Flea is a common problems faced by pets, including dogs, cats and even the cute small creature, hamster. There are some easy ways to get rid and prevent fleas on your pets.
Hamsters are cute, small, fluffy and friendly animals that enjoy the company of other hamsters instead of us humans. They don’t take too much energy for us to be taken care.
If you plan to have hamsters as pets at home, you can check these hamster breeds to pet that are the best. Due to this reason, some pet owners are not aware that their hamsters are able to develop fleas.
Fleas are small animals sucking blood on the body of the animal they inhabit. They might be small and almost cannot be noticed, but their effects are really dangerous, especially if they bring parasite on their body. However, through consistent and firm prevention and care for your hamster, flea problem can be solved.
Fleas on hamsters can be a great danger for them due to the possibility of being anemic. The amount of blood being taken from your hamsters will affect your hamster’s condition. The more fleas inhabiting your hamsters’ body, the more they will suffer. That’s why quick actions are needed to get rid fleas from their body.
- How do Your Hamster Get Fleas?
While fleas on dogs and cats travel outdoors, fleas on hamsters are likely travel in different ways. As you are outdoors, the fleas are likely to hop onto your fluffy and warm clothing that they mistakenly think is fur. Then, as you arrive home, the fleas travel joyously by hopping onto other places.
Hamsters love to live in a snuggly and warm surroundings, as they are nocturnal and enjoying long sleep in their little burrows. These little burrows will also provide comfort for the lice and fleas as well.
- How do Fleas on Hamster Look Like?
Fleas on hamsters are typically large and you can see them by using your naked eyes. You can simply push your hamster’s hair apart to be able to look for fleas. You can also examine fleas’ droppings that look like black dots on your hamster’s body.
If your hamsters start to be unusually itchy, then it is possible that they have mites. Few mites on hamster’s body is not a big deal, but if your hamsters start to rub their body against the cage because of extreme itch they feel, then it might be a sign of mite infestation. Check whether your hamsters lose any hair or having scaly skin.
- Getting Rid of Fleas on Hamsters
There are some products you can simply buy in the pet shop offering you the effective way of getting rid of fleas from your hamsters’ body. As owner, you need to be sure that the product is intended for hamsters, not for another pet. Then follow the instructions on the label.
Another thing to do is cleaning your hamster’s cage. Read you must considered these things when you clean the hamster cage. Do it regularly to prevent any fleas coming back to your hamster’s cage. Clean out the entire cage, and change the bedding with the new one.
You can use warm water to rinse the cage out. If there is any materials, such as permeable materials or cardboard tubes inside the cage, remove them as they might be the place for breeding flea eggs.
Are you running out of ideas of building your hamster’s cage? Look for some tips of how to build your own hamster cage.
There are some tips about keeping hamsters at home as elaborated in don’t keep these hamsters before you know everything about them. Make sure you are ready enough to pet hamsters at home.
- Prevention is Always the Key
Once you successfully get rid of fleas from your hamsters, then you will need to start doing some actions to prevent fleas from going back. The best way to keep fleas away from your hamsters is by getting ready with all the flea treatment products. By being prepared with the treatment, you will be able to solve the problem more quickly.
Moreover, regular health check for your hamsters is also a good idea to prevent fleas. You can bring your hamster to your vet for around once in a week or month to make sure that your hamsters are healthy, not only for checking fleas.
Regarding to hamster’s health, you can read some information about diseases in hamsters, such as in Tyzzers disease in hamsters: How is it being the dead cause? and Sendai virus: How can be infected to hamsters?
Cleaning your hamster’s cage regularly will be the best way of preventing fleas. Warm and comfy bedding for your hamsters might be good, but it will be the best place for breeding fleas.
So, make sure you do regular cleaning of that area to make sure there isn’t any flea staying there with your hamster. You can also change the bedding every week.