Mites..Ick!

[pinkdaisy]

Okay so my hedgie seems to have mites, I'm treating them and cleaning his house out on a very regular basis, have switched to Yesterdays News rather than shavings, etc.

I was just wondering...they can't transfer to people can they?

 

[Philogirl]

No, mites can't be transferred to people... at least not as an infestation. When my hedgies had mites, I could swear I felt bugs crawling on me. My boyfriend thought I needed a CAT scan because there is a nerve disorder that causes one to feel like there are things crawling on the skin, when in fact there is not. But it turned out to be mites. After handling a mite-infested hedgie, the mites can stay alive temporarily on you, but will die within a few minutes. Mites are species-specific so you can't even transfer them to a dog or cat.

A tip for helping the infestation go away faster... clean the cage every day. If you're using bedding, it can cost a little more, but bedding can keep mites around longer. I cleaned my hedgies cages and everything in them twice a day and changed their liners every day and the mites were gone in two weeks.

 

[Hedgie Girls]

Our one experience with mites was when we took in two little albino girls Harriet and Bianca. Harriet was so infested with mites we could see them crawling all over her. The little box with wood shavings that they came in was also crawling with mites. I wore gloves and a old shirt to handle them. I bathed them both right away and started Revolution. Harriet's skin was fire engine red and she just cried and screamed when touched. She remained balled up and I had to syringe feed her. Harriet also had wood shavings stuck way in her ears. I cleaned them twice on Saturday. Then on of my hedgie friends stopped over on Sunday and we cleaned her ears out again and we could still see stuff way inside, but we did not feel comfortable on trying to get it out. Bianca was also infected her skin was not as red as Harriet's and she was not crying and screaming. The people to turned their care over to me said they were healthy and they did not see the mites. With it being late Saturday afternoon our vet was already closed. I got them both in right away Monday morning. Our vets and I did not think Harriet would make it. Our vets said they had mites for a while and Harriet was very anemic and the wood particles and dirt that we could see way in her ears was dried to the inner ear. It took our vet staff about two hours to work just on Harriet.

I disinfected their living area twice a day. I used tablespoon of bleach in a gallon of water. I rinsed their living area out real good with hot water and let it air dry. I changed out everything and laundered their stuff right away with detergent, vinegar and a double rinse. I did this for two weeks. I never saw a mite infestation like this before and I never want to see it again.

 

[tskoffina]

Hedgehogs can get different kinds of mites and one of them can affect humans. It's the mange mite, I don't know the scientific name, I can look, my vet gave me a paper on them. I asked the vet when I got an infection on my hand, but he said it wasn't that, but checked them anyway and they didn't have them. I don't think it's common though.

 

[Philogirl]

Scabies?? That's a sarcoptic mange that can infest humans... didn't think it was very common in hedgies.

 

[tskoffina]

The paper the vet gave me to show the Derm when we couldn't figure out what it was, before the biopsy was done, says DEMODEX MITES, Demodex canis. He said it was a type of mange, and there were more than one, but this was the most common. If you do a Google search of mange hedgehog a lot of stuff comes up. I couldn't find which particular mange affects hedgehog, if it's this same one or a different one, but he said it could be transfered to humans, just not the way my thing was. I did find this: http://www.hamorhollow.com/content/view/84/36/, which lists demodectic mite and scabbies, also not sure %100 if they are the same as what he was talking about and you were Philogirl, respectively.

 

[Philogirl]

Demodetic and sarcoptic mites are very different- they belong to different genera. I'm surprised that your vet would consider Demodex mites as a human infestation as the sarcoptics are more prone to infesting humans. I only know anything about this in terms of human sexual transmission, so I may be entirely misinformed about this regarding hedgehogs...

I was under the impression that hedgehog mites only infested hedgehogs just as certain species of mites only infest humans. From what I've heard, most mites species are species-specific (there are supposedly over 60 types of demodetic mites). This is based on what my vet said and it seems it conflicts with other info here....

Anyone have a definitive answer on this? (I'm gonna ask my vet about this on Monday.)

 

[paris26]

Definitely disinfect EVERYTHING that has gone into his cage or near his cage. Mites are persistant little buggers and if you miss something in your cleaning, chances of another infestation are great.

I would love to hear what your vet said about humans and demodex. I always was told sarcoptic mange would be what humans are most prone to.

 

[tskoffina]

I would love a final answer too. I know not all vets who treat hedgehogs really know all there is to know, I know I certainly don't. If my info was wrong, sorry. I only know what I was told.

 

[Philogirl]

Yeah... something's gone awry here informationally.... I'm worried that I've been misinformed too. I might do a little experiment and call vets across the country and see what they say...

Back to the point of the original post... whether or not they can be transferred to humans, it still seems quite unlikely that your hedgie's mites will infest you. Many people on this forum have dealt with mites (including myself) and haven't gotten any form of mange. At the same time, I would change your clothes and wash them in hot water after handling your hedgie and cleaning his/her cage. Just in case...

 

[pinkdaisy]

Yeah Ive been wearing my dad's coveralls and washing them on hot after I clean the cage, along with his blankets and the cloths used to wash the cage.

 

[Philogirl]

Okay... so here's the answer I got about mites from my vet. Yes, both demodetic and sarcoptic mites can infest humans, but demodetic *very* rarely do. Sarcoptic mites are more frequently transferred to humans, but since we are not natural hosts for the species that infest hedgehogs, it is still quite uncommon for humans to get sarcoptic mange from hedgehogs. Humans are natural hosts for a specific sarcoptic mite, which is what is commonly called scabies.

So yes, they can be transferred to humans, but not likely that they will cause an infestation.

 

[pinkdaisy]

I know im bringing up this thread again, but it's a related question and the same hedgie. He's been on Revolution a while, and I dont see any more mites or eggs on him or in his house. However, he still is losing quite a few quills...is this normal?

 

[pricklesnquills]

I know im bringing up this thread again, but it's a related question and the same hedgie. He's been on Revolution a while, and I dont see any more mites or eggs on him or in his house. However, he still is losing quite a few quills...is this normal?

when was the last treatment that he had of Revolution?

 

[Nancy]

Yes it is normal to continue loosing quills for a while after the mites are gone. Is he still scratching? If so, he might possibly need another dose. How many has he had? What bedding is he on?

 

[pinkdaisy]

No, he is not still scratching, although he wasnt scratching much at first. Last dose was...2 weeks ago? I'm guessing? And I'm taking him in again for another dose in a week or so according to my vet's reccommendation