Guinea Pigs have mange :(

[clayre]

we took the GPs to the vet to get their nails clipped and i asked about their constant scratching and it turns out they have mange, i have a treatment to put on them every days but anyone else got any advice or tips for me and them.

Thanks

anyone?

Now that the piggies themselves have been treated, it's important to treat their living quarters as mites will live in bedding and even burrow into wood. We're dealing with ear mites at the moment and every Sunday we bring the rabbits and piggy inside, empty their hutch out, disinfect it all and then spray it with Johnson's Cage & Hutch Spray, which kills mites and stops their eggs and larvae from developing. They do it in Pets at Home for £3.50 a can, and it goes quite far. Can't find it on the PAH website but this is what you're looking for, it's normally with the rest of the rabbit and guinea pig medicines/vitamins etc. Spray every nook and cranny of their hutch from floor to ceiling (including ramps, plastic beds, anything that stays in there basically). Let the hutch the air out for about an hour and then put fresh bedding in. You should also wash their food bowls and water bottle in hot water (don't spray these), and take out any wooden chews or toys and throw them away, as mites can live in them too.

The medicine that the vet has given you should kill the mites that are on the pigs themselves, and the spray should kill any eggs or lavae waiting in the wings (ones that have already been laid and ones that might drop off your piggies). So although you'll need to keep up the treatment / hutch clearing for a few weeks to make sure they're completely clear, they will get over them quite quickly

They are indoor piggies in a plastic cage, it gets cleaned out every 3rd day, everything is binned and everything is sprayed with pet disenfectant, there is nothing wood in their cage. Will look at getting the can that you link to. Thanks.

Even better, it should clear up very quickly then - the adult mites will die soon because of the medication, and if the bedding is binned before any eggs they've laid get a chance to hatch (or the larvae develop into adults), it'll break the life cycle and there'll be no nasties left to mature. If everything's plastic I wouldn't bother with the spray, just give it a good clean and rinse it all off (shower is good!), and that should get rid of anythink lurking.

Sorry meant to add, remember to treat anywhere they spend time outside of the cage too (running around on carpets etc). You've basically got to treat mites like you would fleas - but at least you can see fleas!