Bugs in cage

[cosmo2024]

I was playing with my hamster in the cage when I found some tiny bugs on the surface of one of his enrichment toys. It was pets at home snuffle forest forage toy. I have never seen these bugs before or on any other parts of the cage. They seem to be quite localised to this toy, the toy been in there for about over a month and this is the first time I'm seeing bugs on it. I use carefresh paper bedding and I bought a new bag recently and used it in his cage, that's the only recent change in his cage but I haven't seen them anywhere else so not sure if they're from the bedding. The bugs are fairly visible to the naked eye but still very small. I haven't noticed any excessive itching or scratching of the hamster and he seems fine. His coat is normal and not scruffy or patchy. I have looked through his fur and I haven't noticed any bugs but it's hard to be thorough. How alarming is this? Do I just need to replace all the bedding or do I need to also need to do anything with him as well. Are these bugs mites or are they a different bug? I have attached a video of the bugs.

hamster bugs.mp4

drive.google.com

 

[Maz]

I'm sorry you've got this. I suspect they have hatched out from the forest forage toy. Some of us freeze all wood and food items before use just in case of bug eggs that might hatch out. If they are just on the toy, I would remove it. And then keep an eye to see if any others are still hanging around. You should be ok by just removing the item. I found a rotten blueberry that had little bugs around it that had hatched out once, but only in that area, and once removed there were none.

Do you have a photo of the entire toy? It might be something you can bake to disinfect it.

 

[cosmo2024]

I have removed the toy and thrown it away. It is only cheap but there were quite a few bugs on it. It is hard to see it has spread past the toy as it was on the bedding which could hide the bugs. But I haven't seen any on his hide or anything yet. Do you think these bugs are harmful for the hamster? He has fresh carrot sometimes, would a piece of hidden carrot cause these bugs or do you think it's more from this toy. The idea of the toy is that food is dropped between the sticks and he works to get it.

 

[Maz]

I think the outside looks like it has hay stuck on it is that right? Anything with hay on can hatch out bugs. As a tip, it's an idea to freeze any hay, or grass toys, bake any rough wood items (obviously not ones with glue, they can go in the freezer as well) any hamster food, sprays or treats. To kill any bugs or mites or their eggs that could hatch out.

A shame but unfortunately so many of these natural items do have issues with bugs hatching if they haven't been frozen first. The difficulty there is having freezer space! A bag of hamster food or a few sprays doesn't take up much space, but a larger item like that does.

I don't think those bugs will harm your hamster. They could be snack for the hamster However, I would keep an eye on it over the next week or so and make sure they're gone. If they're not, you might need to do a cage clean and replace the substrate. Generally though, if you remove the source, they don't proliferate.