Working on deguland

[moletteuk]

Mar 28, 2023 13:52:28 GMT laiyah said:

-> Degu slave gotta be slaving.

LOL absolutely!

If you wait a while you should be able to find grass growing as weeds and just pick some of the seeds to grow yourself.

[bouncy]

I know you're not in the UK, but I got a really good seed mix (for planting) from Norfolk Feeds. It's a premium tortoise seed mix with clovers and other things the goos like to eat. There are also things like meadow or wild flower mixes in the shops. Just remember to check on the back that all are safe

[laiyah]

So, as expected, I can't find that very seed mix. So far, I have been very keen on not getting mixes because I haven't found a perfect mix.

But honestly, i think they have enough greens... Actually, i'm starting to wonder if I give them too much fresh food ? I just cut some and let them have a go without caring too much about giving them too much (I assumed they were young enough to digest it)...

Should I start worrying about too much fresh food ?

[moletteuk]

You can't have too many greens as long as they are in a variety and presuming that some of them aren't just young shoots (it takes a while for plants to develop the desired mineral content and sugars are higher in young plants), and presuming they are used to digesting it. If you are feeding what you grow in containers it is highly unlikely to be too much.

[laiyah]

So, small question that might be weird again.

I bought those alfalfa seeds to sprout but I wanted a test run before planting them in soil. (To avoid having to scratch an entire plantation again)

The sprouts grew in just a few days. While I do realize it goes under the young sprout label, I wanted to have test drive.

My degus are ignoring the young sprout so I'm unsure if it's just because it's a sprout, or because they just don't like it.

(My degus ignored cresss when it was very small. Now one just gobbles it up.)

[savvy]

It could be a nutritional issue, as young sprouts they haven't matured enough for the degus. Try to grow a few on and test again.

[moletteuk]

they might just be being cautious, I would try a couple more over a few days.

[laiyah]

Hi guys, terrible news. Not about my degus...

But my degu room has food mite. Like, those you get in the kitchen ? They seems to have started in the paper bag with blackberry leaves and I trashed that. I have somehow managed to put EVERYTHING in various jam containers, but I can't seem to get rid of them. The degu room shouldn't have human food, but I have no clue why they seem to be developping more and more.

The issue is... I still NEED to feed my degus, so any idea on what I could do ? I can't exactly decide to starve the degus to be sure they don't stash potential mite growing food...

[savvy]

Try freezing the food overnight, this should kill the mites. There was a problem a couple of years ago with mealmoths, freezing sorted it out.

Once you've defrosted the food, give their cages a deep clean, if you have a steamer, steam anything wooden and the corners of the cage. Obviously take the degus out first. Then feed as normal and repeat the process if necessary.

[teemu]

Yes, a freeze should kill any mites in the food. I would inspect the food carefully before giving it to your degus, however, since it seems like food mites can actually taint food that they infest for some time and cause food poisoning or other symptoms. There would be an off smell if the food has been tainted.

I'm not sure if the mites can survive in bedding or something like that, but a deep clean of the cage and the furniture would be in order, as Savvy says.

I would maybe recommend that after freezing, you actually take out all the food from the degu room (or at least from anywhere close to their cage) and thoroughly check everything for mites and clean the cage. And until it is certain that the mites are gone, keep the food away and sealed in containers, and only bring in what you are giving to them right then. It basically only requires a couple of mites getting into any of the seemingly clean foods to start it all over again, and it could easily happen when containers are opened.

[laiyah]

I mostly find the mite spots when I see their webs. (from when they do a cocoon ?)

I have managed to put in containers most of the food, but I didn't know the freezing trick. I will try. My house is literally covered in mite trap to try to pinpoint their location...

For the steam, can I use an iron ? I don't have many wooden items, but their wooden house is kind of big. I will definitely deep clean x__x (the balance between work, mental health and the pet is always tricky). I'll try to do that tomorrow or the day after.

