Flea found on hamster, please help?

[Hanhanboban]

Hi everyone,

I have 4 dwarf hamsters, all live in seperate cages; 3 winter whites and one roborovoski (:

Recently we discovered my dog had an infestation of fleas, we have treated her with shampoo & also took her to the vets who gave her special pills to get rid of the fleas.

About 3 days ago I took one of my hammys out to play & I noticed a flea jump on to her. I thought I had got rid of it & I put her back in her cage, but last night when I had her out again I noticed a flea in her fur. Luckily she is extremely tame & I was going at her for about half an hour until I eventually got the flea out, it was the only one I noticed & I didn't see any eggs or any sores on her body.

I had a breif check over another one of my hamsters who also seamed clean, the other two are not tame though so it is impossible to check them. As far as I can see they are fine but I'm very worried.

I've hoovered my room, changed sheets & changed their bedding. Is there anything else I should do? What will happen if they are in contct with more fleas? I'm very protective over my babies lol!

Thanks so much in advance for any help xx

[Pygmypuff]

Hello there!

To start with, you need to get rid of all the cardboard toys in the cage if you have any. Also, you need to clean out the cage and all the toys inside, and if you have any soft toys then they need to go in the wash too.

If the fleas are persistent and you can still see them after a couple of days, go to the vet and ask for a flea treatment specifically for small rodents. Do not use a cat or dog treatment on your hamsters as these can be extremely harmful.

~Olivia and Puff

[POLAR WHITES]

Fleas are a pain in the backside, Its great that you went to the vets for flea treatment tablets, but the tablets only kill the fleas biting the dog and as fleas spend most of there lives off the dog and in the house you will need treatment from the vet for these areas, bathing the dog in flea shampoo doesn't really work and the over the shop counter treatments arnt the best, also spot on treatments for the dog from the vets are the best to use I use advocate for my cat as like yourself, he brought fleas home one day, I didn't notice for a while until he had symptoms, I went straight out and bought all the treatments from the shops I could get, and sprayed and vacuumed everything all day, and it did die down but didn't kill them all, I went to the vet told them my story and I was given advocate it killed them all and it also kills worms inside the dog/cat, I would recommend this product as well as hovering and washing all animal bedding, spot on treatments last for 4 weeks and with repeat doses its will wipe them out, because it will break the flea cycle

[nibblet]

Sprinkle lots of table salt on the carpets for a couple of hours. Not too long, though, especially if there's a lot of moisture. The salt can get wet in the carpet, making it sticky. The salt will dry up any flea eggs hiding in the carpets. We had a massive flea infestation and we used OTC flea treatments.

The treatment we used was Bob Martin and it's not only dangerous, but it can't kill the fleas. I read somewhere that they can't use chemicals strong enough to kill fleas or even keep them away if they intend to have the product freely available to get at a shop. There's a reason why Frontline and other products are locked behind the counter.

After some research, I found Advantage. It's safe for rabbits, cats, dogs and even ferrets (some people use it on guinea pigs and rats, but I wouldn't recommend doing that because the wrong dose can be harmful). The infestation we had was so bad, we had to go to Pets at Home to buy Frontline instead of waiting for a delivery. The Frontline worked but there was still some fleas, but as soon as we used Advantage, they were pretty much gone. I did find a dead flea when changing Isabelle's sand last night, but I think it was in the sieve rather than her cage.

Get a flea collar cut it into pieces and put it in the vacuum cleaner container/bag so if you do pick up any fleas, there's a chance the collar will kill it. But collars are also dangerous and probably don't work.

Also, if you can, try and keep the cages off the floor until you're confident there isn't a lot of fleas around. If you think you've got rid of an infestation, don't stop the treatments or vacuuming. They'll always come back.

[Thin Lizzy]

You'll have to treat your dog with flea stuff and also shampoo you're dog.
Your hamsters cages will need an antibacterial spray to be used in the cages and all toys and Spot On treatment for each hamsters and do this weekly till they're gone.

I hope you solve your problem soon!