Mites

[Hammielover]

I hate to make this post but I'm extremely upset over this. Unfortunately Minnie has passed away today. I don't know what caused this but I did make a post a few days ago mentioning I discovered white mites (?) in her cage. I've just checked now and there's still loads even after cleaning multiple times. Could they have caused her death?

I've just looked around her supplies and saw there were loads crawling over her cage disinfect spray bottle. I'm getting really stressed over this and I don't know what to do. How on earth do I get rid of them?

[FelicityAnn]

So sorry about Minnie! Play well at the rainbow bridge, little one!

Reading about mites, it was probably the other way round - she was ill, and the mites took advantage of her not cleaning herself as well as usual. The she was made worse by the mites - a vicious circle!

It seems the best way to get rid of them now is wash everything in hot water and an unscented antibacterial soap. Allow to dry naturally and then wipe everything over with rubbing alcohol. Especially concentrate on any wooden houses etc, where the joins are. The eggs are very small.

Anything that cannot be treated this way should be thrown away, all with ALL the bedding (new and old) and all foodstuffs. Apparently they can arrive in the house with either food or bedding, so chuck everything away.

Hope that helps a bit.

[cypher]

I'm so sorry to hear that Minnie passed away, sometimes we can never know what the cause may be but I have no doubt the mites won't have been the reason.
Ad FA said it may well be that the mites were attracted somehow to her as she was unwell signs of ill health can sometimes be almost impossible to spot depending on what the problem is so don't blame yourself for missing something.
There are so many different types of mites & they can come from all sorts of sources so it can often be difficult to pin down the original source.
I'd agree it's best to throw out any substrate, food & toys that can't be thoroughly cleaned.

[CMB]

Sorry for your loss. Without food etc the mites should go away/die. Empty the cage and clean toys etc. High and low temperatures can kill mites. So boiling water to soak toys etc or freezing can help.