Guinea pigs - mites in pet shop

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Britunes

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Hi, first time posting from a soon-to-be guinea pig owner - just hoping for some advice.

About a month ago I chose two guinea pigs from a local pet shop, and arranged for the shop to keep them until Christmas eve as they're going to be a surprise for the kids. We've just had a call from the shop to say the guinea pigs have had mites. They've been treated and moved to a different location. They've sent us photos, and there are small bald patches where they've been scratching. They assure us the hair will grow back and they'll be fine but we're a bit worried now, especially as we've never owned guinea pigs before. We'd appreciate any advice!

Thanks.
 
If I were you I would hold out and get them from a rescue. They’ll have been Heath checked and properly bonded. Pet shops (some) have a reputation of sexing incorrectly (= pups) and the piggies aren’t properly bonded. Rather just chosen to be put together.

It’s up to you if you still want them, but do go in with your eyes open. If you do decide to go for them then book them a vet appointment within a week of getting them. If they need further treatment you’re within your rights to have the shop pay the cost.
 
Sadly mites can be common in pet shop bought piggies.
Do you know if they were treated by a vet or whether the pet shop just gave them an off the shelf treatment and done it themselves? If it was an off the shelf treatment then do be aware that they generally aren’t strong enough to properly deal with the issue. Mite treatments need to be prescribed by a vet and given as part of a complete course over many weeks (with intervals between the treatments). if they were hay mites, then they are an issue which a lot of owners will come up against and it isn’t the end of the world but you do need to ensure it is dealt with properly. I would ask for evidence of vet treatment so the course can be completed and/or asking the pet shop to pay for ongoing treatment before you proceed to bring the piggies home. I’ll add in a guide below.

As siikibam has mentioned, do ensure you check the sexes of the piggies yourself. While a lot of piggies from pet shops will get on ok, there is the risk, as siikibam has said, of incompatibility issues as they grow up.

New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites

Are they boars or sows? Boars need more room than sows and a cage of 180cm x 60cm is recommended (150x60 at a minimum).
 
Thanks for the replies. They've been treated by a vet - its a small local pet shop with four branches, and the guinea pigs have been moved to the branch where the vet is based. It was my wife who took the call so I'm not sure of the exact details but they've been treated with a course of injections. We've been assured they're in good health and get on well together. The shop does have a good local reputation so I do trust them. There are noticeable patches of hair loss though.

Both pigs are boars. My wife chose them herself - she has had guinea pigs in the past and observed them for a while before choosing them. She already feels very attached to them so really doesn't want to give them up! She actually wants to go and get them today so that they're not left in the shop any longer.

We have a 2×4 C&C cage with a big loft section, so I think we should have plenty of room.
 
That’s good news. Hopefully they will get over it well and will be fine.

Do be aware that we recommend a 2x5 c&c for two boars. Boars more territorial, need more space and there is a risk a 2x4 won’t be enough, Mine were originally in A 2x4 equivalent, the teens hit and it clearly wasn’t big enough for them. You’ll have to see how it goes, but do be aware that changing cage size once they are in it will constitute a change in territory and can set off dominance issues.
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
 
Thats good to know - thank you. We'll keep a close eye on it.

My main worry was that this was a sign that they had been neglected in the shop, but from what I'm hearing that's not necessarily the case?
 
It’s not necessarily neglect. But piggies that start life bound for shops can often pick up illnesses where they’re living. If you are getting them please make sure the cage is 2x5 before you pick them up. It’s less disruptive to have the correct size now rather than changing it up later. And two of everything as well.
 
This might be a very naive question, but doesn't the loft section of the cage mean the cage is technically 5x2? The bottom level is 4x2, and then the loft provides the additional 1x2?
 
Hi!

In favour of the pet shop, it is good that they have informed you and that your piggies have been treated by a vet. We are usually contacted about pets that come with these problems...

