Hay mites, help!

F&G

F&G

Junior Guinea Pig
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I got a hay from a farm a while ago and yesterday when I walked to my piggies room (utility room) I could see thousands of hay mites all over the room, on the window, walls everywhere! I disinfected the whole room with Dettol, whole bottle of Rentokil spray followed by insect spray from Johnson's veterinary, bined the hay, all accessories, including the cage and left it overnight. Today a few hours after wiping down the dead mites I could still see some of them! I really don't know what else to do.. I got another spray from Johnson's and sprayed the room and now I'm waiting to see what's gonna happen tomorrow. What else can I do? I also applied anti parasite drops on my piggies..

P.s the bugs are white
 
Could you hoover as many as possible up aswell and then chuck it as far away as possible after? I don't know. I had a tobacco beatle infestation, harmless but annoying and I hoover them all and chucked the contents of the hoover in the bin out side
 
That sounds like a catastrophe! Sorry this happened... Is it possible you could leave the hay in your garage or in your shed to bring the mites outside instead of in your home?
 
@AutumnThePig I got a new hay now, keep one half in a sealed bag and the other in the freezer but how can I get rid of those in the room :(?
 
F10 is a vet grade disinfectant (available on Amazon for one place) that would do the job well. I’m not sure how strong the Johnson’s sprays are for a deeper clean

A vet prescribed treatment for the piggies would also be wise. Any spot on treatments that you can buy off the shelf in pet shops often are not not recommended as they aren’t strong enough to cure the problem.
 
Hmm I'm not sure what is in your hay at all as hay mites aren't visible. To be honest I would just bin the hay and get some fresh stuff from somewhere
 
😱😱😱 they were visible and white, looked mature but today you could only see them with the torch on
 
It looks like this but I haven't really seen it on my piggies
 

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The black specks are generally egg casings from mites and are most commonly seen on the rump of piggies.
 
I would have a vet double check them for mites to be safe.
 
I'd throw all hay and sorry but clean with F10.
Try not to panic as you will get over this.
i live in a small village and get bags hay etc left at my door . . i never use it as i dont know where or whats in it. prob be 99 % ok seem you been unlucky you might need some wash from vets
I'm sure there's things on here that could help guys
 
Thank you David, I binned everything. It stresses me so much that I can't sleep. Hopefully I won't find any of them in the morning. The room smells like bleach so fingers crossed they're all dead..😭

Btw. Is it the one you're talking about?
 

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Lady Kelly said:
It doesn't sound typical of mites to me. How big were the bugs and could you see them moving?
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Yeah, if I put the torch on I can see super tiny white/yellowish moving bugs.
 
You welcome and try F.10. It's very good. you can also get friendly candles that will help with smell. Dam bugs eh
 
AutumnThePig said:
It's possible it could be lice.
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I don't know.. maybe.. they came back form a guinea pig hotel a week ago, maybe that's the reason? I have no idea.. but the amount of them was unbelievable
 
F&G said:
Yeah, if I put the torch on I can see super tiny white/yellowish moving bugs.
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It sounds like they could have lice then. I had an outbreak of lice once with mine but they are so tiny I could only really see them well on the black piggy. You could take them to a vet to confirm and then get an appropriate strength treatment to get rid of them
 
My pigs had lice recently. The vet noticed it while trimming their nails and treated them with Revolution. If it is lice, make sure that your other pets don't go near them because they can catch it too.
 
Wouldn't be it only on them though? It was everywhere in the room. I'll check them in the morning
 
F&G said:
Wouldn't be it only on them though? It was everywhere in the room. I'll check them in the morning
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Yea it should only be on them. Are you able to get a photo of the bugs?
 
AutumnThePig said:
My pigs had lice recently. The vet noticed it while trimming their nails and treated them with Revolution. If it is lice, make sure that your other pets don't go near them because they can catch it too.
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It's my understanding that lice are species specific which means they cannot be passed to, and survive on, other species of animals or humans.

From the guinea lynx page it also says that hay that has not been in contact with a guinea pig will not carry an infestation of lice. I'm wondering if you have managed to pick up a bad batch with a pest in @F&G but not one that's affecting the piggies
 
Maybe it's not lice then..I don't know.. As I mentioned before, they were in a pet hotel a week ago (lady has around 30 piggies in the flat) so maybe they catched something there and it's not from hay? Because I got the hay like 2-3 months ago. I'm trying to figure out what it could be
 
F&G said:
Maybe it's not lice then..I don't know.. As I mentioned before, they were in a pet hotel a week ago (lady has around 30 piggies in the flat) so maybe they catched something there and it's not from hay? Because I got the hay like 2-3 months ago. I'm trying to figure out what it could be
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What's really confusing me is that you are finding them elsewhere and not just on the piggies. It's not something I have come across personally but doesn't sound a pleasant experience
 
It would help us to see a picture of these insects or bugs as @Lady Kelly has mentioned. I've not had such a thing but we trying to help and seeing the bug could.
How are things this am.
 
Lady Kelly said:
It's my understanding that lice are species specific which means they cannot be passed to, and survive on, other species of animals or humans.

From the guinea lynx page it also says that hay that has not been in contact with a guinea pig will not carry an infestation of lice. I'm wondering if you have managed to pick up a bad batch with a pest in @F&G but not one that's affecting the piggies
Click to expand...

Interesting, thank you for letting me know. I'm not sure why my vet said she had to gear up, disinfect everything and check my dog who went to get her nails done too, to make sure she didn't catch lice. Now I don't know how I feel about this vet I go to... :hmm:
 
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