Flour mites 😫

[Magpie]

I’ve just found what I think are flour mites in Mr Maggie’s tank.

Was doing some tidying and noticed his croc whimzee was crawling with them. (Tiny little white things) they seem contained to the platform his water is on (which is where his whimzee normally sits) I’ve removed it now and put it in a
Ziplock bag but you can see them on the cactus water bottle stand and the Christmas tree slate.

but I guess this means I need to do a full gutting of all his bedding and clean down everything with vinegar solution?

Would that be enough to get rid of them?

So frustrating!

Everything in there has been frozen for a week before being put in. I thought it was maybe his lotus head which I use buckwheat flour to stick seed mix onto, but I’ve made up other ‘lollipops’ and they are sitting in a tub with zero evidence of any bugs in there, so I don’t know where they have come from?

I can’t see any sign of them in/on his sand box where his food bowl is. Will I be able to keep his sand so that at least something has a familiar scent for him?

I’m thinking I would be best to do this in the daytime so dig him up and put him in the carrier so he should curl up and sleep while I get everything emptied and cleaned.

 

[Magpie]

Actually I’ve now found a couple on his little water dish which sits on top of his sand box too.

 

[Maz]

Oh no I'm sorry. They will almost certainly be from some kind of food or hamster edibles. Some kind of mites. I think flour mites look different and tend to be dark coloured. I think it's unlikely they are from flour.

They can be from hay or grassy items sometimes - I tend to freeze anything with hay as well. And bake wood items - except for smooth wood houses and platforms. I even freeze whimzees!

But yes you'll need to throw his bedding, disinfect everything. White vinegar in the cage for bugs and bug eggs. Baking and freezing for everything else (ceramic items can just be washed with fairy liquid and hot water). Alternatively you could use small pet disinfectant in the cage which should do the same job but white vinegar is fine and works for insects and eggs.

 

[Magpie]

I’m off tomorrow so will do it then. I have 3 new bags of bedding in the cupboard so hopefully that’s enough.

I don’t have small pet disinfectant but have vinegar so will use that to clean down once it’s empty.

There’s no hay in there, anything that is has been frozen for a week before being put in- sprays, pressed flower disk etc. I did not freeze his whimzee though but it’s been in there for a good while now?

His MCH is smooth coated wood so I will
Clean that with vinegar. The other wood items I will need to bake- but how long for and what temp please?!

Will I need to re-freeze the sprays and his chews that are in there before putting them back in?

Guess I’d be best to change his sand over too in case they are in there?

Poor Mr Maggie I’m going to upset him royally! It’s going to be a bit barren

What about his sea grass tunnel and his cardboard house (cornflake box… it’s his favourite place to be) I don’t have anything to replace them with to hand. But not sure how I can clean/make them safe?

 

[Maz]

Did you freeze the seagrass tunnel? Yes re-freeze the sprays and any other edible items for a week. I would use a new bag of food though just in case. It's nearly always from the hamster mix. If you have another bag that's been frozen or in the freezer.

For baking it's 100 degrees centigrade for 30 to 40 minutes. 30 mins should be fine. 40 mins if you want to be sure. Anything longer than that and things can start to smell burned!

Needs to be white vinegar, not malt vinegar

 

[Magpie]

Thanks Maz. It’s distilled malt vinegar I have (which is clear… will that be ok?) if not I’ll have to order some and wait until it arrives, hopefully at the weekend.

I didn’t freeze the tunnel, but that’s been in there since day 1.

I don’t have any food other than what I have open and using at the moment (mixerama which was frozen for a week before being opened)

He doesn’t seem overly keen on it to be honest, but i would need to wait for delivery of new food plus 1wk freezing before a being able to change it.

There is no sign of anything in his food/bowl at the moment though.

The other platform seems to be the hotspot water bottle and slate in particular (looks like specs of dust/sand but they are bugs )

 

[Maz]

Hmm what is in the area of the platform? Is that a chew stick in the foreground? I didn't know you could get clear malt vinegar. It should be ok but does it smell stronger than white vinegar?

