Fur Mites -- How long do the eggs stick around?

J-LPigcard

Post   » Wed Mar 20, 2002 8:19 pm


Oh, one more thing--what lens did you use to photograph those nasties? That´s a really good picture.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Mar 20, 2002 8:26 pm


No lense. Just a digital camera with a macro. Olympus 3030 (my birthday/Christmas present last year). I had to send it in for an adjustment since the memory cards were no longer working (nothing wrong with the cards). The key is lots of light. It is difficult to take dark subjects. I think I adjusted the sharpness on the pic after I took it so it would be easier to see.

So it looks like lice to you? Next time I find these (after they fall off), I´ll have to look real hard for the bugs. Both fur mites and lice are visible to the naked eye (I´ll have to get out a magnifying glass as my close-up vision is getting worse).

kleenmama
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Wed Mar 20, 2002 8:29 pm


Those don´t like the kinds of lice my pigs used to have. They were wormy little things. That picture gives me the willies every time I look at it. Yuck!
I have a question. I had a black boar that had little reddish brown things on the ends if his hairs, all by his rear end. What were those?

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Lynx
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Post   » Wed Mar 20, 2002 8:33 pm


They aren´t the lice themselves, but the casings (cocoons or whatever they make for the larva to grow in before they hatch). So you never saw these things?

kleenmama
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Wed Mar 20, 2002 9:05 pm


Never seen those before in my life. I´ve seen crawlie lice, but never seen those casings. Maybe mine were a different kind of lice?

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Lynx
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Post   » Wed Mar 20, 2002 9:46 pm


I originally thought they were fur mites, also known as static lice in England (but they are really mites). Maybe I will stick with the mite theory.

kleenmama
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Wed Mar 20, 2002 9:53 pm


I have no idea. But they are really really gross. I have to scroll really fast past the picture or I get goose bumps. Weird, I can watch open heart surgery but those eggs gross me out!

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cmtigger

Post   » Thu Mar 21, 2002 1:48 am


The fur mites that i have seen were different- but I admit that I didn´t look to close. They were not my pigs, and I was afraid that if I got it on myself, I would pass it to my animals.

J-LPigcard

Post   » Thu Mar 21, 2002 1:58 pm


Those awful things look like eggs to me. It is very possible that you can´t see any critters, because you may have already eliminated the population of lice or mites and that you just have empty eggshells left. Mites and lice both lay eggs but don´t make coccoons. They don´t metamorphose, just get bigger and shed their exoskeletons with each molt. They can cement the eggs to the hair shaft with a very effective protein "glue," hence the difficulty in just pulling the eggs off. If you can look at one of those things under a microscope under fairly low power, you should be able to tell for sure that those are eggshells and not static lice, since you will be able to find legs on those static lice.

Evangeline

Post   » Thu Mar 21, 2002 3:36 pm


This doesn,t make any sense since mites are not visible to the naked eye to start with. So obviously, you won´t be able to see then, whether or not the problem is solved.

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Lynx
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Post   » Thu Mar 21, 2002 3:37 pm


I agree they are eggs or something like that. Not a bug at all.

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Evangeline, mange mites are not visible to the naked eye but fur mites are (reportedly).
Last edited by Lynx on Thu Mar 21, 2002 3:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Evangeline

Post   » Thu Mar 21, 2002 3:40 pm


Yeah, but I wasn´t under the impression fur mites were discussed. I thought "mites" refered to mites in general. My mistake, I guess.

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