mites

cath1 · 02-12-2012, 11:46 AM

think my hamster has ear mites, i can see something on the inside of her outer ear, only had her a week,i have googled it and it seems to suggest xeno 50, but everywhere seems to sell it in packs of 9,does anyone know where i can just get 1, also i want to be certain it is mites, hamster is still very nervous so havent held her as yet

Angelhamster · 02-12-2012, 11:53 AM

Have you spoken to the people / shop that sold her to you? Might be a good idea to get her checked out by a vet. Good luck

AngelAmes · 02-12-2012, 11:54 AM

Some big chain petstores have their own vet which are available if you have just recently bought your hamster from there. I am not 100% sure but it might be worth a little look

cath1 · 02-12-2012, 11:56 AM

bought hamster from pets at home in crewe,cheshire
they dont have an instore vets

racinghamster · 02-13-2012, 04:11 AM

Go to your own vet (don`t rely on a pet shop for medical advice) and if your hamster is treated for mites or anything else, Pets At Home should pay the bill because the problem was there when you bought the hamster from them. I think they have some kind of 7 day warranty or something? But whatever you do, don`t take the hamster back there because they will just offer you a refund or another hamster and you don`t know what they do with `returned` hamsters that have health problems. It`s much better to see your own vet, get his/her opinion and go from there. Get a receipt from your vet for any treatment and phone Pets At Home once the treatment (if any) has been given. If they refuse to comply, then I would take it up with the management.

Xeno 50 mini spot on is very good and as far as I know, can only be bought through Amazon.co.uk and comes in 15 vials? Which makes it a little expensive if you only have one hamster! Your vet will treat your hamster with Ivermectin, which is the same solution as Xeno 50 mini, or they may give you enough to treat at home. Depends on the vet really and what they find is wrong.

Good luck and try not to worry. If he`s scratching at her ear or shaking her head a lot, I would suspect either mites or an inner ear issue, which your vet will check for you.

What type of hamster is she?

cath1 · 02-13-2012, 04:57 AM

ive rung pets at home, spoke to manager and he told me take hamster to vet, get a receipt and they will reimburse me

thanks everyone for your help, not sure if hamster had the mites from shop or if its his carefresh bedding

cath1 · 02-13-2012, 04:59 AM

she's not scratching or shaking her head,its just i can see white like pinhead size spots on in her ear, inside ear but not down inthe ear, if that makes sense

racinghamster · 02-13-2012, 05:43 AM

Could be lice eggs or even small white warts in the ear canal. Your vet will deal with that easily. It`s difficult to say where lice originate from and as you say, it can sometimes be contaminated litter. To be absolutely sure, it might be worth sourcing something else or asking Pets At Home nicely to refund or replace the bag of Carefresh and givng you something else, although I think they just sell wood shavings? I recommend Aubiose, which is sold for horses and is made from the hemp plant. I buy the 20kg sack but it is available from the Zooplus website in smaller bags for less than you would pay for Carefresh, which isn`t the best cage substrate to be honest and it`s overpriced for what it is. Hemp bedding is not wood based and is great for digging in and is less likely to have pestacides as it is cultivated in areas of the world which don`t need to use pesticides as the plant doesn`t require it.

Let us know how you get on.

cath1 · 02-13-2012, 05:53 AM

will take the carefresh back then, thnks for that advice, ive bought 2 huge bags of carefresh aswell, not from pets at home but online, hope that will be ok x

racinghamster · 02-13-2012, 06:06 AM

If you bought it online you should still be able to get a refund. E-mail the company and say you are unhappy with the product and wish to return it. See what they say. It`s not cheap, so it would be a shame to spend money on something you don`t want if you feel it is the cause of your hamsters issues. If the white spots turn out not to be lice eggs, then maybe the carefresh isn`t to blame. See your vet first just incase.