[savvy]

Not sure about a steam iron due to the potential to burn yourself.

Are you sure they are mites and not mealmoths? Their larvae also weave webs.

www.orkin.com/pests/moths/pantry-moths

[savvy]

See also: www.pesticide.org/moths_indian_meal

[laiyah]

To me, it looks like indian meal, but maybe it's a language issue. I bought mite traps and they get stuck to the traps.

[savvy]

If its the meal moth chances are its come in from a contaminated batch of forage, but they are fairly straightforward to deal with. Freeze their food, thoroughly clean and dry everything and set the traps.

Its the male moth who is attracted to the traps and he's the one you need to stop. Without him, the females die off and the problem solves itself. Any eggs and larvae will be killed off in the freezer.

When I had to deal with an infestation, they came in a bag of SAB mix from Germany, and it took a couple of weeks to deal with. I left the traps up until no new moths were sticking to them.

Please don't worry about any language issues, we can easily work through them.

[laiyah]

Well, hopefully, it's done. I've decided to turn back to pee pads full way to the cage. I threw out all the forage areas for now, because, I'm sorry for the degus, the mites could be hidden in their secret stash.

I emptied the terrarium and other litter area. The moth/mite has spread to some of my own living area so it has become more than imperative for us to END IT. Aaah.

I usually give them a lot of litter area on top of the regular protected zones but they will have to make do for now with the pee pads and the hemp mat. For now, they seem to be alright.

I'm considering going to buy a lot of bathing sand to put in the terrarium for now, as it would be a lot easier to spot any "weirdness" in there and still allow them to forage/dig/bury.

[teemu]

Dang, that is a nasty situation. They will likely be fine for a bit in irregular cage furnishings like that, since it is only temporary and I agree that it really sounds like it should be done. The sand should be fine, since no pest like that will survive in just sand.

If it is spreading into the rest of the house, then it's probably not food mites, since from my understanding they can't subsist on just general fabrics or other household materials and only infest grains and other foodstuffs. That doesn't really help, of course, but it's likely that this is a moth situation (or another type of pest, maybe).

You should also check your degus over carefully (as much as they let you) to make sure that it's not something that could also live in their fur. It's likely not, but doesn't hurt to be sure. So if you can, go over their fur in good light, stroke it a bit against the grain to see their skin etc. If it's on them, it should be fairly obvious.

[moletteuk]

You could buy a clip on microscope lens type thing for your mobile phone, which should then allow you to photograph the insects, which should then help indentify the critters to help you figure out how to get rid of them. Facebook has a ton of various insect ID groups, or maybe google lens would tell you what they are if you can get decent pics.

Freezing can kill some insects that only live indoors, but won't usually kill ones that spend some of the time outdoors as they survive frosts. A steam cleaner is quite often the best non toxic way to kill insects.

[laiyah]

It's definitely food related since we found food being infested. My fruit-based infusions as well. I have put all the "non-suspect" infusions that have fruits in the freezer, checked all grains and whatnot.

Hopefully this will be the end of it. I have decided to limit the degu food to a small amount of pellets and a bigger portion of dried herbs, leaves and flowers since none of folliage-based things ever got infested... I'm assuming they aren't interested in them and that would ensure the degus don't starve.

No seeds since a while ago, I have sesame seeds that got infested. I do know that a long while ago, I had some insects colonize a bag of selective science pellets so I don't want to give them the option of stashing too many pellets.

Also, sorry but I don't have a steamer... Honestly, it's really a food related pest that have started to colonize my food stash as well.

We spent the whole day checking everything...

[moletteuk]

Wow, they seem to be happy feeding on wide variety of foods! But at least that means they won't be mites attacking the degus themselves.

If the problem persists, then I think you might find it is worth buying a steamer - these types of insects seem to hide out in every little crack in cupboards and cages and a steamer is often the best way to treat those places. Your steam iron might work if you can safely direct the steam where you want it to go.