Disinfecting from mites?

[racinghamster]

Just a wee word about carpets. If you use carpeted areas for the hamsters to run around on, maybe place a sheet or a fleece over the carpets if you have sprayed or treated the carpet with anything and then hovered it up? Dust mites can also be culprit so perhaps placing a layer between the actual floor and the hamster would be good? x

[herbi7]

That's useful RH. Willow went everywhere as she was so busy she couldn't really be contained but I never let the boys go outside the playpen as they are so tiny and they're not really explorers anyway. Till I've waited the whole life cycle of mites and treated the carpet again I'm not letting them back in the bedroom, they can play in the bath til then just as a precaution. Littlun isn't too bothered about coming out but Bailey likes it and used to like the bath so hoping he'll be ok in there for now. Then I'm going to build a new playpen for them with fresh cardboard when I've checked both of them are mite- free. Hope they are! But I'm on top of disinfecting things and know what I'm doing now so sure we will be ok whatever happens.

[Nancy's Hamsters]

Spot on is best IF your dealing with any Mites but as RH stated don't just use it without knowing you have mites. Here in the USA we have absolutely no Hamster version of Spot on but Vets will often measure out a safe dose of Feline Flea and Tick spot on if Mites are confirmed. As for the Diatomaceous Clay powder yes we have it BUT unless it is food grade it is very much toxic. Even when food grade it can be very nasty if inhaled and a breathing mask is required when sprinkling it on floors and carpet. The Diatomaceous Powder also takes a bit of time to work and if you have mites on hamsters it will not work fast enough to remove the problem on the hamster, but is a way to eliminate mites in carpets and floor, but again it can cause more issues for the Hamster's respiratory system then it is worth.

I'd say full clean outs every week ONLY if Mites are confirmed and spot on for rodents would be your best option to eliminate them sufficiently.

[herbi7]

Thanks Nancy. I've been surprised how hard it is to get info on these sort of mites online, I've searched and searched for a pic of one and of the nymph but still unsure as although there r lots of images I can't be sure they really are of rodent mites. There is also v little about how to deal with them. I've found good reports of a spray for the floor called acclaim which kills dust mites as well as fleas but again no one knows if it kills rodent mites. And I'm still not sure if they live in the carpet but since one of the wooden houses where I found a bug was sitting on the floor and in the playpen at times I'm just doing everything to cover all bases. I'll keep a very close eye on the boys. The only thing I can see which is slightly amiss so far is that littlun has red balls... He has had that before, the skin instead of being pink is a bit red, I associate it with him being a poor nest builder and sitting directly on his plastic floor. I put more bedding in regularly but he just digs through it and sits on the base again when he sleeps, sigh, he's always done it. I've got some antiseptic small animal powder, I might sit him in it once a day to see if it helps and trundle him to the vet if it doesn't.

My last question is when rodent mites have grown up how easy are they to spot? And how big? Do they move around much or do they bury themselves in skin or close to the bottom of hairs

[racinghamster]

One tip herbi is to buy a large hand-held magnifying glass as this can be helpful even if you can`t see any mites, it gives a close up loot at the skin and the fur. I have one because otherwise I`m like Mr Mcgoo! x

[Nancy's Hamsters]

Originally Posted by herbi7

Thanks Nancy. I've been surprised how hard it is to get info on these sort of mites online, I've searched and searched for a pic of one and of the nymph but still unsure as although there r lots of images I can't be sure they really are of rodent mites. There is also v little about how to deal with them. I've found good reports of a spray for the floor called acclaim which kills dust mites as well as fleas but again no one knows if it kills rodent mites. And I'm still not sure if they live in the carpet but since one of the wooden houses where I found a bug was sitting on the floor and in the playpen at times I'm just doing everything to cover all bases. I'll keep a very close eye on the boys. The only thing I can see which is slightly amiss so far is that littlun has red balls... He has had that before, the skin instead of being pink is a bit red, I associate it with him being a poor nest builder and sitting directly on his plastic floor. I put more bedding in regularly but he just digs through it and sits on the base again when he sleeps, sigh, he's always done it. I've got some antiseptic small animal powder, I might sit him in it once a day to see if it helps and trundle him to the vet if it doesn't.

My last question is when rodent mites have grown up how easy are they to spot? And how big? Do they move around much or do they bury themselves in skin or close to the bottom of hairs

Yes very little is on the internet as for most people Rodent mites are a sign of dirty. Ironically dirty is the last thing a place is if mites are present in the carpet, floors and if really left untended even will be on the walls and ceilings of the area the infested cage is at(thank God that has never happened for me but once I found the source of infestation I would treat it with a 14 day residual spray to kill any that might think of trying that area)

Sadly my photos of a FEW LH Syrian with a bad infestation from a rescue I did of 15 adult Syrians got gobbled up in damaged Hard drive land. As mature adults they are the size of this (.) Yes that period on the keyboard, and are dark brown to black if they have not had a blood feed, and bright red if they have engorged on a blood feed. To lay eggs requires a blood feed as they quit feeding to focus on egg laying at this time.