 

[Magpie]

According to google it smells stronger. it’s all I could get locally when we bought the tank and I used it diluted 1:1 with water to clean the he tank when it arrived. It did smell strongly of vinegar but it was days before he went in there so the smell had dissipated before then. Won’t have that time to wait this time though so maybe it won’t be suitable?

On that platform is just his water bottle, piece of slate, two stone disks, a stick and usually his whimzee. There are some sprays next to it too. Picture in my original post shows what’s on there.

 

[Magpie]

I wonder if they are actually book lice? There are books on a shelf above his tank (no signs of them there though) and the room is not damp but they do seem concentrated around the 2 water sources in the tank.

I still can’t get white vinegar locally. I’ve checked again today.

I’ve ordered some from Amazon so hope that will be here at the weekend and I will wait until then (even though they are giving me the fear!) although I have distilled malt vinegar I think it will be too strong a smell. According to the good old internet anyway. So as much as I’m itching to get rid of these horrid things I think I’m best to be patient for a few more days.

I’ve noticed them on the walls of the inside it also some on the outside so I will also need to take the tank out of its space and clean down the outside.

Wow this is grim.

I’ve just remembered that one platform which will need baked has had bamboo chopsticks glued on to keep his wheel from slipping… not sure that will cope with being baked? Any experience of similar? They took me AGES to glue on and hold down to set as well

Worried I’m going to spend all day doing this and stressing him out which a complete change over and they are going to come back anyway. Paranoid they are everywhere now!

 

[Maz]

I'm guessing you saw that other post about book lice? Could you get a photograph through a magnifying glass or something? Or use an app that has a macro setting or filter (that enlarges everything). A normal photo enlarged is usually too blurry. It helps to try and identify first.

If you've never had an issue with book lice before or humidity it is maybe not the first thing to think about Yes you can actually get the white vinegar in spray bottles on Amazon - I've done that and it's very useful. It's surprising how much you need - you might need 2 - or even 3.

With platforms you could just use spray vinegar on them then leave them a bit then rinse them. I've done that with a wood house and wheel before.

 

[Magpie]

Yes! I saw the other thread and it sounds pretty similar… but hopefully I don’t need to go through this twice. I had a magnifying glass somewhere. Will try and find it.

From what’s on google it does seem reasonable to think they’re booklice from what they describe. They don’t seem to be in his bowl of food at all or on his lotus pod. Clinging to the areas where his water is and mainly on the slate/ceramic items as far as I can see.

I’ve got a 500ml bottle of vinegar coming but perhaps that’s not enough?! I thought it needed to be diluted 1:1 with water before use?

I can bake the other platforms but will probably need to just wash the adapted one down with vinegar and cross my fingers. I need to get everything done and able to put it back in ASAP though as I only have the small carrier to put him in while I’m cleaning. I might need to leave that platform out until it fully dries then and just try to put his wheel on the floor for the time being.

He will need to live without his seagrass tunnel for a week too so I can freeze it. Poor Mr Maggie- so sorry buddy!

 

[Maz]

Is it a squirty bottle of vinegar? If so they're not that strong - I just used it as it was, left for a couple of hours then rinsed afterwards. The squirty stuff is good for getting in little crevices - like where the legs join the platform.

 

[Maz]

Just read that book lice are nocturnal. Out at night and hide away in daylight. If that helps.

 

[Magpie]

It’s just a plain bottle of vinegar but I have a spray bottle for using once it gets here to get into the corners.

Well these are still milling around on the slate just now…

 

[Maz]

It does suggest either they like the damp area - or - it's coincidence and they are from the nearby sprays.

 

[Magpie]

So strange. They are all to be found here mainly. So horrible!

Obviously you can’t see them in detail but you can see them all clearly against the black of the slate.

The nearby sprays were all frozen for a week and have been in for quite a while- can’t see any evidence of them on the sprays…

 

[Maz]

It would help to know the source before doing the full cage clean but that could be difficult to determine. Maybe move the books to another room, disinfect round that area and do the full cage clean?

 

[Magpie]

I’ve got nowhere else to keep all the books unfortunately. Most are on the other side of the room from him, there are just some on a shelf above him which I could seem to try and move.

Can’t seem to find a magnifying glass anywhere. Typical.