do my guinea pigs have mites?

Question
Hi,

I was just wondering, but i have 2 guinea pigs, one of them is WHITE and is not even a year old, and then my other one which is BROWN/WHITE and i was giving them both a bath one day and my baby girl (WHITE one)was getting her bath and when i was getting her furr all wet, i saw very tiny little BLACK things on a little section of her fur, and at first i thought they were just grey peices of hair, but when i went through it with my fingers, i felt that they were little bumps when i felt them, and i was just wondering what they might be. i can't tell if my other girl has them because of the color on her, but by the description that i gave, i hope u might be able to tell me what those things might be.

(sorry its a little lengthy, but i was reading other posts about mites and i wanted to find out before it got worse)

             thanx,
                becky!


Answer
Hi Becky,

It sounds at though your piggies may have lice. Chances are if one has them, the other one does too. Even if only one has lice the other must also be treated since it is a contagious condition.

It's not possible that it could be mites, since mites are microscopic so cannot actually be seen by the naked eye.
Typically lice are the only parasites you can really see - often brown, black or white in colour and simply looking like tiny grains of rice.

The best thing to do is go to your vet. Your piggies should be prescribed 2-3 doses of medication - usually 2 or 3 injections about 7-10 days apart. One dose kills the living lice, two kills the rest of the living parasites and some of it's eggs, and the third dose kills off all remaining parasites and eggs.

Good luck & Best Wishes,

- Laura