Flour mites 😫

I’m also now concerned about baking the lid of his sand bath (niteangel) in case it warps and no longer sits on top of the box?

I’ve just baked a platform that I’ve been waiting to put in and the legs have all warped! it’s still usable but they are a bit bendy

Oh no this sounds like a bit of a nightmare. No not good to put things in damp. I think when I did my wood wheel I used to leave it overnight in front of an oil filled radiator.

Magpie said:

I’m also now concerned about baking the lid of his sand bath (niteangel) in case it warps and no longer sits on top of the box?

I’ve just baked a platform that I’ve been waiting to put in and the legs have all warped! it’s still usable but they are a bit bendy

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What type of sand bath is it? I have two sand baths from them, both have been baked before and fit snug! One is the smaller corner sand bath, the other is the plastic large rectangle one with a lid for half of the bath. Both turned out fine!

Magpie said:

I had considered that they may be on him and then re-introduced that way after all the cleaning, but I don't think they are that type of bug/mite?

Certainly haven't seen any evidence of them on him at any point, although that is just from surface level observation- he's not scratching or anything like that. He is not hand tame. He happily takes treats from my hand but he is not used to being picked up and handled so I wouldn't be able to brush him. I'm just going to have to hope they are not hitchhikers.

All his food was frozen for 1 week before being opened and has been stored in an airtight tub (with no sign of any bugs in there at all) There is also no evidence of the bugs in his food bowl?! So I don't think they are grain/flour mites. They are concentrated where there is water but as I say, can see them on the plexiglass walls and on the black frame on the outside.

There seem less of them this morning... but I think they are probably just a bit nocturnal!

I haven't done a deep bed clean out for a while (was trying to avoid it as long as possible as he had been disturbed so many times due to vet visits for prolapsed pouch) so wonder if its due to wet area of bedding I can't see? He uses his sand as a toilet, but only when he's up thought the night. I think through the day be is probably a clart and pees in his bed.

All I can do it try my best and cross my fingers...

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You said he uses his sand as a toilet: Does he poo there as well? If not, then it is possible if his stomach was hurting him, maybe from stress from the vet, could have made surrounding bedding wet. That actually happened to Angel when her tummy was hurting, so the poop started moulding. Very gross, and I felt terrible after for not cleaning enough, but it is possible. I found angel had a corner in her house as well that she peed in and then put food in and did her business as well. That may have brought my bugs into the picture. So I would definitely check near where he sleeps. Also, rereading your messages made me notice that you said you started noticing them outside the cage as well. I’m more and more believing they are mould mites. they look very much like them, and they also sit on those surfaces. I really recommend ordering the dehumidifier as soon as you can!!

Angel’s Teddybear said:

You said he uses his sand as a toilet: Does he poo there as well? If not, then it is possible if his stomach was hurting him, maybe from stress from the vet, could have made surrounding bedding wet. That actually happened to Angel when her tummy was hurting, so the poop started moulding. Very gross, and I felt terrible after for not cleaning enough, but it is possible. I found angel had a corner in her house as well that she peed in and then put food in and did her business as well. That may have brought my bugs into the picture. So I would definitely check near where he sleeps. Also, rereading your messages made me notice that you said you started noticing them outside the cage as well. I’m more and more believing they are mould mites. they look very much like them, and they also sit on those surfaces. I really recommend ordering the dehumidifier as soon as you can!!

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His sand bath is the large rectangular one with wooden lid which covers half of the top a bit like a yin-yang?!

He doesn’t poo in his sand, but does in his cornflake box house/hide and in this MCH. All those poos are totally normal.

He was at the vet for multiple surgeries to attempt to repair a prolapsed pouch, which ended with him having to have the pouch partially removed. I had to dig him out of his burrows weekly at that point for vet visits and so have been leaving off doing a deep clean for as long as possible to try and reduce stress and interference with his borrow/nest after so much disruption. That’s only been 7 weeks since his last vet visit so not that long since last deep clean of his nest. (less than 2 months)

I’m sure he’s probably got wet areas down there though as I say. Plenty of pee in his sand when I sift that but I’m sure he pees in his bed underground through the day. He sleeps deep underground and only uses his MCH as an entrance so the only way to check is to completely destroy his habitat.

Although I agree they seem like mould mites, It’s genuinely not a damp house. We have painstakingly re-insulated all rooms but the kitchen in the house (it’s next on the list) so it is warm and dry. The sitting room (where he is) especially is the room with the most consistent temperature. We don’t hang washing etc in here and there is no sign of damp (or these bugs) anywhere else in the room.

I think there must be a source. Our house has some humid areas and never had this.

There must be a source absolutely. I just don’t know what it is yet… but I think it must be from inside his tank rather than the room as there are none anywhere else. (Including the shelf above him)

It may become clear when I dig up his bed. Wonder if it’s very wet down there or something.

