Diet and Lice

Question
I have a couple of questions... My first is about the guinea pig diet, I have read in some places that you should not feed guinea pigs any kind of cabbage, but other sources say that it is good for them because it has vitamin C in it. I was also wondering if guinea pigs can eat shelled nuts, coconut, raisins, papaya, pitted dates, mango and such because these things are in a bag of "small animal" treats that I got for my guinea pig, and I figured that some of these foods may be too high in fat for her, or perhaps cause her to have gas since the fruits are dried? My other question is I have read in some sources that you cannot get lice from a guinea pig because guinea pig lice is species-specific, but others say that you can get it from them; I think my guinea pig had/has lice (I can't seem to see any on her anymore, but she does suffer from dry, flakey skin), but what is the best way to get rid of lice in case I find more on her? The last time I used a lice/mite spray meant for birds with .030% pyrethrins and .003% piperonyl butoxide, is this the best thing to use? And how should I go about getting rid of her dry flakey skin?  

Answer
Hello Rhiannon

I dont feed my guinea pigs cabbage simply because they dont like it but in people I have heard it causes gas so it may do the same to guinea pigs and shouldnt be fed, everything else you mentioned seems fine just be sure you never feed any food with pears in it or pears themself as they cause bloating. Yes you can get lice from your guinea pig so if you think shes got lice its best to keep her away from your face. You shouldnt use bird lice spray you should use kitten/cat flea shampoo this works well and it isnt all that hard to bath a guinea pig just put two inches of luke warm water into a large bowl/sink and put the piggie in wet her down and work up a lather with the shampoo rinse her well then dry her with a towel you can also you a hair dryer set on low or on cool to dry her just be sure you move the hair dryer over her constantly otherwise you'll burn her, never put a wet or damp guinea pig ouside or back in its cage it'll catch a cold. You'll need to wash the cage and assories with a bleach sultion and anything else shes touched within the last day as guinea pig lice live for two days without a guinea pig to live on. I do not know what you can do about her flacky skin but it may be caused by you bathing her too offen, pine bedding or lice being on her.