BLACK CRAWLING BUG IN HAY

[Harry&Mo]

I bought some hay off Timothy hay about 2 months ago but I’ve just noticed small crawling tiny dots coming out of they hay. What are they? Will they take over my house? Will they live in my furniture?

I’m freaking out!

 

[piggl]

I do not have any experience with hay mites/parasites but I would chuck the hay out as soon as possible.
I would do a full change of the cage and clean of the cage, and maybe even the room they are in.

They may be harmless but it will be best to get rid of any evidence of them as soon as possible. It would be best to get your pigs checked out by a vet as well.
There is more about such here -
New Guinea Pig Problems: Sexing & Pregnancy; URI, Ringworm & Parasites; Vet Checks & Customer Rights
Guinea Lynx :: Parasites

 

[Lady Kelly]

Highly unlikely to be hay mites as they aren't visible to the human eye however I wouldn't want hay in my house crawling with insects

 

[Piggies&buns]

 

[Wiebke]

I bought some hay off Timothy hay about 2 months ago but I’ve just noticed small crawling tiny dots coming out of they hay. What are they? Will they take over my house? Will they live in my furniture?

I’m freaking out!

Hi

Please take a deep breath.

What you are seeing are no hay mites. They themselves are pretty much invisible to the naked eye. The black dots of hay mites are the tiny unmoving egg cases which they fix to the hairs of guinea pigs at the bum end and preferably the undercoat hairs first. Anything dark that moves is not a hay mites egg case and cannot survive on a guinea pig.

The only visible guinea pig parasites are pale crawling lice.
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites

Anything dark and visible that moves are just bugs that have accidentally hatched in the hay after harvesting. Please take a picture of the insects as proof, bind up the bag and either take it back to the shop or inform the online seller. You should be offered a replacement. Hay is a natural product, so occasionally you find stuff in there that should not be there. It is for the most part harmless.

Just try to get hold of the bugs that are loose and dispose of them. Give the room and cage a deep clean afterwards but please do not fret; it is just a nuisance and nothing worse. Keep an eye on your piggies hairs for egg cases (they are like ever so tiny beads when feel the hairs at the bum end) over the coming days if you really worry.

 

[piggl]

I apologize if I worried you at all.
I was not aware that guinea pigs did not have any particularly noticeable parasites aside from lice. My grandmother used to foster rescue pigs from all sorts of backgrounds and one had little black bugs crawling all over it (was traced to the hay that came with them) which turned into an whole thing of everything needing deeply cleaned, so I thought I would share that but as I said, I was not aware that this is not correct, although it does leave me wondering what was going on with my grandmothers piggies.

I hope when you disposed of/returned the hay, that is the end of it x

 

[Bill & Ted]

That’s not nice! We bought a bale of hay only to find the house crawling with caterpillars. Harmless but not what you want inside your house

 

[TheLittlePig]

I bought some hay off Timothy hay about 2 months ago but I’ve just noticed small crawling tiny dots coming out of they hay. What are they? Will they take over my house? Will they live in my furniture?

I’m freaking out!

I just bought Kaytee Timothy hay just last week and found hay beetles aka blister bugs in my hay and the toxin they secret causes blisters on human skin and can cause some gastrointestinal issues if ingested, I had to clear out my entire enclosure bedding and all.

 

[TheLittlePig]

The tan ones are what I found in my hay but it looks like they come in all sorts of colors