I will go back to opening up the windows more too to boost air flow in the room

Yes, that’s a good idea. I completely trust that it isn’t a damp house or anything. I think the source is most likely a pee-spot that hasn’t been spotted.
Also, YES that is the main sand bath I use for Angel! She only pees on one side though

Angel’s Teddybear said:

Yes, that’s a good idea. I completely trust that it isn’t a damp house or anything. I think the source is most likely a pee-spot that hasn’t been spotted.
Also, YES that is the main sand bath I use for Angel! She only pees on one side though

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He uses the two corners that are under the lid for pee.

Then uses the rest for the sand for digging and rolling/having a bath in.

So all his ceramics are washed in hot soapy water

All edibles and his tunnel/coconut hide are in the freezer for a week

All wooden items are baked or sprayed with vinegar

I’ve removed all the bedding and sand

There was quite a bit of wet down at the bottom of the tank mixed about with hoards/shells etc (grot bag!) which I wonder if that’s the source of the problem?

I’m letting the vinegar sit on the inside of the tank for a bit then will move the tank to hoover and spray the 3 sides I can’t reach and the underside of the base.

Photo of the grotty bit on the bottom of the tank…

Interestingly I’m yet to see any beasties other than the usual few in his water dish/bottle/slate!

He sleeps in the peekaboo hide (which is near this gross spot and provides the platform which I’ve been seeing the bugs on.

I wonder if I need to deep clean more often after this as he’s still peeing in his bed?

Magpie said:

So all his ceramics are washed in hot soapy water

All edibles and his tunnel/coconut hide are in the freezer for a week

All wooden items are baked or sprayed with vinegar

I’ve removed all the bedding and sand

There was quite a bit of wet down at the bottom of the tank mixed about with hoards/shells etc (grot bag!) which I wonder if that’s the source of the problem?

I’m letting the vinegar sit on the inside of the tank for a bit then will move the tank to hoover and spray the 3 sides I can’t reach and the underside of the base.

Photo of the grotty bit on the bottom of the tank…

Interestingly I’m yet to see any beasties other than the usual few in his water dish/bottle/slate!

He sleeps in the peekaboo hide (which is near this gross spot and provides the platform which I’ve been seeing the bugs on.

I wonder if I need to deep clean more often after this as he’s still peeing in his bed?

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I have the same problem with Nibbles… he pees in his bed too

I think if they're on the platform above his nesting area - top of his hide - they are more likely to be from food - or possibly something that went mouldy - ie a direct source. Hence only giving an ear-sized piece of fruit or veg so they don't hoard it - although I've never found my hamsters hoarded fresh food (except I've only given a very small piece daily! So it's possible if more is given). Considering I've also had very soggy pee'd areas of the cage, it's unlikely to be that. Did you find anything mouldy at all?

The nearest thing I had to something like this was when our first robo was older - he used to get a blueberry occasionally and always took it into a particular hide to eat. He'd eat about a third of it and I'd remove the rest. One day he must have eaten it somewhere else and left it behind his wheel and when I spot cleaned I found this semi-mouldy half blueberry with tiny maggots around that area. Freaked me out. Removed the blueberry and spot cleaned the immediate area where the maggots were and no more maggots. They had stayed in the one location. So hopefully, your bugs on the platform didn't move further than that location either and your clean will resolve it. It suggests they have come from some food item to me, and they honed in on the water area as they like damp. I don't think pee'd on substrate on its own would be the cause, but possibly some bit of food or something gone a bit off.

I also freeze all food and sprays but still managed to have a moth outbreak a couple of years ago. Having had it before I jumped on it straight away and thankfully caught it in the early stages. I suspect it was lesser because the food had been frozen.

In discussions since, there is a theory that freezing kills most moth eggs and bug eggs, but the odd one or two might survive. Hence some people do a "double freeze". Eg freeze for a couple of days, let the bag of food warm up (and it needs to actually warm up enough for eggs to begin hatching) and then freeze again.

I've always found that too much faff so I just continue with freezing food for a week and make sure I freeze absolutely everything - even chew sticks and whimzees - because you never know if they have been stored in a place with moths or other bugs before they come to you. With moths it only ever happened in extremely hot weather, or in winter if the heating was on a lot and the room got very warm for a couple of days (eg in freezing weather I used to leave heat on overnight as well).

With these kind of bugs it seems to be more about humididy than warmth.

Having read @Angel’s Teddybear 's post where she found a bag of wood sticks infested, and suspects that's the source, I also think wood items are a likely source of mites. Has he had anything like that? Eg applestick chews?

He only gets one ear size piece of fresh put in at a time once a day and he eats that where I leave it (on a slate next to his water dish… but not the one that has been having bugs on it!) he doesn’t even take it to a hide, he just sits and eats it where it is.

So there was nothing fresh stashed and spoiled. But the damp area on the bottom looked a bit mouldy to me? That being said there was no sign of any bugs under there on the floor or the area that was all damp and foosty.

