# What the hell r they?



## ambyglam (Nov 16, 2009)

I'm posting this in the lizard section too, as thats what else is in my room.

I went to clean out my harvest mice tonight and have noticed lots of these tiny wee 'somethings' on the tank... like wee tiny white dots moving around.

I have scrubbed the tank out and thrown away all of the decor, the only thing is There is some of whatever they are on the actual mice themselves... and also some on most of the other tanks... any ideas what they are and how I get rid of them, as it looks like I'm gonna have to gut every tank and start from scratch, which i'm fine with, but how do I get 'them' off the animals?


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## Nikkeh (Jun 26, 2010)

That sounds like mites to me...if it is there are special sprays you can get to get rid of them.


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## miss_ferret (Feb 4, 2010)

are they moving around wiggling or moving around crawling? there is a point to that question honest.


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## ambyglam (Nov 16, 2009)

they are moving around crawling.

Ive gutted the harvest mice, the fluffy mice and the spiny mice tanks, poor things only have aspen and a loo roll each till this gets sorted...lol the rep tanks they sit on have been sprayed and wiped but not gutted out yet!


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## Twiglet (May 6, 2009)

They sound like the skanky white mite jobs you get in enclosures that have been set up with compost/soil. I have even resorted to microwaving compost before using it and still had these mite things reappear. They are indistructable I swear! IF thats what they are, they appear to pose no risk to animal health. But ew... I have a proper hatred of hitch hiking crawly things...


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## exoticsadmirer (Oct 22, 2009)

I've seen these when changing snake hatchling tubs that have wet or damp aspen in them they appear out of nowhere and the tank needs a thorough clean out to get rid.


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## ambyglam (Nov 16, 2009)

I did, i super cleaned the tank and they are back this morning... how do i get them off the animals themselves?


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## exoticsadmirer (Oct 22, 2009)

give them a bath?


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## Twiglet (May 6, 2009)

So long as you've got no inverts nearby I'd be inclined to mite spray everyone and the enclosures. Water whatever you use down massively for use on the animals though. I once inadvertently killed some new fancy mice (years ago) when using a dot of almost full strength frontline on them to clear a nasty infestation of lice...


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## ambyglam (Nov 16, 2009)

it looks like they are flour mites!


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## amylls (Sep 18, 2009)

I read into these little things a while ago when i found them in my snail tubs. They are "damp mites".They live anywhere that is warm and damp,they seem to appear from nowhere but once you have them it is almost impossible to eradicate them and they WILL spread to anywhere else that it to their liking!! 
They cause no health problems to humans or any animals that i could find.They just cause "the itch" cos you know they are there!


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Remove your animals and blast em with co2.

It's the most fun way, anyhow.

Edit: Blast the tanks that is.


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## ambyglam (Nov 16, 2009)

Morgan Freeman said:


> Remove your animals and blast em with co2.
> 
> It's the most fun way, anyhow.
> 
> Edit: Blast the tanks that is.


where do i get such a thing?


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## ambyglam (Nov 16, 2009)

amylls said:


> I read into these little things a while ago when i found them in my snail tubs. They are "damp mites".They live anywhere that is warm and damp,they seem to appear from nowhere but once you have them it is almost impossible to eradicate them and they WILL spread to anywhere else that it to their liking!!
> They cause no health problems to humans or any animals that i could find.They just cause "the itch" cos you know they are there!


so will all my pets have to go desert for a couple of weeks?


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## slimeysnail (Jan 29, 2009)

Hi there, just recently, I too have had problems with these white crawling ''mites'' which are a little smaller than the head of a pin. I am actually a manager of a petshop, and a couple of the dried food bags (of for example guineapig food, and hamster food), have been infested with these mites. I contacted the companies, and they informed me that these infestations can come about with damp inappropriate storage conditions. 

The mites are called cheyletiella, and can live off a host for 10 days, and I think they have a 21 day life cycle. They can come in food, they can come in straw, hay, bedding etc- where we also had found some at work. I also got a red itchy rash all over my arms, stomach, and back, and when I went to the vets, they told me to treat myself too.. and they werent joking. I itched like absolute crazy! 

I keep and breed African Pygmy Hedgehogs, amongst other animals too, and all my foods for my animals are in drawers.. low and behold one of the bags of guineapig food I bought home from the shop had the mites in, and they spread around my animal room like crazy. It wasnt long before my poor hogs were itching, and some even started losing quills.. now I went to the Vets and I was assured that these ''walking dandruff''' mites or cheyletiella mites cause no actual harm to the animals, apart from irritation- itching, which can cause sores from scratching so much. So I went around all my hogs, my guineapigs, my multi mice, rats and treated each with Ivermectin Spot on.. and within a day, all mites were killed, and animals happy again. I disinfected everything with Formula H disinfectant, and have had no further problems.

Best of luck with treating your animals.. I certainly recommend the Ivermectin drops for small animals. I recently bought a bottle of it from the internet, and it worked perfectly- just make sure you get the correct dose for the animal you are treating.


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## ambyglam (Nov 16, 2009)

You are a star, I will do this immediately... only thing is I have reps in the room too any suggestions?


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## slimeysnail (Jan 29, 2009)

What disinfectant do you usually use.. F10, or as I use, the formula H would sort them out. I would give the reptiles a quick bath to get the mites off them, but because the mites dont latch onto the animal and merely wander about at the level of their skin, they should easily wash off. I would however totally clean out and disinfect their tanks, and if you have mites on in the substrate- with microwave it, or chuck it and start again! We have an iguana whom was in my animal room, and his substrate had them too, so we just cooked the substrate and havent had any more signs- and we gave Marley a good bath!


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## ambyglam (Nov 16, 2009)

the only issue is the sheer number of animals in the room...lol... its gonna be one big bath!


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