>I have noticed on my babies that there are little red mites. The babies
will
>be two weeks old on tuesday. I know I should clean out the cage and dust
>them, but how old do they need to be to handle the dust and what is the
best
>kind of dust? They don't seem to be bothering the babies or the parents too
>much since no one seems to be spending much time scratching.
>
>Christine Abbott
Pyrenthin Spray, in 0.66 % concentration. Bird mite spray
is half that strong and won't do the job.
The spray will be cold, but. If the room is warm they can stand
being misted.
You need to spray EVERYTHING. Inside and outside of cage.
Old bedding coming out of cage that goes into a garbage
bag which gets sealed and the outside sprayed. Everything
around the cage. The path from cage to the door after/as
you take the bag outside. Yourself. The new bedding going
in. All the gerbils in the tank, dorsal and ventral. Everything
IN the tank.
Freeze your feed for a week at 0F. This will kill mites in it.
Bring in a clean container of bedding, sealed until you are
ready to put it in the cage. Bring in a clean container of food,
sealed until you're ready to feed the first time. And dump
some of both feed and bedding onto a white paper towel
and examine for a minute to see if you find anything crawling
OUT of it. If you do, it's contaminated and either take it back
for a refund or throw it...I suggest you throw it rather than
infest anything with mites.
You spray everything around that cage too.
Yes, you must be spray happy. If you miss ONE mite, you're
back to full infestation in a week.
I do a thorough clean and spray for three straight days, then
check the animals for a week. Loosely swaddle one with
a white paper towel or some tissue, leaving the head stick
out, and watch around the edge of the white paper for about
a minute. If there are any mites, they will be seen jumping
off the host and show up on the paper. If you find any
crawling on the cage or on the animals, you have to start
over on the clean and spray.
I have sprayed just furred pups, with the mother there she
will dry them and keep them warm.
Don't spray non-furred pups as they can't take the shock
of being hit with cold spray. And the adults, literally soak
them. Make the fur wet. Avoid the eyes, but get some
on your hand (mindful of being bitten) and get the head too.
You can have one ride home with you on your clothes if
you get near a contaminated cage or handle a contaminated
animal; they can come in in feed or bedding. I always
freeze my feed for a week at 0F to kill anything in it, and
examine my bedding as I open a new package. If you
put the feed in large baggies, it's easy to handle.
Good luck.
Deb
Rebel's Rodent Ranch
