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Old 11-18-2009, 10:16 PM   #1
tigerbabe
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Default Mites? Lice? Tiny white creepy crawlies

Hi all, My Syrian hamster Ninja, has been suffering with varying levels of hair loss on and off for months now. We've been to the vets (I posted on here as he mentioned Cushings) and he was treated with a medicated shampoo. I decided recently after a flare up of the baldness to give one of the petshop bought mite treatments a try, I use the Bob Martin one for my rats if they have a flare up of mites and it works wonders. Anyway, since using the hamster one on Ninja his fur is almost back to normal and looking the best it has in quite a while.

But I was cleaning him out earlier and after I emptied the cardboard bedding out of the base I spotted these tiny white creepy crawlies in the base of the cage. They really were tiny, the best I can describe them is to say they looked like dust from the bedding (or when you rip up toilet roll and get those tiny white specks) but I definately saw some of them moving.

As far as I know you generally can't see mites with the naked eye, so does that mean they're lice or something else??

Please Help!!

P.S... I bleached and thoroughly rinsed / dried the cage before putting him back in it.
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Old 11-19-2009, 03:50 AM   #2
souffle
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Default Re: Mites? Lice? Tiny white creepy crawlies

I believe you can see some mites if you have good eyesight so they could be either. If you use a treatment that covers both lice and mites such as Invermectin spot on then they should go.
Have you checked your feed stores and bedding stores? Sometimes you get little weevil/ beetle things that hatch out and feed on the food and also they can appear in the bedding too so worth examining them carefully. We always buy the small bags now as they tend to appear in large bags that have been stored for a while.
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Old 11-19-2009, 08:41 AM   #3
tigerbabe
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Default Re: Mites? Lice? Tiny white creepy crawlies

Thank you. I'll get another lot of the mite/lice treatment I used before and treat him again to be safe.
I'll check the bedding but I'm not sure how easy it will be to spot them, I use cardboard bedding and I use it for my rats too so I hope it's not from that!
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Old 11-23-2009, 07:28 PM   #4
tigerbabe
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Default Re: Mites? Lice? Tiny white creepy crawlies

I've checked the cage again tonight and there seems to be less but I still saw a few of them wandering about. I only put newspaper in the base and ripped up loo roll in his house, so I know it's not from the normal bedding.

I got some more mite spot-on, but I'm embarrassed to admit that I got myself all confused with the instructions and put too much on so had to rush him into the bathroom and wash it off. I don't know how much, if any, of it was absorbed so I don't know if I can treat him again or not

I'm not really sure what to do next. I've got to see the vet tomorrow with one of my rats, so I'll ask him about it then but I'd appreciate any advice as I'm sure there must be members on here that have more hamster experience than myself or my vet
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Old 11-24-2009, 07:55 AM   #5
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Default 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.

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