There is so much mixed info online when it comes to freezing things before introducing them to your hamsters habitat. What can you freeze? Should you freeze? What temperature should you freeze at and for how long? You’ll find mixed answers in an internet search.
When I started writing this article I thought I would find definitive answers, but instead I found a lot of deeper information on hamster mites! This article goes into lots of detail for those who are interested. I also kept it long and included all the extra stuff as a way of ‘showing my workings’ because what I hope to arrive at, is once and for all, an answer to the question — how long should I freeze my stuff for and at what temperature. If that’s all you’re interested in and you don’t want to read about hamster mites, skip to the end!
Why Freeze Hamster Stuff?
The idea is, that freezing things like bedding, sprays and food, which can’t commonly be heat treated, is a good way of making sure your hamster doesn’t pick up mites or any other pests.
Some hamster owners assume that you don’t have to do this if you’ve bought pet safe products, some do it every time without fail even if they’ve never experienced a problem with mites or bacteria.
I started looking into this because I bought some dried moss to fill the gaps in a vine branch that I wanted to put in Flamey’s cage. I hadn't really frozen Flamey's things until this point, but when it comes to natural products like branches, Cork, sand etc, I always feel there’s a higher chance of it containing bacteria or mites. I’m more a fan of heat treating stuff. I usually bake sand, wood, cork logs etc, but I didn’t think it would be safe to put dried moss in the oven! So I thought perhaps it’s time to freeze it?
I headed to the internet to find out how long I should freeze my moss for, you know what I found? Loads of conflicting information.
No one Agrees on How Long You Should Freeze Hamster Stuff For!
The answers I found on how long to freeze hamster stuff for ranged from 24 hours to one week. Unhelpful.
I was also sceptical, because being a fan of science, I know that there are some mites and bacteria that can survive extreme temperatures and conditions. So would the freezing even help at all?
I finally found an article that cited their sources, it said 24 hours was enough to kill mites, but when I followed the link to the source, which was in fact a medical journal, they were only talking about dust mites. So that led me down another rabbit hole? What kind of mites are you likely to find on Hamster stuff and how do you kill them specifically?
So, being a responsible hamster mo-ma, it was time for a deep dive.
let’s do this.
What Kind of Mites Can Hamsters Get?
Hamsters can get a variety of mites, some are always with us like dust mites or Demodex mites, but some are more sinister and can enter your hamsters enclosure on the things you buy for them, most commonly natural items like sprays, moss, soil etc.
You’ll find plenty of articles online saying that mites are not visible, they are all visible under a microscope, (don’t tempt me, it wouldn’t take much at this stage for me to get a microscope, but I don’t think I’d be able to sleep again if I did). There are some anecdotal reports of people being able to see mites on their hamster, but I haven’t found any evidence to back this up as fact. Things like ticks and fleas are definitely visible but as for mites, I guess it depends which mites the hamster has.
Dust Mites and Hamsters
Dust mites are just about everywhere. They do not generally cause a nuisance unless you’re allergic to them, in which case, you can expect to experience any of the following symptoms:
- Rhinitis (symptoms similar to hay-fever)
- asthma
- Eczema
Even if you’re really clean you’ll likely still have dust mites in your house, but reducing the levels of them and taking antihistamines can help if you have an allergy.
Dust mites, in normal concentrations, shouldn’t cause much of an issue for your hamster, I have only been able to find one authoritative article that suggests hamsters can be allergic to dust mites.
Does Freezing Kill Dust Mites?
If you’re freezing your hamsters stuff to kill dust mites, there isn’t much point unless they’re dust mite sensitive. The stuff will, for sure, come into contact with dust mites at some point. But for completeness, yes it does. According to The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, freezing objects at -12°c or lower for at least 12 hours is enough to kill dust mites, when it comes to eggs, in their experiment, the majority died at -12°c for 12 hours, but all died after 48 hours.
Demodex Mites and Hamsters
Most hamsters and humans have Demodex mites on their bodies. They form part of our skin’s eco-system helping to keep pores clear. These little buddies are not generally a problem for humans or hamsters unless you or your hamster have a compromised immune system in which case the mites can build up a bit and cause some localised redness and irritation on skin which is called demodicosis in hamsters. This reaction can be caused in both humans and hamsters. However, for hamsters it is worth noting that periods of prolonged stress can impact the functioning of your hamster’s immune system.
