Mange Mites

[PandaPiggy]

Hello everyone,
I have had guinea pigs since I could walk and taken care of extreme cases before as well as many babies etc however at the moment I got two male piggies and they have come down with mange mites. This is going to be a bit of an essay so I do apologise. Toby was brought from a pet shop and was ill before but he didn't have the mange mites we had to wait for all clear 6 months after an infection to get him a little friend. Finally the time has come and I have decided to avoid pet shops as what Toby had to go through. We got Nibbler from a private owner, he was very skinny and even the woman told me he was 3 months old, he looks more like 2 weeks old or extremly starved. But all turned out well as love sparked between the two boys and Nibbler's belly was getting bigger and bigger as he started to enjoy life. Then he came down with ithcy back, it was only two patches and seemes to go away when treated with hydrocortisone (sorry if spelled wrong). Toby showed no signs of having anything similar untill 3 months after they both broke out in terrible itching, aggression and bald scabby patches ( they are still gaining weight and being friendly to me tho). I done my research and came across mange mites, straight away I have sterilized their cages and treated them with invertimine (again I'm sorry if I spelled that wrong) spot on drops, however they are still itching and I was wondering whether there is anything I can do to help them out? I read olive oil helps with the itching. I just can't stand to see my baby boys in such a mystery even they still seem happy.

 

[lauraboara]

Hello. And sorry to hear about your itchy boys.

Could I point you towards this thread

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/ivermectin.112779/unread

In there Pebble has put a really good post in about different causes of scabs/ scratching and also the use of ivermectin.

Bascially, the best way to help your boys is to find out what is the cause of the itching - it may be one of the mites / lice mentioned in the thread above or it may be fungal. You need a vet to help you find out and they should do tests like hair pluck, sellotape test and skin scrape to find out. I am going through this with one of my boars at the moment who has mystery small patches of hair loss at his back end and it is proving quite tricky to find out why!

Are you in the UK? if so there is a recommended vet locator on the top bar thingy (up there^) which may help you?

Hope you get a plan together for their treatment and please let us know how you get on.

PS what bedding are the boys on?

 

[PandaPiggy]

Hello. And sorry to hear about your itchy boys.

Could I point you towards this thread

https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/ivermectin.112779/unread

In there Pebble has put a really good post in about different causes of scabs/ scratching and also the use of ivermectin.

Bascially, the best way to help your boys is to find out what is the cause of the itching - it may be one of the mites / lice mentioned in the thread above or it may be fungal. You need a vet to help you find out and they should do tests like hair pluck, sellotape test and skin scrape to find out. I am going through this with one of my boars at the moment who has mystery small patches of hair loss at his back end and it is proving quite tricky to find out why!

Are you in the UK? if so there is a recommended vet locator on the top bar thingy (up there^) which may help you?

Hope you get a plan together for their treatment and please let us know how you get on.

PS what bedding are the boys on?

Thank you very much for your reply, I think you might be right as I have been thinking all night while looking after one of them and the other one was sprayed with anti fungai and anti parasite spray and he is the one doing better maybe a quick trip to the vets will make it better, and my boys are on woodchips and hay, I been trying to keep it as natural as possible with sterelizing the cages each day

 

[piggyfan]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Mange mites can only be treated by a vet. It is essential they are seen right away as mange mites can kill. This link will explain more.
http://www.guinealynx.info/mites.html

 

[helen105281]

Yes definitely need a proper diagnosis by the vet as it could even be fungal. For mange mites I always ask for Ivermectin injections as they are more effective than spot on as Pebble says in her detailed explanation.

 

[PandaPiggy]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Mange mites can only be treated by a vet. It is essential they are seen right away as mange mites can kill. This link will explain more.
http://www.guinealynx.info/mites.html

Thank you very much for your reply, I will have to change a vet then as the vet I use atm told me to just apply the spot on (which they had on sunday last week) and if it doesn't get better within two weeks to bring them back in

 

[PandaPiggy]

Yes definitely need a proper diagnosis by the vet as it could even be fungal. For mange mites I always ask for Ivermectin injections as they are more effective than spot on as Pebble says in her detailed explanation.

Thank you, looks like I defenetly gotta change the vets ^^ this will be a long way but my little boys will not suffer, I been told by the vets they briefly seen that injections will be to drastic cuz of nibbler's weight and toby's previuose history of infection

 

[helen105281]

Make sure you give them the whole history when you go.

 

[PandaPiggy]

Just wanted to let everyone know, piggies been to the vets. Thanks to my mom they been to the vets that saved Toby (its in another city so it was a bit of a travel) and its positive. Its mange mites and the treatment I have given then its working so I been told to carry on what I'm doing and if it gets worse that's when they will be given the shots as their skin is healing fine and there seems to be no sign of new mites so I'm satisfied with the visit, however I'm going back with them next week just to have a second check. As usual Toby decided to bite the vet as she also checked their teeth and Nibbler peed on the vet table ^^ I would like to say thank you to everyone who had replied to me

 

[piggyfan]

I hope they recover soon.

 

[PandaPiggy]

Thank you, I'm hoping for the best as they are already more cuddly