fleas or lice...help

[faz89]

Hi iv been brushin all my guineas tonight and i seemed to have found little yellow things movin about in their fur.this is very distressing for me.how have they got these?what could they be and how to treat please thanks farrahn

[Kayleigh]

Hi it sounds like running lice. If you can physically see them. You will need to bath them in a shampoo to get rid of them.

You will also need to wash any fleece bedding etc and make sure everything is cleaned well.

Lice can spread quickly between pigs, but are usually host specific so other pets should be safe.

Dont worry to much, youve caught it so can treat it

This link will help with identifying

www.gorgeousguineas.com/photogallery.html

Kayleigh

[faz89]

Yeah it sounds like them after looking at the website,this is going to be hard work getting them all cleared up bless them,how will they have got them,i couldnt belive it when i see them,seem to have popped up from no where,i normal sweep out the hutches to clean them iv been using bedmax shall i sweep out and wash with warm soapy water and dry out.
Thanks kayleigh

[Kayleigh]

Lice are usually bought in from an infected person on clothes etc, all it takes is 1 egg to be carried over.

Have you bought any new pigs in lately or had visitors with pigs etc?

I would clean the hutches out, wash them down with trigene or something similar, dry and replace all bedding. The pigs will need at least 2 bathes in the shampoo to make sure its gone, You can also use a spot on to prevent them, but they arent always effective.

Kayleigh

[fudgeandsmudge]

I tried bathing my piggies when they had running lice, (they came with them from the pet shop!!!), but they still didn't go as i wasn't sure i got the shampoo everywhere as i was scared of it going in their eyes! I found the spot on treatment worked better and cleared it up completely. Not had any trouble since!!