Guinea Pig biting problem - need advice

[Akane]

Always treat for mites first. It's extremely rare for a guinea pig to bite if it's not in pain and mites are extremely common. Many rescues just treat every guinea pig they get in the door irregardless of symptoms because mites are so common and they are hard to detect on a skin scraping from a guinea pig for some reason. They are also extremely easy to treat. If you have lots of pigs a little bottle of injectable ivermectin will treat 250lbs of guinea pig and all it takes is a drop behind each ear. For a couple pigs horse paste dewormer (make sure it's only ivermectin) works fine at around $6. The dose for pigs is the same as for horses but you have to dilute the paste in water or glycerin to be able to measure that small of dose. Mites will also make a guinea pig more vocal because of the discomfort and itchiness. Do not bathe a guinea pig with parasites because their skin is very sensitive. It will dry out and become more itchy and uncomfortable.

http://www.guinealynx.info/antiparasitics.html

Once you've done that make sure the children are picking the animal up and carrying it around properly along with a few other of the points on that site. I had one guinea pig that had to be petted backward because she had 2 little swirls on her butt that reversed her hair growth and she'd get very upset if you pet her from her head to her butt. After your remove any incident causing pain the guinea pig will generally stop biting within a few weeks.

 

[mom2jedi]

Quote:
Thanks so much! I picked up a horse wormer yesterday but have a couple questions on how to administer it. When I dilute it with water, does it still go behind the ears or am I supposed to have them eat it? Also, how much should I do, a drop behind each ear like with the injectable version or is it different since I'm diluting a paste. I've also told my daughter to pet her backwards so she goes the same direction as her fur.

I certainly hope this works. My daughter doesn't want to give her up. Of course it's the 7yo's piggie that's having issues. The 9yo would handle it better I think.

 

[mom2jedi]

Ok, so if I'd read the link more carefully and noticed the dosing instructions I could have answered my own questions! I still appreciate the link Akane, thanks again!

 

[Akane]

Due to all the other goo in horse paste it has to be used orally or you'll make a very messy guinea pig. You need to treat 3 or 4 times each a week apart and a tube of horse paste is made for at least 1000lbs of horse. Since you use a 250lb dose diluted in 22cc water each time it works out perfectly to only need 1 fairly inexpensive tube. It's best to use a syringe to measure the water but it does convert to 1.5 tablespoons. Always at least use a measuring spoon when dealing with things like this since a typical table or teaspoon you use for eating is far from accurate. Then I usually squirt it all in an empty bottled water container or similar and shake it up really well. It takes too much stirring to try to get the mix even. With a closed container you can just shake it really hard for a minute or 2. Dump some out in the cap and use the syringe to suck it up. A 3cc syringe can work if you are really careful but a 1cc syringe makes it much easier to get an accurate dose and fits in the pigs mouth better. Unfortunately you rarely find 1cc syringes at a feed store. Sometimes you can get 1cc diabetic syringes from pharmacies, you may have to cut a needle off these, or regular syringes from veterinarians but some won't let you treat the animal yourself even with an over counter dewormer. Otherwise there are online sources and you could probably find them on some site like amazon. They are useful to have around if you have smaller animals like guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, and possibly even for cats on occasion.