Help please - don't know what to do

[flogging_molly]

I recently rescued hamsters from a bloke who said he couldn't look after them anymore, he told me they were Campbells and that they were both in good health (except from a few scraps)

When I picked them up it was clear they were not Campbells but Roborovskii and the fighting was such that one of them had a scabby bum.

I had the two of them living together happily with no fights and apart from a scabby bum they were both in good health.

Then I noticed bugs on them, tiny little things that were brown which were feeding off the poor scabby Robo's wound. I immediately got them treatment for mites, lice and tics - any kind of small parasite really. Unfortunately one of the Robos, the scabby bum one, died.

Now I have found these little bugs in my dwarf cages (which are separate from the Robos (as I had put them in quarantine) - I am really scared for my own hamsters and don't know what I can do. I feel realy betrayed by this man if he had only said I could have began treatment straight away and this may not have happened.

Please help me

[SnuggleHam]

Sorry to hear you lost the little Robo, and about the bugs. I can't imagine what kind of bugs these things might be, but what if you were to toss away whatever bedding your using now and buying some more and clean all the cages?

Also I suppose it would help to find out what kind of bugs these are. If it's something like mites of fleas maybe there is some power or cleanser you can use to kill them?

[suga]

That's really annoying....I hope your guys are okay. If you can I would probably run them along to the vet and get them checked.... better to be safe than sorry. Like SnuggleHam says - throw out all the existing bedding and clean all the cages and accessories..... fingers crossed

[AndreaS]

Would you be able to "capture" one or more of the bugs and ask your vet to look at them under a microscope? Hopefully then he/she can identify them for you. I hope your hammies will be alright, paws and fingers are crossed.
Andrea

[racinghamster]

Ironically, I`ve been researching mouse lice and mites this morning! Debbie, if these little nits can be seen with the naked eye, I would say they were lice that specifically live on hamsters. I know that some are host specific and won`t jump onto a rat for example. If they do, they realise their mistake and retreat.

If mites were involved, i doubt you would be able to see them, but more symptoms of mites like irritability and scratching a lot, aswell as hair loss and rather grubby looking fur.

Andrea is right. Try and get some of these nasties in a small jar and take them to your vet asap. The poor robos were probably robbed of decent immunity aswell from this infestation. poor little things. :(

The best thing to do is either consult your own vet for a three week treatment if Ivermectin for your affected dwarfs, or buy johnsons insecticidal spray and follow the instructions closely. here is the website: http://www.johnsons-vet.com

Empty ALL the cages and drown them in bleach and boiling water and leave them to sit for a while. Throw away everything associated and once the hamsters are treated, you should see an improvement.

It`s always a risk with new animals coming in from unknown sources and quarantine is always a good idea. Some lice and mites don`t feed from blood, but just the surface skin secretions. If you can squash a few on some damp white kirchen towel and you see a reddish trail, then it`s possible that they are blood suckers. I would`nt worry about that however until you see your vet.

[souffle]

I would agree with all your suggestions. Identification is the key then treatment and hopefully that will sort them out. I believe that you can get a houshold spray to treat carpets/sofas etc which might be an idea to make sure you catch any wanderers or larvae that may be lurking there.
It is a pity when you were doing such a good turn rescuing them but don't worry as parasites can infect any animal even humans, look at headlice! Its just a case of vigilance and thoroughness and Im sure you will soon be rid of them.

[flogging_molly]

I have spent most of the days trying to calm myself down so i can deal with this situation realistically.

I have cleaned all of their cages with a mixture of boiling hot water and pet safe disinfectant, this seemed to kill the bugs.

I also gave the hams treatments of ivermectin which covers a wide variety of mites and lice.

I am going to take a few of the bugs to my vet to see if they cant advise a better course of treatment for getting rid.

Andrea - as you know the robo you are rehoming at the end of the month is affected but now daisy and violet are too, i will try the best i can to rid them of these parasites but i leave it to your discretion whether you feel you can still take them on.

I just feel so angry about this bloke not saying anything, i wish he would have!! BUt i suppsoe i must get used to the fact that people will lie, and he may have thought that i wouldn't have taken them on if i knew

[SnuggleHam]

Perhaps the man didn’t lie, floggy molly.. its just as possible he wasn’t aware himself. You never noticed them right off the bat right? perhaps he over looked them. I once bought hamster feed that was filled with weevils. I was feeding the food for a while, not sure how long it was until I finally noticed the bugs in the food dish. I just don’t want you getting angry at him incase it was an innocent thing.

Im glad you are treating the animals best you can, I think brining the little "bug"ers to the vets is a good idea. Please keep us infomed on that, Id like to know what they are!

[babyboos]

Definitely seek vet advise as there will almost certainly be an insecticide which you can use to erradicate them. Freeze all your dry foodstuffs and bedding if at all possible this will kill of any eggs. Do not blame yourself for finding them in your dwarf cages as quarantine is extremely difficult to do well in a domestic situation, there is realy very little you could have done to avoid a spread of something like this.

Be careful with quantities of Invermectin on a Robo you need half a drop MAXIMUM only, massaged in well on the back of the neck. One thing to bear in mind isthat although it is good that this is now readily available from Pets at Home from a cost point of view it really should only be used on the advise of a vet. All hamsters have naturally occuring mites, smaller than the eye can see, and they may already be compromised by these lice, treatment with Invermectin could further damage the healthy levels of these mites, so do tell the vet you are using it, how long for, and what dosage etc. you have been using when you take the bugs in for them to look at.

To be honest I imagine they will tell you they need to see the affected hamster also, rather than just the bugs, so don't be dissapointed if you have to go back in. I don't know what they will charge for such investigation, but if you take in a hamster with mites/lice etc. they would normally charge for a small animal consultation only.

What a shame the wee one is now on its own, it will need lots of handling to help it not miss its litter mate too much :cry:

[AndreaS]

Andrea - as you know the robo you are rehoming at the end of the month is affected but now daisy and violet are too, i will try the best i can to rid them of these parasites but i leave it to your discretion whether you feel you can still take them on.

I just feel so angry about this bloke not saying anything, i wish he would have!! BUt i suppsoe i must get used to the fact that people will lie, and he may have thought that i wouldn't have taken them on if i knew

There are some absolutely rotten people around :x I hope you aren't worrying yourself too much - it sounds like you are getting on top of them, it'll take a while, but you will get there :D I'm still Ok to take them on, if neccessary I can quarantine them in another room till they are clear.
Andrea

[racinghamster]

These type of things are usually eradicated over two to three weeks Debbie. If your vet treats each hamster with Ivermectin, that should help. Just put some Avipro in their water on accassion to keep their strength up, but I`m sure they will cope okay. Very best of luck!