# Spider Mites



## CheezieSpaz (Jan 21, 2013)

First off I want to say, Checkers unfortunately didn't survive as she had a lot of complications with reabsorbing her babies and improper abscess drainage. Chex, my black tan, also grew a lump and started sneezing about a week ago but there's a little happier news with her.

I just took her to the vet and turns out her lump was just an abscess. They drained it the best they could, which it looks a million times better now and better yet, the medicine she prescribed for what's left of it and her sneezing was the same medicine I had on hand for Checkers and still have a full bottle sitting in the fridge. Even better still, my normally $42 check up bill only ended up being $20 total because of an 'in-house promotion' so I'm happy all around for this.

Now, my mice keep getting abscesses, sniffles and sneezes, and are scratching constantly and someone on another thread of mine mentioned the possibility of _spider_ mites. Looking back at all that's happened I find it to be highly plausible especially since we got the spider mites infesting some of our shrubbery outside that the dogs could be bringing in. I got three new 5-week-old sisters that were only in that cage for not even a full 24 hours before I went out and got a new tank for them but it may have been too late on that one oops. I'm still keeping them quarantined anyway since both my adults are sneezing and the three girls are only doing a little itching [plus they're hoppers and could probably squeeze through the high rise bars]

I have some flea and tick spray for small mammals from the pet store but I don't think that'd be enough to treat _spider_ mites. Anyone got any tips or experiences on how to get rid of them and prevent future infestations?


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## onionpencil (Jan 6, 2013)

i'm pretty sure the person is mistaken. many mites are very specialized. spider mites just live on plants. however, there are about 327237732723 (or so  ) kinds of mites, so you could have mites on your mice, but it wouldn't be related to mites on your plants. good luck!


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## CheezieSpaz (Jan 21, 2013)

Alright thank you! I guess I'll just have to keep up with their mite spray and heavy cleaning until it goes away then.


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## ThatCertainGlow (Jun 23, 2012)

Mice can get mites from pet store bedding, food, etc. Lice too, but I don't recall where those come in from. Maybe the same stuff. Mites seem to be more common. Both come in a variety/varieties that bite mice.

It's a shame you didn't get any Ivermectin while at the vet's. Did you discuss the cause of the abscesses and scratching with her/them/him? As far as I know, Ivermectin works much better on many mouse parasites, than any pet shop version of flea and tick spray. The vet could tell you exactly how to use it.

I have my cages in shelving units, with each leg sat into a flared condiment cup, full of diatomaceaous earth. I don't know if extra fine sand would work just as well, or not. I've seen no small insect, with an exoskeleton (mite included), able to cross a moat of DE. My quarantine room has the same sort of set-up, plus other things, some of which will depend on breeder's prior mite treatment schedule/methods. That only helps prevent parasites from crawling up, however, you need to kill the ones you have first. Or whatever is causing the scratching and abscesses.

More preventatives I use... I also spray down all bedding with Ivermectin, as it comes in, and a zoo/snake safe pyrethrin. The zoo/snake safe stuff is because I was looking for a version that would kill mites, long term in the storage bins, and not make me have some nasty reaction, from added chemicals (possibly bothering the mice too). I ordered it online, and have used it every 29 days, from November. So far so good, I can't recall it's name atm though. (...Something...)-A-Mite?

The Ivermectin is in case the other spray doesn't kill the ones most common to warehouse pest mice. (I don't buy food or bedding at a pet shop.) The Ivermectin does its thing in less than a day, but only for that day. So needs weekly re-treating for 4-6 weeks (eggs hatching). I also sprayed down all the cages each cleaning, along with treating the mice themselves, during quarantine. The treatment period is basically the same time frame as quarantine, so it works together nicely. I also did/will do full clothing, and shoe changes on exiting of room, which might also help, if any got onto my clothing. (It's for quarantine, same as scrubbing hands/arms, and all that.)

Food is either: Frozen, 48 hrs, thawed 48 hours, then re-frozen 48 hours (in small packs, left in the freezer). Or alternately stored in an air tight, packed full jar, for over 30 days, before feeding. Any stored outside the freezer, after freezing, would need to be well aired out to prevent mold.

I'd personally really, really prefer no parasite ever touched my mice, themselves. If your dogs go outside, they may be bringing in a different mite/parasite, and you would need to treat the dogs as well, at the same time, especially if they brush up against where the cages are. DE wouldn't stop the transfer that way. An alternative is taping down something thick enough, but flexible, and smear with tangle trap; in a continuous band around each cage. That would be irritating to work with when cleaning, unless using wide painter's, or artist's tape. Even then you'd probably end up brushing a hand, or clothing, in it.  Not sure what else to suggest.

Good luck,
Zanne


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