Disinfecting from mites?

[herbi7]

Well, just for anyone's interest I successfully baked the wood stuff, in the end I popped all my wood stuff in there just in case as I know how things can spread and it was totally trouble free, nice smell of baking wood in the kitchen and they all came out unscathed so I think it's prob the most hassle free way of doing it if anyone needs to know for future ref. Nothing blew up on me ��. As I have other animals I may just do it every few months as a precaution now as it really was easy. I'm boiling the plastic stuff today

[racinghamster]

So no fire engines were called then!!!! Glad to hear it worked well herbie. x

[Nancy's Hamsters]

Just a FYI RH there is a Mite which is quite visable and for some reason people over the pond tend to think we in the North side of the pond are seeing things
Rodent mites are tiny little pinhead size white specks when they are in their nymph form. They quickly grow and within a 2 day time period(and a good feed off any Rodent) will outgrow their exoskeleton and shed their skin and become dark brown or even black and unless on a white furred Hamster can go unnoticed until the host Rodent(hamster in this case is so infested you can see them with the naked eye.

I have had on going battles with this type mite because I live in an old 100+ year old 3 floor home in the semi country and all my walls are hollow and a perfect environment for wild field, deer, and house mice which are always loaded to the ears with these nasty pest(which will eventually kill their host if not treated). I've also had Kiln dried Soft wood come in with quite alive eggs which hatch with warmer temps. Hot will kill hatched but if these specks are Rodent mites it will not destroy nor harm the eggs.

Rodent mites will lay eggs by the thousands in any wood surface, and small crack they can find. Bleaching for a few days completely submerged in as hot as is possible water at first MAY kill the eggs. Freezing does NOT harm the eggs, nor does Extreme heat. Best thing to do is take all the stuff you have heated up and place it for 2 1/2 weeks in a sealed bag and when the time is up re do your Baking of all in the bag. Rodent mites have a 2 week cycle so any eggs laid will hatch in 14 days. They need about 2 weeks to become sexually mature and is how you can beat them. Killing the hatched nymphs, and re doing all procedures done to kill hatched mites within a 2 1/2 week time frame assures you kill any unhatched eggs by the eggs hatching.

With the knowledge of Rodent mites you can see how it is less cost to just pitch out most wooden items(which BTW is a very good place for Rodent mites to arrive in a mite free home) I would also take really good looks at your other hamsters and their wooden toys as Rodent mites when just hatched are very fast climbers and crawlers and are on a mission of survival and can and will spread throughout your cages to seek a blood meal(or die in the attempt) If your other hamsters were anywhere near Willow and these crawling white specks are Rodent mite nymphs then just having willow in the same playpen as the others will spread these nasty buggers to the others.

Oh and just a heads up some Hamsters seem not effected by the bites of Rodent mites and will not show any itching or problems until the little vampire like Rodent mites begin to cause their host anemia which in Syrians is just a small sign which is they want to sleep more and suddenly start to lose weight. This is in a severe infestation though and unless you are negligent of your hamster you would most definitely spot the crawling brown/black specks on your hamster way way before it got critical.

Also in the UK you folks are soooooo blessed in the fact you can buy over the counter Spot On medication for mites.

In your case I do pray these are Lice and not rodent mites as lice seem much easier to destroy for good then Rodent mites.

[herbi7]

Hmm that's interesting and a bit worrying Nancy. Do we def have them over here? When I saw the little white things they were much smaller than a pinhead, like a tenth of the size maybe. They were too small to see any legs on or anything but I saw them moving, I've actually only seen 3 of them. They are little elongated things rather than round. I would have thought they were specks of sawdust rather than creatures if they hadn't moved although they were quite bright white not cream coloured. I've reconsidered wood toys after finding bugs and seeing that it's more of a palaver disinfecting them than plastic toys, I always preferred them before that as they look more natural bit I'd rather know stuff was clean and safe now! I didn't see any creepy crawlies on willow at any stage, she was pale coloured with white tummy so I would def have noticed anything dark on her despite her not being easy to health check due to not liking handling.

[herbi7]

Btw I've got some stuff I bought when I had moths everywhere that was really effective, it's called diatomous clay and contact with any insect will kill it. It's in the form of a fine powder and you just sprinkleit on anything affected. Do u have it in the us and does it work for this sort of thing? Still got a kilo in my cupboard ! Plus do these bugs live in carpets ?

[herbi7]

Another question! If it did turn out to be rodent mites... I really hope it's not! What would be the best way of disinfecting their cages? As u can't heat up plastic etc...

[racinghamster]

Bleach and very hot water. Cleaning outside, of course, but I wouldn`t jump to conclusions. If your boys had mites they would be very irritated, scratching a lot, they may have fur loss on the face/nose/shoulder areas and a spot on treatment like Xeno50 mini vials from your vet or bought online would do the trick. x

[herbi7]

Ok, thanks rh. I've been having a hoo hah thinking I may have missed something with willow and she was more uncomfortable than she needed to be in her last few weeks with me. She was itchy but I put it down to being run down and getting those little burrowing mites that live in the skin or allergic to her bedding. The itching calmed down when I changed it to Fitch so I kept an eye but didn't worry unduly. I had a good spot on in the cupboard I used before which worked for her but I hesitated to douse her with it when she was weak as I thought her system might not withstand it very well. Wish I'd done it as a precaution now but u can't turn the clock back! I checked Bailey yesterday, his coat looks healthy with no gaps, will check him again tonight. The only boy I've seen grooming is littlun, so I'll keep a close eye on him to see if it develops into full on scratching. Bailey, typical boy, is much more interested in running in his wheel than grooming �� so if that changes or he looks uncomfortable I'll act straightaway. I've chucked the cardboardplaypen as they all used it and will make another when I've made absolutely sure there is nothing in my carpet that shouldn't be. I get paranoid about bugs!

[racinghamster]

Sounds as though your making all the right moves anyway and spot on`s can be used as precautionary treatments as well as when mites/lice are already detected, but I wouldn`t bother applying this stuff on an otherwise healthy animal as the Ivermectin product is a nerve agent and affects the central nervous system of the parasite, but can sometimes make the animal itself hyperactive, so I don`t feel they are required unless symptoms are observed and a diagnosis is actually made. And your right about older animals immune systems being compromised when ill or ageing, so looking at the overall diet as a whole and deciding if adding more fresh greens like broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce (small amounts are fine) and the usual carrot, cucumber etc... additional daily foods really become necessary as dry mixes can`t always fulfil their nutritional balance. x

[herbi7]

Thanks RH. That's reassuring to know I wasn't doing it all wrong anyway! Onwards and upwards with the disinfecting, nearly there now and carpets have been treated.