You may find our comprehensive New Owners information collection very useful in the coming months and years; it is currently one of the best resources around. We are addressing all the most often asked questions and concerns in the kind of practical but precise detail that owners want; teach you how to settle in and make friends with your piggies, understand prey animal instincts and learn how to 'piggy whisper' to make friends more quickly, have a parents' guide; understanding behaviour; housing, diet and daily care; safe and unsafe enrichment; extreme weather protection; learning what is normal and what not, how to spot illness and what to do in an emergency etc. etc.
It might be useful to bookmark the link: Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides

You can access our full and even more extensive information resource easiest via the Guides shortcut on the top bar but of course you are always welcome to ask any questions in our specially monitored Care sections where we are doing our best that no thread goes unanswered and that they are being answered by the first experienced member coming on.
 
Britunes said:
This might be a very naive question, but doesn't the loft section of the cage mean the cage is technically 5x2? The bottom level is 4x2, and then the loft provides the additional 1x2?
Click to expand...

No it doesn’t , upper levels don’t count towards the cage size. Piggies are ground roaming, aren’t natural climbers, some won’t use ramps, so their cage needs to meet size requirements on ground level only. It’s fine to have a loft space, but it cannot be included as space, it’s a bonus only.
 
Welcome to the forum.
I can’t add anything to the advice but you sound as if you will be giving the boys a lovely home.
We will look forward to pictures when you get them.
 
The only thing I can add is that it would be useful to get the name of the treatment, the dose and the repeats. There are different types of mites and lice that you might get on guinea-pigs and, like finding nits on the kids, it's a faff but not a crisis in the early stages. We have used topical treatments for our pigs (ivermectin) so the amount you spot onto the skin depends on the weight of the animal. Then that is repeated after 2 weeks and again after another 2, because it kills the mites but not the eggs... they are left to hatch out and then the repeat dose nobbles them before they reach adulthood and lay eggs themselves! So if you're bringing the piggies home early (or even if you're not) it's worth knowing whether/when they might need a repeat dose. I've not heard of injections - but I'm not a vet! If they tell you it's a one-off treatment ask about whether it kills the eggs in case you end up back at square one.

The other thing my vet warned me about when we first encountered mites is that the treatment that kills them makes the mites 'spasm' so if the pigs are heavily infested (and it's hard to tell sometimes) actually treating them can trigger a scratching frenzy which can be a bit upsetting to watch (never mind for the poor piggies!) but this should be over quite quickly. Another forum member recently saw this in their boy and it seemed to calm down after a couple of hours so if you have to dose them yourself don't do it last thing at night because being tired and itchy must be the worst.

It doesn't necessarily mean neglect - perhaps only one pig brought them in to the group. They might have not been spotted or they might have been treated before but with the wrong regime of repeat doses. We've had them a couple of times when introducing new pigs - but we've also had lice which seemed to appear from nowhere! Maybe they arrived in the hay or maybe they dropped off some critter passing through the back garden... who knows. Good luck ☺
 
Mites can appear when the immune system is low my Christian (RIP) had mites in his last few days and passed it on to his wifelets before toddling off to The Rainbow Bridge. He certainly wasn't neglected. He was a lovely cheeky chappy who was cheeky to the end.
 
Sometimes if they're stressed like when they move to a new environment, they can catch things quite easily too, because stress can cause a lower immune system.
 
As someone who works at a vet inside a pet store...the store brings us a lot of pigs to treat who have ringworm or some other issue. The breeders these pigs come from are not the best people in the world. I would get from the petstore the name and contact info for the vet they are using, and see if they will continue treating the pigs after you have them. Pigs need routine vet care just like cats and dogs. And if they won't take them (for example, we only see the pet store's small animal, but not customers' small animals), find a vet who specializes in small animals. And please be sure you are commited to the life of these pigs for the next 7+ years, and have a plan for if/when the children lose interest.
 
I would actually advise someone to find their own vet rather than use the one the pet shop uses - if available.
 
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