Substrate Nightmare

[actual junk]

Hi all,

I have a long haired syrian and for the last year I have kept him on fitch bedding [which he has thoroughly enjoyed, he loves a good dig], however I have recently had a problem with little moths trying to make home in the bedding. I have emptied out his entire cage to be rid of them (only to find I did not have enough replacement bedding) and so have had to make an emergency trip out to the pet shop. I managed to find some care fresh, and a bag of beechwood chips [I know they don't have the harmful phenols but after coming home to double check it was safe I'm finding conflicting information, should I take the wood chips out?] I wanted to try wood chips because I figured they wouldn't attract the moths but now I don't know if that was a bad idea and I should recycle the beechwood elsewhere and go for something different. I just don't know! I certainly don't want to put my hamster in any kind of discomfort, so advice would be much appreciated, having a bit of a panicked meltdown over doing the wrong thing.

The wood chips are currently on one side of the cage the other has a mound of paper based substrate for nesting and digging. If I need to take out the beech chips and substitute with something else I don't want to go for any substrate that is going to get too ridiculously tangled in his fur as he has quite a flamboyant skirt, and I don't have anything other than torn up tissue immediately on hand

Many thanks,
Harper

[cypher]

I can't remember who now but I'm sure at least one other member has used beechwood chips without any problem so I think they're safe to use.

Good luck with getting shot of the moths!

[Pebbles82]

I have had moths before - it will be from the food not the bedding I suspect. It is almost always from the food. I now freeze all hamster food for a week before using it and haven't had any trouble since (and I use Fitch). I found them crawling all over the cage ugh - in the Fitch, in his toys and in his hoard.

I would suggest immediately freezing any bags of hamster food you have and then keeping them in an airtight box like a lock and lock box. Obviously you'll have to keep some out to feed him with for a week. After that I would do another cage clean and replace the substrate, clean all the toys and wheel in soapy water and freeze any barkwood items, and put new (pre frozen) food back to replace his hoard and in his bowl.

The moth eggs can get in the food and hatch out and then the moths can lay eggs in little crevices in wood items in the cage. So important to knock it on the head! They are called pantry moths and often found in animal feeds.

Normally it's not good to do a full cage clean and clean everything at once but if you've found moths in the cage then given everything a thorough clean including any little crevices in the cage base, inside and out and the bars of the cage too. I just bunged the base and bars in the bath and squirted them with pet disinfectant, wiped it in thoroughly to make sure nothing was missed and then showered it all off and left it to dry and air (you'll need somewhere to put your hammy for at least half a day (eg asleep in a pet carrier if it's during the day).

Just to nip it in the bud. The eggs are so tiny you can't really see them.

[actual junk]

Thank you so much!

I will pop the food in the freezer now. I usually keep his food in a glass jar which has a cork stopper, I'm assuming that'll do the same job? Let me know if a plastic air tight box would be better. I had a cork tunnel which I threw out as it was getting old anyway and the moths were using it, I will do a good old clean of the rest of his toys in a couple of days, I don't want to stress him too much but the moths have to go. I will give the cage a good wipe down with diluted vinegar and water solution when I do the second substrate swap. All my wooden toys have a couple of coats of clear plastikote so they should be pretty easy to get clean.

I haven't spotted any in the bedding since the clean so I will do my best to get rid of any lurking eggs!

[Pebbles82]

Yes the moths seemed to like my cork tunnel too! Don't want to alarm you but they can end up in food cupboards as well so it's important to kill any moths you see and clean the cage and toys. With wood bark items or the cork tunnel I wouldn't risk it due to the little crevices, but sounds like you have it sorted. You can even freeze fitch in smaller bags if you're worried about. I think it's from the food though. The moth eggs are just in it and under certain conditions they can hatch out - eg when it's nice and warm with the central heating on and a warm hamster sitting on top of the food! Your jar sounds fine but I'm belt and braces now and use a completely airtight lock and lock box . I ended up with them all over the house - in the kitchen cupboards - ugh!

[actual junk]

Thank you so much for all your help!

I haven't seen a single moth since I did a full clean out and I've given all his toys a really thorough clean, just to make sure. I will keep an eye on it until I can replace all the food with the pre frozen mix, but I'm pretty confident I've nipped it in the bud since I caught it pretty early 👍 New bag of Fitch is arriving tomorrow so I will do a second substrate change then just be certain. Luckily my ham has been completely oblivious to all this as he's a very chilled out little guy!

[Jeanbird7]

I keep everything in the freezer.

[Pebbles82]

That sounds good Good you nipped it in the bud. I stuck my head in the sand too long ha ha.