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Old 09-21-2021, 05:28 AM  
ShadowNinjaHamster
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Join Date: Sep 2021
Posts: 243
Default Re: I think my hamster has some health issues? I want to confirm

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
Do you mean you found one after the cage clean or before? I don’t think he has fleas- it’s normal to scratch and groom fairly regularly and you’d know about it if he had fleas. I am sure these bugs have hatched out from the food. Unless, possibly, you have plants nearby that have bugs on them.

Don’t worry. Yes it may set things back after another cage clean but he’ll come round again. Explain to him. The more you talk to him, the more they bond with you and I swear they listen sometimes! He’ll pick up from your tone of voice. So just tell him you’re really sorry for more upheaval again but the nasty bugs haven’t gone and this time it’ll get sorted snd he’ll soon get back to normal. Then give him a couple of days alone for a day or two after the clean - unless he shows signs of wanting to chat or come out.

The playpen behaviour is fairly normal when he’s not tame yet. He’s do the same in the bath tub (try snd climb the sides). Their instinct is to get out! It can help if you have a couple of hidey places and a tunnel in the playpen - and I also scatter some treats or food around - that can distract them. And a chew stick.

The climbing at the sides is also a bit of anxiety about his cage probably - if it’s been cleaned out recently and he can head cage noises. So just keep talking to him. He’ll soon settle again.

No don’t wait till xth October. While the bugs won’t harm your hamster, they will keep proliferating and it could then be harder to get rid - they may have lays eggs etc.

So do a full cage clean now. Make sure you get the cleaning stuff into all the crevices in the base and give the bars a good clean too (to wash off any possible eggs which won’t be visible). Using white vinegar is probably fine as that will kill any bugs or eggs (or cause then to die off). But do rinse really well afterwards so it doesn’t smell too strong of vinegar.

Once this is done then by the time the new cage comes he will be settled snd have familiar smells in the cage so don’t clean anything again until the new cage comes (except maybe a tiny bit of spot cleaning wee if it’s smelly and you actually know where he’s wee’d.). But don’t do anything for two weeks now - even if it gets a bit whiffs. If you have enough substrate in (at least 4” deep) it’ll be fine.

When he comes to moving to the new cage you can just move everything over without cleaning anything so he settles quickly.

Which cage did you go for?

The only kind of bugs that could be harmful to him are red spider mites and they don’t look like that (they do come from plants I believe). I am sure it’s from the food though as it’s the only thing that wasn’t eliminated last time and a usual source of bugs hatching out).
Hello,
yes, there are new bugs every day. I used new bedding, new food and I'm pretty sure they were in the fridge for about a week. I don't have any plants. I tried to take pictures of the bug but later when I looked at the pictures those were pretty bad quality. They're very small and I haven't seen them anywhere else.

I've noticed that the hamster is normally in the playpen, eating food and going to his hiding places and digging, but as soon as I get close to him he wants to get
out. He even slept in his nest.
I cleaned the cage with white vinegar and with water and there was nothing in it.


I'm going to have to go to the vet to figure out if the bugs are on him. I cannot really touch him, because he runs away, but I can at least pet him and he won't get startled anymore.

I killed the bug I saw in his house today too. I'm guessing I'll have to go to the vet as soon as I can. Shame that most of them are opened when I'm at work and closed when I'm not at work.

The bugs are annoying my hamster too, because at one point he'll start making weird noises. He often scratches himself ever since I brought him home. He already scratched himself at the store and my friend told me to take a different hamster, but he looked cuter.

I guess vet is the only way now. I hope the bugs won't harm him. He has been friendly otherwise and he hasn't attacked me nor bitten me.


This was the bug I found and killed today. I don't think it's a flea and I think if he had fleas I'd have fleas too.
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