Disinfecting from mites?

[herbi7]

Tbh I thought if willow had mites it would be the sort that lived inside the skin as she had those once before when she got stressed out and it was easily treated with ivermectin, I did that myself soon after I got her with stuff I got online, beaphar. I had no idea about mites that could live on the outside of hamsters, there doesn't seem to be much info out there about that on general hamster websites and stuff. I've been really worried she had a bad infestation that I just hadn't picked up on, but looking at pics I found, I think I would have realised, despite her being hard to hold. Having said that it's better safe than sorry and I did find some tiny white things that could b eggs stuck to plastic toys... Hard to be sure but I'm quite ocd when I'm on a mission and nothing is getting past me now! Bailey's ball on a stand lives in his cage and is now in quarantine till the incubation period for eggs is over so it can have a really thorough disinfect before it goes back in.

[herbi7]

Ps what sort of hamster food was it with the crawly things in? I was ill over Christmas and had to buy a bag of horrible cheap stuff from my local shop as I wasn't up to a proper shopping trip to get Harry hamster. It was called extra select and I mistrusted it and only let willow have a little before she got her normal food back again, then I ditched it. I didn't see any crawly things but it just seemed bad quality and a bit weird.

[herbi7]

I took her to the vet to have her pts btw but the vet didn't notice anything untoward, just a poorly and very weak hamster ��

[Pebbles82]

I am so sorry, I don't know how I missed that. I think food can have all kinds of stuff in if its a bit old or stored in a damp place. Best to check the use by date always I guess and get something reputable.

[herbi7]

Thanks, yeah its been a horrible week, I'm still upset about my little girl. Haven't written her memorial yet cos head hasn't settled plus I've been manically cleaning! I only spotted the crawly things when I was clearing out all her stuff, I went to pick up her bendy bridge thinking the boys would like that in the playpen and thought eek! I wish I'd had a more thorough look at the time but my immediate response was just to chuck and clear all her bedding etc as quickly as poss so nothing could spread so I didn't inspect anything closely. It certainly wasn't riddled with bugs though, I'd have noticed that! The whole thing has freaked me out, I knew willow was slowing down and seemed more fragile than normal and a bit out of sorts but I had no idea she was so close to dying.