Newly hatched Nymphs look like moving dust specks, and if you catch them just hatched they are actually translucent so their exoskeleton body will take on whatever color surface their on. This is a survival thing for them to live to find their first food source. As their exoskeleton dries it becomes white until they feed and have their first molt. At this stage before they molt if on a Hamster you have little ability to see them, and even after they molt if they are on a white fur hamster you still will only discover them by chance. However as they continue to feed they also continue to molt and at about 24 hours you may spot them on a pure white Short haired hamster when they show the red blood in their bodies.

They only become really visible when at the reproduction stage and are engorged with blood, and ready to drop off the host hamster to locate a good egg laying location. After eggs are laid they die and the eggs grow and start the process all over again in 14 days.

As for sprays to kill the hatched Rodent mites in carpet or flooring. Any Horse fly spray will work, On Vinyl tile floors you can mix up a spray bottle of hot water and rubbing alcohol(50% of each if your nose can handle it, 30% alcohol to 70% water if it can't) Be warned this can fade color on some tiles so try to test it before full out using it Especially if attempting it on Carpet.

The above things can also be used on the outside of bin cages and on shelves which hold the cages. Another clever item used as a preventative for re-infesting, is to buy double sided sticky tape and place a strip of the tape on the top edge of the bins just under the lid lip completely around the bin. Also a strip around all mesh openings. This tape acts like a sticky fly paper to the mites so they can't get in the bin if outside it and can't get out if they need a new host hamster.

You can also place (Completely OUT of the hamsters reach) Those Bird Mite tin canisters sold to place in bird cages to trap bird mites. They usually come two in a package and have a wire twist to connect to the birds cage, but you can place them on the shelf in between cages to trap Rodent mites as another precautionary tactic. Again make absolutely sure your hamster can't ever get to the canister as the stuff used inside it is toxic if ingested.

Rodent mites seldom burrow under the skin(unless a very seriously bad infestation and they are desperate to get that blood) I have found them dug down into a females nipple milk glands but only in that rescue where the owner was very negligent of the poor hamsters and the mites were very very bad. Normally they will congregate around a males scent glands and their scrotal sacks. A mild infestation on an adult male Syrian will find several small specks of red on and around their hind end especially in the crease where their anal opening is. Also like the milk glands on females they can burrow into the males scent glands causing the scent gland to become slightly inflamed and red from the irritation the mites cause from biting and feeding within the gland.

Tails on both genders often look like they have been cut or scratched even with a mild infestation as the nymphs find the tail the easiest place to feed.
I must also again emphasize some Hamsters are not even slightly effected with irritation from the mites bite and will not show any signs of itching or redness. These type Hamsters are the ones who are actually the most danger of dying from anemia as the mites literally suck them dry of blood.

Since you found a bunch of new hatchlings on the bridge I would say the bugs(which ever kind they were) were just emerging in Willow's cage. Also Rodent mites are more attracted to sick or ill hamsters and may also be why you found them in Willow's cage only.

Hope this gives you a bit more information on Rodent mites then before.
BTW here's a link about Rodent mites from a



university(college school) in a state two below me. You have to scroll down to Rodent mites.
Parasitic Mites of Humans | University of Kentucky Entomology

[herbi7]

Crumbs they r tiny! I hope there were just the newly hatched ones as I don't think I would have seen such diddy little creatures without prior info. Will closely inspect the boys when I next have them out just in case. Luckily they r easier to handle than willow, they r Chinese btw and both gentle and fairly laid back. Yuck Yuck I hate parasites at the best of times and to think some of them may have been endangering my little girl when she was poorly is awful. I just hope she wasn't covered in them or anything without me knowing. I haven't seen any more of the little so and sos since I started my massive clean out, I've checked the boys wooden logs and stuff and can't see anything like I saw on willow's bridge. My cat brought in a wild mouse a few weeks ago plus two birds which he batted about all over the floor in the night so its not inconceivable that something came in on them if not the wood. I have either birds or rats in my roof too plus there has been a rat infestation in the back alley in the row of houses behind me so plenty of opportunity for contamination. I'd love to know what sort of mites they were, they did look like tiny moving specks but they were long thin ones!

[herbi7]

Oh phew I have finally found an image of the skin of an infested ham. I would have noticed the red specks for definite. That makes me feel better! I might post a link to it in the morning so we all have the fullest possible picture for future ref! Time to sleep now... I can never stop reading and researching till I have got to the bottom of things!

[Pebbles82]

Hi herbi. Just wondered if you had taken her to the vet at all - this might rule mites in or out. You can get all kinds of tiny insects living in hamster food that's old and that could be a way of them getting into the cage. Someone recently found little white crawling things in a bag of hamster food.

[herbi7]

Hi serendipity, sadly willow died before I had reached that stage in my enquires. I had noticed she was itchy, but I thought she was perhaps allergic to her latest bedding and wanted to rule that out before putting her through the stress of a visit to the vet. It seemed to calm down a lot after I'd changed it to Fitch (details are in an earlier thread I started in this section when I began to be worried about her) so I thought we had cracked the itching. She died a few days later. Yesterday I took the boys to the vet and got them done with ivermectin as although they hadn't lost any fur their skin was red and looked itchy. They all shared the same playpen, you see, so anything would have been easily passed from one to the other. I've also got to the end of an absolutely mammoth Hoover and washing session and put stuff down to kill any mites or lice.