Preventing and treating hay mites/static lice

[Chloe Anna]

I seem to be dealing with hay mites/static lice in my girls so often these days. I keep a clean cage, trim the girls' butt fur, and bathe them if they really need it. Is there anything else I can do to prevent the hay mites flaring up quite so often?

I use the P@H timothy hay at the moment but changing to timothy hay bales from the farm shop as soon as I sort out storage for it - the P@H hay quality is just rubbish most of the time. I'm going to try out fleece too once the new c&c is ready (currently using aubiose) but not sure if this would help at all?

I've used Johnson's Insecticidal shampoo with past flare-ups and it's cleared them up. I do want to try GG Lice 'n' Easy but it's out of stock at the moment.

I've just health checked my newest piggy, Heather, and found she has hay mite eggs. They're not bothering her at all - no scratching, no dandruff, no fur loss - but I'm not too keen on just leaving it to get worse. She's too young for Lice 'n' Easy and I don't think she's ready for her first bath anyway. Her previous owner said she was 8 weeks but from her weight (275-300g) and size (small but good body condition score), I think she may actually be 6 weeks. She'll be going to the vets next week for a full check-up anyway and, although they've been very good with all my small furries so far, I did want to check what sort of safe static lice treatments they should recommend for a young pig? Her older cagemate was treated with topical ivermectin before they were introduced and I've not found any hay mites on her yet (she's a black Lunk though so it's hard to tell for sure).

 

[Wiebke]

I seem to be dealing with hay mites/static lice in my girls so often these days. I keep a clean cage, trim the girls' butt fur, and bathe them if they really need it. Is there anything else I can do to prevent the hay mites flaring up quite so often?

I use the P@H timothy hay at the moment but changing to timothy hay bales from the farm shop as soon as I sort out storage for it - the P@H hay quality is just rubbish most of the time. I'm going to try out fleece too once the new c&c is ready (currently using aubiose) but not sure if this would help at all?

I've used Johnson's Insecticidal shampoo with past flare-ups and it's cleared them up. I do want to try GG Lice 'n' Easy but it's out of stock at the moment.

I've just health checked my newest piggy, Heather, and found she has hay mite eggs. They're not bothering her at all - no scratching, no dandruff, no fur loss - but I'm not too keen on just leaving it to get worse. She's too young for Lice 'n' Easy and I don't think she's ready for her first bath anyway. Her previous owner said she was 8 weeks but from her weight (275-300g) and size (small but good body condition score), I think she may actually be 6 weeks. She'll be going to the vets next week for a full check-up anyway and, although they've been very good with all my small furries so far, I did want to check what sort of safe static lice treatments they should recommend for a young pig? Her older cagemate was treated with topical ivermectin before they were introduced and I've not found any hay mites on her yet (she's a black Lunk though so it's hard to tell for sure).

Hi!
Hay mites come mostly with industrially grown and mass harvested hay from large international brands. I would strongly recommend to switch to a smaller UK online hay supplier that harvests their hay without churning up quite as much soil and bugs in the process. That is by far the best prevention! And it is not even more expensive...
You can find a list of recommended UK suppliers in this link here: A Comprehensive Hay Guide for Guinea Pigs (incl. providers in several countries)

My hay comes from a local supplier who sells their first cut hay (which is what piggies need) via a local independent pet shop and I have never had any issues in all those years. The only ever time I had to deal with hay mites was from adopting a newly arrived unplanned rescue intake for a single piggy of mine that had obviously been kept on pet shop hay.
We have noticed a sharp increase in hay mites cases since p@h has switched to mass produced imported branded hay on this forum.

 

[Chloe Anna]

Thank you for your reply. The guinea pigs, rabbits, and I are all getting fed up of the P@H hay so we will be changing as soon as these bags are finished. The only farm shop close enough to me to go regularly does have rather dusty hay so I'll definitely try dustfreehay.co.uk from the list you posted. Sadly, the only independent pet shop near me only sells meadow hay which my girls won't go near.

As I'll be buying fairly large amounts, do you think a mesh laundry basket would be good for storage?

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you for your reply. The guinea pigs, rabbits, and I are all getting fed up of the P@H hay so we will be changing as soon as these bags are finished. The only farm shop close enough to me to go regularly does have rather dusty hay so I'll definitely try dustfreehay.co.uk from the list you posted. Sadly, the only independent pet shop near me only sells meadow hay which my girls won't go near.

As I'll be buying fairly large amounts, do you think a mesh laundry basket would be good for storage?

As long as it is in a dry place well away from large temperature swings, it should be OK.