The first I noticed them they were on his whimzee (which I had not frozen but had been in there for weeks) this is kept next to his water bottle on the platform which seemed to be the hot spot and which I now realise he was nesting in. This was next to the area on the floor which was all manky.

I’ve frozen the whimzee now and will do so in future just in case. He did have an apple stick on that platform too which I have removed and frozen along with everything today.

Time will tell if I’ve managed to get rid of them. Really hope so because they are very unsettling and it’s been a massive task to clean everything!

I’ve just realised I forgot to replace his hoard when I put everything back in again! Too much going on. Oops. Sorry Mr Maggie.

I’ve managed to make a temporary tunnel out of cardboard for him while his seagrass one is in the freezer.

He’s just tunnelled back down under his MCH… but made it pop off its legs so will need to fix that once he’s had time to snuggle down and sleep. I’m ready for a cold beer now!

Photo of his new pad…

Well done for getting all that done. I suspect the whimzee or the apple stick personally. You could actually bake the apple sticks. I would chuck the whimzee personally and get some more from a different place and freeze them He may be a bit frantic with no hoard - could you sneak a handful of hamster mix into his house? So did you put the trixie wheel back in until the other one was fully dried?

Magpie said:

He only gets one ear size piece of fresh put in at a time once a day and he eats that where I leave it (on a slate next to his water dish… but not the one that has been having bugs on it!) he doesn’t even take it to a hide, he just sits and eats it where it is.

So there was nothing fresh stashed and spoiled. But the damp area on the bottom looked a bit mouldy to me? That being said there was no sign of any bugs under there on the floor or the area that was all damp and foosty.

The first I noticed them they were on his whimzee (which I had not frozen but had been in there for weeks) this is kept next to his water bottle on the platform which seemed to be the hot spot and which I now realise he was nesting in. This was next to the area on the floor which was all manky.

I’ve frozen the whimzee now and will do so in future just in case. He did have an apple stick on that platform too which I have removed and frozen along with everything today.

Time will tell if I’ve managed to get rid of them. Really hope so because they are very unsettling and it’s been a massive task to clean everything!

I’ve just realised I forgot to replace his hoard when I put everything back in again! Too much going on. Oops. Sorry Mr Maggie.

I’ve managed to make a temporary tunnel out of cardboard for him while his seagrass one is in the freezer.

He’s just tunnelled back down under his MCH… but made it pop off its legs so will need to fix that once he’s had time to snuggle down and sleep. I’m ready for a cold beer now!

Photo of his new pad…

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You have done a good job and definitely deserve that cold beer here in Germany those whimzees are very much frowned upon even for dogs. My friend had them for her two young dachshunds. One got diarrhoea the other hid hers. When she found it some time later it was slimy and mouldy. She told me this when we were shopping and I was looking for one for Nibbles. I am not sure what the ingredients are, but here they say they are not suitable for hamsters, as I looked it up on dr. Google

Whimzees have been very popular for hamsters in the uk I think there were some concerns about the ones with paprika in for colouring at one time, but they are vegetable based. No one seems to have had any issues and they're very popular. Mine have always stayed dry even after chewed a lot. I can imagine they could get wet with a dog's mouth though.

Maz said:

Well done for getting all that done. I suspect the whimzee or the apple stick personally. You could actually bake the apple sticks. I would chuck the whimzee personally and get some more from a different place and freeze them He may be a bit frantic with no hoard - could you sneak a handful of hamster mix into his house? So did you put the trixie wheel back in until the other one was fully dried?

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I have another new whimzee That I can freeze. He will need to be patient but he does love a whimzee.

The last whimzee was from a reputable hamster shop online so if it was that then just bad luck. I need to order some more sprays soon so will bundle up with that. I will definitely freeze them from now on!

I only have the one wheel as the PAH one came off it’s bearing. I washed and dried the trixie along with all the Ceramics this morning before I took him out of the tank so it’s had all day to dry.

I sprayed the platforms I couldn’t bake with vinegar then I put them in the oven at 50deg c to dry off fully for 20 mins so hopefully that will be ok.

I will put a spoonful of mix into one of the rooms of his MCH where he comes in and out and hopefully that will help. I feel so bad. Can’t believe I forgot to replace them.

I’ve put a pile of food in his MCH where he had tunnelled back down so he doesn’t have too far to go to re-stock a bit.

Hopefully he isn’t too upset by today.

Maz said:

Whimzees have been very popular for hamsters in the uk I think there were some concerns about the ones with paprika in for colouring at one time, but they are vegetable based. No one seems to have had any issues and they're very popular. Mine have always stayed dry even after chewed a lot. I can imagine they could get wet with a dog's mouth though.

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They are rather fussy here

Amy said:

They are rather fussy here

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I know there are some different views I think in Germany they don't agree with any plastic items in cages either and we're more laid back about that in the Uk.