Red mites!

[jess]

Hi All

I have just found red mites on my adult male gerbil. He lives alone and I have not changed his bedding from his usual care fresh, so not sure how he got them.

What is the best way to get rid of the mites?

Thanks

Jess

[gerbilmama]

hey here is some information from the ags website to help you out.

Mites:

To check for mites take a few sheets of unscented white toilet tissue and swaddle your gerbil in it leaving their head out. Wait for a minute or two then open the wrapping and inspect it closely and carefully for either dust specks or tiny red blobs.

If you do discover that your gerbils do have mites you will need to check a pet store or your vets office for hamster & gerbil mite and flea spray; Pyrenthin spray at 0.66% concentration.

First thoroughly clean the tank/cage with bleach and soap, and anything that is going back into the tank. Next, spray the tank inside and out and everything going into it. (Spray the outside of the water bottle.) When you put in the fresh bedding give it a good squirt.

Spray down the old bedding and put it in a garbage bag. Seal it and spray the outside of the bag well. Put it in a garbage can with a secure lid.

Spray the gerbils, and make sure you wet them from their ears to their tail. Now spray your hands, getting them wet, and carefully work the medicated spray into the fur of their heads. Gently massage your gerbil working the spray all the way down to the skin.

Repeat the tissue test daily, and spray every time you find more crawlies. You may need to follow all of the steps listed above several time, before you can successfully get rid of the infestation.

[charmandy]

might not be mites if you can see them, cause most mites are microscopic. catch one on a piece of tape, and with a magnifying glass see if it has 6 legs or 8 legs. if you dont want to do that take it to the vet and ask if they can ID it for you. if it has 6 legs, its not mites and what you have is lice (which is species oriented so dont worry). if its 8, its mites (which are much trickier to handle).

LICE: completely clean cage with mild bleach solution to kill eggs, wash all toys thoroughly and soak then bake wooden toys at 250 degrees for 45 minutes. you can do a few different things to rid the lice, oil baths is one. you lather your affected gerbils with olive oil (veggie oil is okay as an alternative if you dont have olive) once a week for 3 weeks. it smothers the bugs to death. another method is pick up a gerbil spray for lice/fleas (i found mine at complete petmart) and follow directions on bottle. another method is the most effective, vet! they'll give your gerbils a special medicine that rids parasites.

MITES: ive never had these but ive heard that many species DO affect humans so CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN. from all my research ive heard that you can get rid of mites with a special spray but ive heard from MANY that the only thing that works against mites is ivermectin (the parasite medication from the vet).

hope this helped some.

[jess]

well after some serious cage cleaning, all around the cages and wiping gerbils to mite spray (repeated several times over the past week) the mites have gone! both gerbils have no trace of mites, nor are they scratching. the mite spray i got was from a trusted pet store, main ingrediemt pyrethrins .25%. I found it was easier to apply the mite spray with a cloth then spray oit n them. plus it dcreased the chances of it getting into their eyes, ears etc.

so all is well in the gerbil world!

thanks for your help.

Jess

[Jill]

Keep an eye out. Sounds like avian mites. If your pet store sells birds, it's very likely that they came from that shop. Let them know. If they come back, which is somewhat likely, ask them for an ivermectin treatment. Actually, I should have asked, do you have birds?

[jess]

both gerbils have been with me for about 2 years now. i think they caught it from a hay/wood toy i bought them without properly freezing it and from a shop i dont usually use. so it was all my fault and something i wont be repeating...

the shop i got it from has birds so you may be right. i dont own any birds, just the gerbils!

im still doing the toilet paper test every day to make sure they are gone, and watching the boys really closely for any excessive scratching. still no signs of the mites which is fab (touch wood).

thanks

[doug]

The mites that birds typically get are air sack mites, these are not the same type of mites you see on small animals, and they are rarely seen, the most probable way to get mites is that you have contact with an outside pet or area where an infected animal has been then they get attached to your clothes, this is the same way people with strictly indoor cats end up with fleas on their cat.

Doug

[Jill]

Doug,

The reason I suggested Avian Mites was because a while back I purchased a gerbil from a pet store. The same day, I noticed she had little red mites. Luckily, she was in very strict quarantine. I called the store, they took her promptly for the weekend, treated her with ivermectin and I've never seen them again. I should have mentioned this was a pet store that specialized in exotic birds. I know you are really familiar with birds, so you could probably confirm whether or not there are red avian mites. Either way, the mites with which I've had experience were red and after treatment with the ivermectin, I've never seen them again :-)

[doug]

It it my understanding that red mites are not the same ones that infect birds, there are only a few types of mites that infect birds.

Doug

[hopey]

I'm familiar with red mittes that live in wood eg chicken houses etc, there is poulty powder for those but I wondered if gerbil Spot on treatment is available ?

Hope alls well with your guys now

hopey