Quote:
Originally Posted by PiggieMamaKelly  I hear of many people treating a new guinea pig right away as a prevention before it joins the group. But wouldn't you notice if the pig had mites during the 3 week quarantine? You could then easily begin treatment. |
It depends on where the piggy comes from. If I was to get it from my local rescue I would know the piggy had been treated for mites and hence wouldn't do it myself. If it came from our local SSPCA then without a doubt I WOULD treat it for mites because I know they don't unless the pig has an obvious skin condition. The same would go for any other rescue I took on (I've yet to meet one that's not had mites or fungal or both).
No, you don't always notice with a new pig right away if it has mites and sometimes they're so unsettled they don't exhibit symptoms. I've seen this happen and people stick them in the cage after their quarantine and all of a sudden they're all scratching. I think it's very important to treat new pigs because often the stress of a move will exacerbate a minor case of mites that have been up until now causing no problem.
Routine treatment with ivermectin (such as once every month or whatever people do) is what I wouldn't do.
Katt has made a very valid point - there are so many people over here in the UK using a pet store version of ivermectin which is weak (and I've used the correct dose of it rather than the packet dose - it's so weak the pig gets in a right mess from all the liquid) or, as she says, a bit of horse paste unmeasured.