# Little Black Bugs?



## JordanWhiteboy (Apr 26, 2011)

Hi, I'm really new to the hedgehog scene, and i got a hedgehog from my friend. It had a lot of little black bugs all in its cage, and some on it. I power washed the cage, and gave the hog a bath with water only and brushed it. Whats going on? Should i be concerned? How do i treat this if its a health issue?
Thanks, Jordan


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## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

Are these little black bugs jumping around by any chance?

I would put my money on FLEAS. Fleas are small, black and really jumpy. In fact if you grab one and look at it closely and then google fleas, you can see if they look alike.

The only safe thing to use on hedgehogs is REVOLUTION. It treats fleas as well as mites. You would get this from a veterinarian's office. the standard dosage is 0.01ml/cc per 400g of your hegdehogs weight... and 3 dosages of that 2-3 weeks apart. That being said, vets are now finding you usually need more revolution than that so you should get a dosage from your vet if you can (should be around 2-3 drops from the bottle itself). You'll have to clean the cage out too (don't use any "flea" products though... those things are deadly!) I would just use a 50/50 water vinegar solution. fleas are super hard to get rid of though, so you're going to probably have to clean the entire room the hedgehog's cage is in.

Whatever you do PLEASE DO NOT use "flea" products from the pet store on your hedgehog. These are toxic to dogs and cats and I've heard so many horror stories of them dying from it. ONLY revolution is safe (DO NOT let your vet prescribe a product called "Ivermectin" either!)

Good luck and welcome to the wonderful world of hedgehogs!


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## JordanWhiteboy (Apr 26, 2011)

they dont hop around, i thought they were mites, but everywhere i read said mites were white an lived under the skin. these bugs just crawl around and are on top of the skin. but it does scratch and have some quill loss so it probably is mites. how much does revolution run?


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## SnufflePuff (Apr 16, 2009)

Yeah mites are white... I'm still guessing fleas but either way - Revolution will treat both so it doesn't really matter what they are.

I live in Canada so here we need a prescription for revolution from the vet, I'm not sure if you need one in the US. The revolution itself is like $10-20 for a tube and you will need a few tubes depending on how many times you need to repeat the treatment and the dosage you use. You should really see a vet to get a prescription for it though, especially if you just got the hedgehog - it should see a vet anyways. Plus revolution shouldn't be given to sick animals so it's always good to get a vet check-up and make sure the hedgehog is healthy. Plus you'll want to find a good hedgehog vet anyways because they are a must to have. The vet visist will run you $60-80 depending on the vet and what they charge.


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## greenbeansrabbitry (Sep 10, 2008)

Is there anyway you could get a picture of them? That would probably help out alot.


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## chrissyk (Mar 17, 2012)

I see that this topic was abandoned about a year ago...but an answer would be really helpful.

This afternoon I bathed my hedgehog and I found some brown flea-like bugs in the sink. I've spent the past hour on Google trying to find out what they are. Although they look like fleas, I know that they aren't because they're bigger than fleas, don't jump as high or move as fast. 

I suspect that they may be tropical rat mites, but I'm not entirely sure. When I searched if they can be a pest to any other animals aside from rats, nothing really came up so I don't even know if I've successfully identified the bugs.

I recently moved into this apartment, been there for 13 days. I had never seen these bugs at my old place so I don't know if they existed in this place prior to my moving in, or if it's just a new development. Oh, and I deep cleaned her cage last week so I really don't understand how this has happened.

There are some red dots/bumps on my Marshmallow near the bottom of her back. Her skin might be a bit flakey on her sides, but I coudln't really tell because she's grouchy at the moment and keeps huffing every time I try to look.

I don't know what affect they may be having on her because she seems to be eating and drinking just fine and her poo is normal.


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## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

Doesn't sound like fleas to me it sounds like bed bugs. They don't just live in your bed (probably there too if you have them though). They can live in the carpets, furniture, fleece if you're using it. I'd take one of them up to an exterminator to find out for sure what it is.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Here's so info on bed bugs

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/v ... =yfp-t-701


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## chrissyk (Mar 17, 2012)

Thanks for the info. I looked into it and am happy that I can at least eliminiate bed bugs from the list of possibilities.


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## greenbeansrabbitry (Sep 10, 2008)

Can you get pictures? It sounds like fleas to me tbh.


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

Sounds like fleas to me too. In my one experience with them (on a friend's cats), there was no hopping involved, and they were actually fairly sluggish buggers. Since they suck blood, I imagine their speed/activity level somewhat depends on whether they're hungry or have a full stomach (similar to ticks in that way). If they look like fleas .. they're probably fleas.


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## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

I still say take one up to an exterminator and find out for sure. If your little one is being bit then its definitely time to step it up and do something other than just look online hoping to figure it out  who knows what kind of internal reaction is happening in the meantime to the hedgie from having saliva and whatever other toxins injected with each bite.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

shawnwk1 said:


> I still say take one up to an exterminator and find out for sure. If your little one is being bit then its definitely time to step it up and do something other than just look online hoping to figure it out  who knows what kind of internal reaction is happening in the meantime to the hedgie from having saliva and whatever other toxins injected with each bite.


Yep, I agree totally.


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## chrissyk (Mar 17, 2012)

I'll try to get a picture tonight. My hedgehog is free of the bugs but I have a few of them taped to a piece of paper. If they're fleas, then they're pretty freaking huge =/


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