I want to talk about Mites and Lice. Those are parasites guinea pigs are prone to. Mites are microscopic bugs that burrow under the skin and eat skin cells. Lice you can actually see with the naked eye but you have to part the hair and look very carefully. There are two different kinds and you will see them wriggle around close to the skin of an infected animal. Lice are blood suckers. Guinea Pigs carry these with them and in times of stress or a weakened immune system these pests can get the overhand and infest an animal. I have seen cases where two guinea pigs have been living together for 4 years and all of a sudden get one or the other. An no, they do not get it from the bedding, the hay, the grass outside etc. It can only be passed on by another guinea pig, or they have been carrying them and it the bugs have been dormant. Every pig that comes in gets treated with a drug called Ivermectin. By doin this I make sure that there will never be an outbreak here at the shelter. It is a good idea to treat your piggies at least 1x a year. Horse worming paste works really well. You just use a pea sized amount and put it directly in their mouth. I found a cheap one here. amazon/gp/product/B000HHLWPI/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 05:05:33 +0000
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