Strange bugs

[sanyka]

I was cleaning out Ksusha's litter box today (after a day of use). I put paper towels on the bottom of the litter box because I use Yesterday's News and since my litter box is meshed, the litter tends to go through the holes. I should change it soon, I know. But as I was dumping out the contents, I noticed two bugs running around on the reverse side of the paper towel that was lining the litter box. I found one more later on the same paper towel. They kind of looked like mites but I've never seen one and it doesn't seem to fit the description I found on the internet. It was beige/darker white in colour, about 1 mm in length, and (I couldn't see well enough but my guess would be that) it had 6-8 legs. They weren't moving very fast. Definitely not fleas. I checked my guinea pig right away and I could not spot any on her. I gave her some Revolution that I had sitting in my fridge just to make sure. I also washed the litter box with vinegar but I don't know if that did any good.

Are they mites/lice/any other pests threatening my pet? Could they have come from the hay? What should I do?

PS: Peter Gurney advises putting neem oil on the piggy suffering from mange mites and he says that it's harmless since Chinese cuisine uses it in food. Should I put some neem oil on my piggy and possibly the cage just as well? I'm deathly scared of having an infestation :(

[PixieStix]

Guinea Lynx :: Lice Guinea Lynx :: Mange Mites

Mites are microscopic, you would not be able to see them. Both of these parasites need a living host to survive, they could not have come from hay.

[sanyka]

Originally Posted by PixieStix

Guinea Lynx :: Lice Guinea Lynx :: Mange Mites

Mites are microscopic, you would not be able to see them. Both of these parasites need a living host to survive, they could not have come from hay.

My vet told me lice larvae CAN be transferred from hay. The bugs definitely did not look like lice. They had 'short' bodies, not prolonged.

PS: No offense but newbies aren't supposed to give advice in the medical section. It says so on the top of the page when you click on "Medical & Veterinary Topics". I appreciate your comment though.

[gooberific]

Well at least the info on GL is reliable.

[edited to not be rude... sorry if you saw it before I changed it.]

[Ziggy&Herald]

Originally Posted by sanyka

My vet told me lice larvae CAN be transferred from hay. The bugs definitely did not look like lice. They had 'short' bodies, not prolonged.

PS: No offense but newbies aren't supposed to give advice in the medical section. It says so on the top of the page when you click on "Medical & Veterinary Topics". I appreciate your comment though.

Pixie Stix has been on here for a while and has contirbuted with lots of helpful information. Lice is does need a host to survive. Hay is packeaged and left on shelves for quite somtime before you purchase which would kill any lice that may be on the hay. Your question about if lice comes in on the hay has been asked many times and the answer Pixiestix gave you is what is always given as an answer.

[PixieStix]

Sorry if you thought my advice was not appropriate. Since I was basically providing links to GL, I thought that would be okay. Thanks Ziggy&Herald.

[Ly&Pigs]

PS: No offense but newbies aren't supposed to give advice in the medical section. It says so on the top of the page when you click on "Medical & Veterinary Topics". I appreciate your comment though.

The rules about giving medical advice are not to guess and have knowledge of medical issues in pigs. Pixie gave you a link from gl and then the statement following it is a known fact. There is a difference in a newbie posting a link to a very reputable website with proven medical advice and a newbie posting something like "oh, dip your pig in olive oil to get rid of mites".

Peter Gurney advice is not allowed here as much of his advice can do more harm than good. He was a breeder. And we all know that many breeders live by more of the old standards than what is right for guinea pigs. It was stated in a thread the other day by a reputable member of the forum (rabbitsncavyluv) to not use neem oil on pigs.

If it wasn't fleas/mites/lice then it was another type of bug that probably isn't even harmful but it also means that you may need to clean the litter area more often to keep these bugs from coming back. Have you tried doing any searches online for bugs? If you could identify it and post a link to what it is or what you believe it is that would give us more info to help you.

[sanyka]

Nothing on the internet seemed to match my description. No parasites seemed to look like what I saw.

The reason why I brought up hay is that I've read here in other threads that some people go to hay distributors to get fresh hay and someone local to my area had posted a good place to get hay from. The timothy that I got was actually very fresh, no pesticides used or anything, and there was a lot of green (unlike the store brand). After reading how bad the store brand hay is I opted for the hay distributor since I cannot buy Kleenmama or Oxbow hay anywhere nearby me. I honestly do not know anymore which one is lesser of the two evils.

On a happy note, I've never seen those bugs again and I clean the litter box every day regularly. On the other hand, I have to take my piggy to the vet again since I've found what looks like eggs to me in one spot of her fur. She kind of purrs every time she scratches herself (as if she is relieving herself) which she never used to do. No matter how much I looked, I could not find anything moving in her fur since her coat is quite thick, very long, and she doesn't like to sit still for very long. Hopefully I will be able to resolve that issue soon!

Thank you all for your responses!

[sanyka]

... Or it could be a fungus. Looks flaky like dandruff. I have yet to find out.