Yuck, lice!

[wheek!guinea]

Hi guinea friends! I hope you’re all doing well.

Kade turns 4 months old tomorrow and had his first vet appointment today. Everything went well except the vet found lice all over him.

For some background, about 1½ years ago before my guinea pig Glacier passed away, he had lice briefly. His infestation was minimal. Around 2 months after he passed, my other pig Koji, who is now 5 years old, had one visible lice. Our vet had us treat him just in case, and I fully disinfected everything. I even put the bedding out in the garage during winter for two days. After that, we had no issues until now.

Fast forward to today, Kade has a significant lice infestation. The vet prescribed Revolution for both Koji and Kade. Kade has not been excessively itchy, so it really caught me off guard. Especially since I thought we’d successfully ended the lice regime.

They are housed in a C&C cage with GuineaDad fleece liners. I spot clean twice daily and deep clean weekly. I will be replacing all fleece bedding as a precaution.

I have never had recurring lice issues before and never figured out how Glacier got them in the first place.
My questions

• Where do guinea pig lice typically come from?

• Do I need to replace the chloroplast base and C&C grids?

• Could lice survive in areas other than the fleece and re-contaminate new bedding? This is one of my biggest concerns since the liners aren’t cheap.

(For reference, I am in the U.S. and the vet prescribed topical Revolution.)


Thank you in advance!

 

[piggieminder]

My understanding of lice is that they come in the hay, it seems to be a bigger problem in the US than in the UK although we do get them. Doing a thorough cage clean with a vet grade disinfectant and hot washing your fleece should sort out the cage and bedding, no need to throw away. I would thoroughly clean the room the piggies are in and wash your clothes that you have worn while you handled them. Throw away any hay that you were using at the time they became infected. I would go through their hair at every weekly health check so you spot any reinfestation before it can really take hold. Lice are tiny but can be spotted if they move when you part the hair whereas mites are invisible to the eye.
Good luck.

 

[wheek!guinea]

My understanding of lice is that they come in the hay, it seems to be a bigger problem in the US than in the UK although we do get them. Doing a thorough cage clean with a vet grade disinfectant and hot washing your fleece should sort out the cage and bedding, no need to throw away. I would thoroughly clean the room the piggies are in and wash your clothes that you have worn while you handled them. Throw away any hay that you were using at the time they became infected. I would go through their hair at every weekly health check so you spot any reinfestation before it can really take hold. Lice are tiny but can be spotted if they move when you part the hair whereas mites are invisible to the eye.
Good luck.

Thank you so much! I was 100% suspecting the hay too and this confirmed it for me. I switched from Oxbow to my local tractor store. It’s a cheaper option and accessible but definitely not worth the lice on my little guys.