for your concern.
I didn't know that I shouldn't have put hiddies in there. 😟
And thankfully, I didn't see any worms.
 
How old was the sow and where/who did you get her from? And what evidence were you shown/given that she had been spayed?
 
Natalie Clancy said:
Hello,
My 13 week old guinea pig has a light, minor case of worms. I'm not sure what type of worm he has, but I was wondering if worms are transmittable from a guinea pig to a human.
Do I have to sterilize my hands after touching my piggy? Should I take safety precautions when handling my piggy?
Thanks
Click to expand...

Please always use good hygiene and wash your hands thoroughly after handling any pet and in between pets; especially with a potentially transmittable problem. Deep clean their cage very regularly during and especially at the end of the course of treatment and do not put them outside on the lawn during this time or for some time to come. If the worms have been transmitted by another pet, you may want to review your use of lawn space.
We cannot comment on whether the worm variety you are dealing with is transmittable or not without knowing what exactly you are dealing with.

Please see a vet a for a diagnosis and vet strength treatment. Please be aware that broad spectrum pet shop stuff is generally low dosed for prevention purposes (although it is one of main contributors to creating resistance issues) and will not necessarily cut through an acute infection. If you have other pets, please mention this to your vet. In the case of parasites, it is usually ultimately cheaper to tackle the problem properly with a correct diagnosis, proper hygiene and good quality treatment than turning it into a long running frustrating saga with false economy.

All the best!

@PigglePuggle
 
Was there any way to safeguard the welfare of the piggy who was kept in bad conditions?

I've just bought that painting by numbers in your avatar, it's beautiful. Have you done it?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top