mange mites

Question
We adopted 2 pot bellies that were severely infected with mites. We did go get the oral medicine for  them recomended by a vet. How long after they are treated will the mites be active? When we first got them we noticed them itching and called the pet shop. They told us it was just dry skin and we handled them quite a bit only to become covered in the little critters.

Answer
The mange mites that infect pigs, Sarcoptes scabiei, are pesky critters. Fortunately, they can live only on pigs. They crawl off the pig onto people or other pets, but will not survive long.

Mange medicine should kill the living mites pretty quickly. After the pig takes the medicine, the medicine gets into the pigs blood. When the mites bite the pig, they get the medicine, which kills them.

The eggs, however, are completely unaffected by the medicine. So a second dose of medicine is needed about 2 weeks later to kill the newly hatched mites. In severe infections, a third dose is often given 2 weeks after the second dose.

Unlike fleas, which lay eggs anywhere, mites lay eggs only on the pig. So there's no need to worry about mites or mite eggs in the bedding. Any mites in the bedding will die because they are not on the pig, or because the pig has been treated with medicine.