Strange bugs?

[Arora]

Hello! So I have noticed these itty bitty bugs in my hamster's cage of late. There is only one though per sighting. I will add a picture of one later. I clean my 40 gallon hammy cage each week, and clean all pee spots on the glass. I also clean his water bottle weekly.

What should I be doing differently? Should I be doing spot cleanings each day? Buttons stays under the bedding all day and goes pee and poo down in the bedding.. and he hordes all his food down there. I wake him up each day to play in his playpen.

[Spud]

I can't say much about the bugs, as I have no experience with them, but I'm sure Kikya will be able to help with that.

When you say you clean the cage every week, what do you mean? Do you replace all the bedding weekly? I would recommend spot cleaning as needed (this might be every couple of days). I never replaced all the bedding in Spud's cage (but she was a very clean hamster).

I would recommend cleaning his water bottle more often than weekly. Water bottles can get really gross unfortunately. Have you considered using water bowls instead? I found them so much easier to keep clean, an I could really easily and quickly clean them every day.

Btw, please wait until Buttons has woken up naturally before putting him in his playpen. He will get on with you much better if he doesn't associate you with being woken up, but instead only associates you with positive things like treats and playpen time. It doesn't matter if he doesn't get playpen time every day if he wakes up too late sometimes

Hopefully someone will be able to help you more with the mites when you add some photos. They might recommend doing a full cage clean and sterilising everything.

Are you freezing his dry food and treats for 48hrs before using them at the moment? Sometimes that can help prevent uninvited visitors.

That was a really long reply- sorry!

[Arora]

Thank you Spud! I have since determined that it is gnats that are coming from some plants I have that have been suffering :')

So by spot cleaning, what do you mean?? Buttons is basically a ghost hamster, so I never see him, not even through the night! ( and I have stayed up on numerous occasions ...watching ...waiting..lol) The only time he's out is at playtime, which he does enjoy greatly ( becuase He gets numerous treats and loves his playpen wheel. ) So that means that there is barely any poops or pees on the bedding, because it's all underneath where he sleeps.

I clean his cage by re-fluffing the bedding, and pulling out all the big areas of poop and pee, and seed stashes. And I wipe the glass where I see that he has peed. After like two or three weeks, I do a 50% bedding change.

Usually when I wake him up for play time, I first call out to him so that he will be semi-awake, and then I pull the bedding back from where I believe he is sleeping, and once I find him, I offer him a treat, like a mealworm or sunflower seed.

I will definitely boost the water bottle cleanings!! Thank you for all of your help!

[Kikya]

Hello! So I have noticed these itty bitty bugs in my hamster's cage of late. There is only one though per sighting. I will add a picture of one later. I clean my 40 gallon hammy cage each week, and clean all pee spots on the glass. I also clean his water bottle weekly.

What should I be doing differently? Should I be doing spot cleanings each day? Buttons stays under the bedding all day and goes pee and poo down in the bedding.. and he hordes all his food down there. I wake him up each day to play in his playpen.

Hey sorry that I haven't had a chance to comment but since you believe they are gnats from plants. I use these: https://www.amazon.com/Mosqueda-Fruit-T ... B08MZN1K2Y

to trap the bugs. I put one in each of my indoor plants and they catch all kinds of gnats and bugs and keep them out of my hammy cages.

If you discover they are coming from somewhere else, I have other tips.

[Arora]

Hello! So I have noticed these itty bitty bugs in my hamster's cage of late. There is only one though per sighting. I will add a picture of one later. I clean my 40 gallon hammy cage each week, and clean all pee spots on the glass. I also clean his water bottle weekly.

What should I be doing differently? Should I be doing spot cleanings each day? Buttons stays under the bedding all day and goes pee and poo down in the bedding.. and he hordes all his food down there. I wake him up each day to play in his playpen.

Hey sorry that I haven't had a chance to comment but since you believe they are gnats from plants. I use these: https://www.amazon.com/Mosqueda-Fruit-T ... B08MZN1K2Y

to trap the bugs. I put one in each of my indoor plants and they catch all kinds of gnats and bugs and keep them out of my hammy cages.

If you discover they are coming from somewhere else, I have other tips.

Thank you Kikya!!