Black specks - Lice?

[louiser]

Hi everyone

I gave Pickle a bath at the weekend and used a GG melt on him first, I noticed on my hands there were tiny black specks, is this lice?

Thanks for any help

Lou

 

[moonie8404]

no this is not lice. lice are a white creamy colour and wiggle around. they are about 1-2mm long. MY guinea had them really bad - i found them after i had just bought him, poor little mite, but i got him treated at the vets and they all cleared up.

I am not sure what this is but i dont think it is anything to worry about.

 

[MemberX]

The lice my pigs have at the moment are creamy coloured I am not sure if they can change colour like human lice. Just check the fur for anything wiggling about.

 

[maryh]

The black specs could be eggs from the lice,or,just bits of dried skin.

 

[louiser]

I can't see anything wriggling or creamy colour. He's skin looks fine, maybe he was just very dirty!

 

[louiser]

Thinking about it, he does love to play in his hay and bury himself, so might be dirt/dust bits from that!

 

[daftscotslass]

Is he dark coloured? I have a black and white piggy and there are forever black flecks in his white fur but it's just small skin flakes.

 

[MarthaAndMaud]

The black lice that you are describing could very well be static lice. These look like tiny paticles of dust to the human eye and don't appear to be moving but get them under a microscope and you can see them crawling about. They appear mostly around the hind legs.

It is a very common problem at the moment but they are nothing to worry about. They can easily be treated with GG lice n easy or neem. Alternatively I have heard of people using Johnson's mite and lice spray that is designed for birds. However personally, I always use GG.

Hope this helps
Claire
xx

 

[louiser]

Yes he is mostly black.

I had bathed him with GG lice n easy on saturday and I'll do it again this weekend just incase.