Bugs!

[Member ID2]

Yesterday someone told me that she had found little insects crawling around in her large tank style cage and they weren't black.

She suspected some type of mite but my first thought was booklice. Nope. Booklice are too dark.

Turns out they were grain mites or flour mites. Light greyish in colour which makes them hard to see in grains. All hamster mix had been frozen before use but they can come from human food as well.

They are harmless but cause us humans to panic because we do not want any kind of creepy crawly inside our hamsters cages.

 

[Maz]

Ugh bugs. There are so many different kind of mites. Perhaps the warm weather had something to do with it. Are they definitely grain mites as that sounds unusual if all the food was frozen. They can come from house plants as well or just outside the cage and head for food etc.

Rachel on here has had this recently and spent a couple of weeks trying to get rid. Sometimes small mites can come from bedding too. What bedding was she using? Hay is notorious.

 

[Member ID2]

I have come across other harmless but unwelcome pests that got me worried at first.
The most recent ones were in Bernard's tank. They looked like tiny black flies but were rubbish at flying. My first thought was fruit flies which i had before in a bin cage.
Thanks to elusive who put my mind at rest and saved Bernard's day they turned out to be fungus gnats. Yep, they had a field day in one of my house plants and had ventured into Bernard's tank.
I repotted the plant and cut back on watering for a while.

 

[Maz]

I hope your friend gets rid of them ok. It sounds like a full cage clean is needed and new food and bedding to be sure. The hamster may need to go into a temporary cage for a day or two.

 

[Member ID2]

They were not likely to have come from the hamster food and she uses Fitch.

The weather is part of the reason i've started this thread. Hot and humid weather creates an ideal environment for bugs to thrive.

Poor airflow in enclosures with limited ventilation could also be a contributing factor. This is only my opinion based on my own experiences.

I just want to make people aware that not all bugs are harmful and to check their cages more often when the hamster is in the playpen or free roaming.

 

[Maz]

That's a good point. This weather is when bugs hatch out more. Touch wood I've never had those kind of bugs. Just the moths, as you know and that's often in warm weather. It would help if she could find the source - either they came from something in the cage or they landed in the cage and multiplied!

It is quite hot and humid - I am quite lethargic with it.

 

[Member ID2]

Yes, everything has been sorted and there weren't many because it had been caught in time.

 

[Maz]

That must have been a relief! Nearest thing I had to that was mini maggots hatching in a blueberry that our first robo had hidden in a hide. Thankfully once that was removed and the immediate surrounding area of 6 inches or so, they were gone.

 

[Member ID2]

Even before i heard of the grain mites i hadn't been aware of, i started to become more vigilant due to the warm weather.

I go on bug patrol from time to time, armed with a bucket and a torch. I quickly remove removable furnishings and take handfulls of substrate out to check the base of the cage using the torch. I do a sniffing inspection at the same time to replace peed on substrate.
There's always hoarded food on the base and that is where i'd expect to see bugs as well should there be any.

I also had pantry moths twice but caught it early which saved a lot of bother.

 

[Member ID2]

I found that with the fruit flies after diabetic Percy had hidden a piece of cucumber. They were swirring out of his bin cage but once i had removed the source and cleaned out the immediate area they were gone.

 

[Member ID2]

Lilly has been sleeping in the fluffy hide for the last hour which was my chance to check her cage. Everything is fine in there.

 

[Maz]

I hope everything is bug free!

 

[Member ID2]

It is and it is reassuring to know. I have become a touch paranoid since the pantry moths i must admit.

 

[Maz]

I'm not surprised. I was due to clean Pip's cage this week-end but got interrupted and he has a lot of bedding. It's a job coming up but I will have a check. No sign of any moths in the house though!

 

[Member ID2]

I saw a moth last night in the lounge! Not sure if it was a pantry moth but it was that colour and shape.

 

[Maz]

Just squash em.

Edit - apologies to bug lovers but pantry moths or pantry moth look alikes don't count!

 

[Maz]

When you started this thread Beryl, I was sitting here thinking - at least I haven't seen any moths around the cages. Then Rainbow spotted one going in and out of Pip's cage on the nightcam videos last night. So maybe I will have some bugs to deal with! It headed for the food bowl. Normal moths don't go in hamster cages. It's usually ones that have hatched out in there going home.

Annoyingly I have all the hamster food and treats on the shelf below Pip's cage so they will all need to go in the freezer again. Moths can lay eggs through sealed plastic bags and cardboard and this kind of heat makes them hatch out. Raffy's food is in a lock and lock box but I left the lid off the other night while the new food in it was defrosting.

I had intended to do a cage clean for Pip anyway and adjust his set up slightly as he's getting older - but it might end up being a major clean now! I will start later today when I've chilled a bit! Blooming moths again!

Good job I have a big new bag of Fitch.

 

[Member ID2]

I store all bags of food in the laundry/pantry in a plastic storage box which is off the kitchen and behind a door. From there anything like hamster mixes, forage mixes, millets etc go into the freezer for at least a week and then they enter the house and go into large glass jars with an air tight lid.
Anything frozen i leave to defrost with the lid closed. I give the jars a good shake and close inspection from time to time. This may all sound a bit o.t.t. and may not prevent bugs because sometimes they seem to come from nowhere but my little system doesn't take up much time and gives me at least some peace of mind.

 

[Maz]

So I didn’t find any moths, larvae or webbing in Pips plaza. However it’s eggs that can be the issue. A female pantry moth can lay 200 eggs a day and they can be in the tiniest crevices (like the side bar slits in the plaza side struts which is where the larvae were last time I had them). The eggs are not visible with the naked eye. Once the eggs turn into larvae and hatch (eg unseen under substrate or in hoards). All those moths fly off and lay hundreds of eggs a day all over the house! As happened to me the first time. Which is why I’m so beit and braces about it.

The first time they got into the kitchen cupboards and all the food had to be thrown away and every crevice of the cupboards cleaned out with vinegar and a toothbrush.

Since then I have kept all flour, sugar, bags of raisins etc etc on lock and lock boxes. Apparently they are the only ones that are moth proof and fully airtight.

Except I’ve got more relaxed in recent times and have half open bags of hamster food and treats etc on the shelf under Pip’s cage and half open bags of sugar and cornflour in the cupboards.

Anyway cleaning the cage itself isn’t that bad although it will need to be thorough. It’s all the wood shelves and wheel etc. I’ve chucked anything cardboard and a chucked a bendy bridge and any hemp mat. Have a sink full of other items to wash. Vinegar kills moth eggs and soapy water washes them off and kills them.

Now if I could just find that damned moth! I do have a flypaper hanging near the cages so that might help.

For anyone who doesn’t know these aren’t normal moths - theyre pantry moths that hatch out in pet food in certain hot temperatures. Which is why we freeze hamster food. So technically I shouldn’t have any. But I’m not taking any risks again!

When I had then the first time, once the cage was full disinfected and new bedding and food and a simple set up. They didn’t come back in the cage. But by that time they were all over the house laying eggs!

It’s possible this was a normal moth that went into the cage but as soon as I see a moth going in and out of a cage but I thought that the first time!

 

[RainbowBrite]

Gosh, what a huge ordeal to have to clean everything. Luckily vinegar kills moth eggs and you sound like you know just what to do. I wonder if the moth could have gone out the window.