guinea pig mites ??

[andrea315]

Has anyone ever had a pig with these we have reserved two guinea pigs that we were due to get last week but the breeder kept hold of them because they contacted mites do you think we should still get them or not ? They are 7 weeks old this week.

[fortifiedwithtea]

Yes the breeder has been decent to tell you about the mites. Sounds like the breeder is getting the mites treated before letting you have them.

Any piggie can get mites. They are very common. They pick them up from hay. Touch wood mine haven't had any since we stopped buying hay from P@H.

My boars (RIP) had afew doses. The vet confirmed it by rubbing selotape over the skin and looking at the tape under the microscope for the mites. Treatment was an injections followed up with another (?) days later. The injections hurt, poor piggies. You can buy from the vet a preventative lotion you spread on their backs once a month, but its expensive.

Be patient, you'll have lovely baby piggies in 2 weeks time [busmile].

[andrea315]

Thank you We will be they are lovely little pigs he said they had had drops not injections should they have had injections ? He did say he had been to vets and brother and mum had cleared up now.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Provided your breeder does a proper treatment then it will get rid of them.

Your babies are too young for treatment shampoos (they need to be 12 weeks but look at the Gorgeous Guineas website to buy some of their lovely treatment and conditioning shampoos. It's always good to have some essentials in your Guineas First Aid Box)

I use Xeno 450 drops on my furbabies necks - but be aware not everyone agrees with this. There's reports of animals reacting but touch wood, no problems with mine and I've used it for a year. Just have to make sure they don't groom it off each other.
Mine are lardy adults who graze outside - it protects against internal parasites too. Worms (ugh). You need to make sure they are up to minimum weight (which yours won't be)

And you have to be careful not to 'double dose' them (Xeno 450 has Ivermectin. So does the treatment I bought for FlyStrike. So I couldn't use the Flystrike treatment. But the main way to prevent flystrike is good animal hygiene and twice daily rump checking- DD does that )

Your breeder won't let your guineas go until they're ready it's not in their interest as a breeder. But check what they've used and be aware in the future what to check for.



They need a Xeno spot soon, this has reminded me.

[andrea315]

He has been using ivemectin he said but they can only have half a pipet at a time he has sent me some photos and they have lost fur near eyes and bum so we are waiting till it grows back what do you think I should get in for when they arrive?

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

andrea the drops are fine for a mild infestation providing they do the complete course (there's a follow up after IIRC 10 days or so)

Some people use an oral treatment.
The Xeno 450 is for 800g + (which is over 1lb in old money) .

Gorgeous guineas has some melts if the skin is a bit dry (but again check if the treatment is ok for mini-pigs)

Are your guineas smooth or fancy coated?
My little guinea boy has a few half hearted rossettes and where the skin shows it can look a bit dry sometimes. (But not flakey or dusty)

[fortifiedwithtea]

It's best to treat the whole herd as mites spread among piggies. Abit like head lice amongst kids. BTW I don't think mites can transfer to humans well I've never had them.

I would imagine treatment by drops alone would take longer but certainly kinder. I guess its down to individual vets, ours likes injections, others may prefer the other method.

Let us know when you have your new piggies and we shall all want to see photos [bugrin].

[andrea315]

There are photos on my profile of before the mites and I will add some of them with the mites tomorrow they got the mites over 2 weeks ago and are still being treated they are creasted guineas :)