Re: Mites? Lice? Tiny white creepy crawlies
Hiya,
i am sorry to hear of your trouble.
I have had these types of mite infestations before, but i have never really understood them! Thanks to the repy you had on the other forum, i feel a bit less confused by them.
I hope it is to quote this here, but this is what was written on the other forum:
We do have mites you can see with the naked eye and they can live on various rodents. They are fur mites as opposed to burrowing mites, which most hamsters have and don't cause them any problems.
The fur mites don't live on the hamster, they lay their eggs in bedding and wooden toys, even surrounding carpets, etc. They go onto the hamster to feed and will also bite dogs, cats and even humans - as I found out this summer!
They need to be treated with ivermectin and if you only have one hamster, I would suggest the Beaphar one for hamsters which you can buy in many petshops.
Also buy some mite spray for the cage and surrounding areas. Spray well and leave to dry thoroughly before putting him back in. Throw away any wooden or cardboard toys.
If you have just treated him I would leave him a week before treating him again.
This was really helpful to me in understanding these mites.
I have had the occasional outbreak of these specific mites and they have had me very confused!! I have had them on my Harvest Mice and my hamsters, and then most recently on my Mouse Like hamsters, which i briefly wrote about a few months ago.
I have never understood them really, as they are very easily seen and seem to multiply extremely quickly and cover everything in sight!! The thing that confused about them is that none of the animals itch with them - i have never seen any of them scratch, itch or lose fur, none of them have had any skin complaints even though their tanks have been completely covered in these mites!
My main defence against these mites has been to completely clean out every cage and toy with bleach and washing up liquid, throw away unwashable toys (wood and cardboard), and spray everything with Johnsons mite spray -this has worked everytime for me.
Tammy x
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