>Can gerbils get fleas? my female gebil has a few teeny tiny blk. bugs on
>her fur. They're smaller than fleas. What are they and are they harmful?
>how do I get rid of them? are they harmful to soon-to-be-born pups?
>Please respond asap with any information. Thankz
> Natalie & the soon to be Heven Clan
They are mites. Rodents can get them. Humans can be chomped
by them too (and boy do they ITCH). Get some hamster&gerbil
mite and flea spray; make sure on the active ingredients list that
the amount of active ingredients (two) total 0.66%. There is a
bird spray that is half that strength....it'll do in a pinch, but get the
other stuff. A few different places make the stuff.
Clean the cage thoroughly, this is bleach and soap time. And
everything that was in it. Spray the area around where the
cage was sitting. Spray the cage inside and out. Spray
everything going into the cage, even give the fresh bedding
a squirt. Spray the animal, and make sure you get them from
one end to the other. I spray the stuff onto the body, then get
my hand wet with the spray and use that to do the head and
other parts. Rub your gerbil a little, you want the spray to
get everywhere and to the skin.
You will need to scrub cage and do clean bedding for a
week. I am not kidding. Spray again at any time if the
white tissue test shows more of the crawlies, while you're
doing the week of cleanliness.
Take a few sheets of unscented undyed toilet tissue
(take the strip right off the roll and don't separate) and
wrap your animal with it like you're swaddling it; and
hold it for a few minutes, with the head sticking out of
the 'roll'. Then check the tissue. If there are any on
the animal, some of them will bail onto the tissue looking
for new bedding to infest....
If you find more crawlies, then when you scrub the tank
and change the bedding, spray everything again,
including the animal.
I get them with animals that I rescue, and on occasion
from a petstore. Even with quarrantining new animals
I still have an occasional outbreak of the little things...
any animals leaving my care are also quarrantined on
the way out just to make sure they're clean first. :)
Dedication and cleanliness and you'll be able to get
rid of them. Good luck.
Deb
Rebel's Rodent Ranch
