Anyone know what this is?

[Bettyb26]

Hello,

These dark red flecks have appeared on Eugene’s back end this afternoon and I have no idea what they are? They don’t appear to be moving and he has chewed one side but his skin isn’t broken or anything. It definitely wasn’t there yesterday

 

[Engel]

In all honesty it's difficult to say. Could be lice/flea dirt or it could be gunk from the grease gland. I'd get it checked out by a vet.

 

[Bettyb26]

In all honesty it's difficult to say. Could be lice/flea dirt or it could be gunk from the grease gland. I'd get it checked out by a vet.

Yeah I will do, annoying that they are closed tomorrow . Thank you

 

[Piggies&buns]

Definitely have it checked by a vet.

Guinea pigs don’t get fleas but they can get mites. Mite egg casings will look like black specks stuck to the hair shaft usually on the back end.

 

[Bettyb26]

Definitely have it checked by a vet.

Guinea pigs don’t get fleas but they can get mites. Mite egg casings will look like black specks stuck to the hair shaft usually on the back end.

Yeah I will definitely get him there asap, just wanted to see if anyone knew what it was. Thank you

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

Here is more information on guinea pig specific skin parasites and your customer rights with newly bought guinea pigs: New Guinea Pig Problems: Sexing & Pregnancy; URI, Ringworm & Parasites; Vet Checks & Customer Rights

 

[Bettyb26]

Hi

Here is more information on guinea pig specific skin parasites and your customer rights with newly bought guinea pigs: New Guinea Pig Problems: Sexing & Pregnancy; URI, Ringworm & Parasites; Vet Checks & Customer Rights

That’s great thank you!

 

[Free Ranger]

If it mites or lice it's simple to treat in the UK with a vet strength product. We usually get a spot-on lotion with repeat doses every 2 weeks. White piggies are very handy for spotting this type of thing! If Eugene is living with a friend or friends please let the vet know as all pigs should be treated at the same time. Before you start feeling too itchy you should know that people don't suffer from piggy mites or lice - they stay on the pigs!

 

[Bill & Ted]

Poor piggie, hope you can get some treatment very soon

 

[Bettyb26]

If it mites or lice it's simple to treat in the UK with a vet strength product. We usually get a spot-on lotion with repeat doses every 2 weeks. White piggies are very handy for spotting this type of thing! If Eugene is living with a friend or friends please let the vet know as all pigs should be treated at the same time. Before you start feeling too itchy you should know that people don't suffer from piggy mites or lice - they stay on the pigs!

Him and his brother live separately but side by side, Eddie seems ok atm but will keep checking. Would you happen to know if mites can live in carpet? They both run around our front room so I am reluctant to let Eddie out now in case he can catch it from there but I can’t find much info about that online? Thank you

 

[Free Ranger]

If they are close to each other they will have had the chance to spread them. Mites die without a nice fat piggy to feast on but the mites/lice can be transferred in the environment and on the owner from one to another. When I had 2 pairs as neighbours and one of the four had clear symptoms we had to treat everyone!

I do the spot-on (for adult pigs it's called Xeno-450 and contains Ivermectin at a strong dose) and leave them a day or so for it to kill the mites or lice then blitz out the cages. If any mites have fallen off they have chance to climb back on and die! A lot of folks use F10 disinfectant which kills pretty much everything but I don't go that far as I have the plastic tray type of set up so I use very hot water and white vinegar on anything washable, bung all the fleeces in the wash and chuck any cardboard things. If you have wooden stuff maybe F10 is the way to go though.

2 weeks later the whole process is repeated. This is because ivermectin kills live critters but not eggs so you have to let any eggs hatch out. Then ideally 2 weeks later you do another dose to catch any stragglers. It takes about 3 weeks from hatching to breeding maturity so you are catching the bugs before they can lay any eggs of their own.

Xeno-450 comes in a box of 6 little plastic pipettes so if you have 2 pigs that's quite handy!