Does Freezing Kill Demodex Mites?
Much like with dust mites, there doesn’t seem to be much point in freezing to kill these little dudes unless your hamster is particularly sensitive to them or is specifically having a mite issue. If they build up on the skin and cause irritation in either hamsters or humans your vet will be able to give you Demodex treatments that usually look like topical washes or in some cases an oral medicine called Ivermectin which is used to treat parasitic diseases.
You’ll then be advised to heat treat, freeze and disinfect toys, change bedding etc. This advice is intended to thin out the Demodex population as much as possible to give your hamster chance to recover.
Demodex mites can be killed by freezing. Having said that, because Demodex mites can usually be found on the skin, there is hardly any scientific literature out there on freezing because you wouldn’t put your skin in the freezer! Science says temperatures below 0°c are harmful to the mites.
There have been studies on how long Demodex mites can live on the items they come into contact with, for instance animal care items and toys. This was around 4–5 days. So items left to one side and not in contact with skin would be naturally free of mites in 4–5 days. If freezing is also harmful to the mites, we could theorise that a couple of days in the freezer would kill most of them.
Ear / Notes mites — Notoedres Mites and Hamsters
Notoedres mites also called ear or nose mites cause the hamster’s skin to go crusty. Lesions form and they make your hamster very itchy and put it at risk of infection from cuts and grazes that will be caused by scratching.
Notoedres are more commonly spread from other animals and a wide range of animals can be infected including cats, rats, squirrels, rabbits, bats, dogs, foxes, lorises, koalas and bandicoots. They tend to start on the head and then move to other parts of the body. These kinds of mites can also be spread by animals coming into contact with infected bedding (bedding other animals have used or been near).
It is worth noting that there are a couple of different species of Notoedres mites:
- Notoedres cati is prevalent in cats and they infect animals similarly to how scabies infect humans. Luckily this has become more rare in the UK.
- Notoderis notoderis which also work similarly to scabies but tend to be more prevalent in hamsters.
Does Freezing Kill Notoedres Mites?
I was not able to find much scientific information out there on this. When you look at freezing stuff to kill mites, articles usually talk about demodex since they are the most common. However, since notoedres are similar to scabies physiologically, it’s worth noting that scabies can be killed when exposed to temperatures below -10°c for 5 hours according to the Journal of the American Study of Dermatology.
Sarcoptic Mites and Hamsters
Sarcoptic mites are essentially scabies. They are a different subspecies to the ones that usually infect humans. They are similar to Notoedris, but they tend to have less of a grim prognosis. They’re not as small and there are some physiological differences. Sarcoptic mites are the main cause of mange in dogs. They can infect humans too, but they can’t complete their life-cycle in humans so they end up causing skin discomfort in most cases, they can cause more serious issues in those with impaired immune systems. They are also easily transferred to other animals.
Your hamster doesn’t have to come into contact with another animal to pick up sarcoptic mites, they will live on items that an infected animal has come into contact with for a fair amount of time. In a study of animal scabies strains, it was found that humidity and temperature played a part in how long scabies could survive on “fomites” which is the scientific name for ‘stuff that isn’t animals’. The longest survival observed was 19 days at a temperature of 10°c and 97% humidity (the humidity of a normal home is between 30–60). At 20°c the maximum time was 5 days. So heat is a great way to kill scabies since temperatures above 25°c takes their survivability from days to hours.
Does Freezing Kill Sarcoptic Mites?
Yes, but we don’t know how long it takes in the usual range of home freezer temperatures. Studies show that freezing Sarcoptic mites at -25°c for 1.5 hours results in all the mites dying, but home freezers are typically between -15°c to -17°c. As we saw earlier, human scabies don’t survive below -10°c for 5 hours so we can surmise that leaving items in the freezer for over 5 hours, or up to 24 hours may be effective.
Rat Mites and Hamsters
They’re called different things. Rat mites, Tropical rat mites or rodent mites. They are visible to the naked eye, they look like tiny black dots, so in anecdotal stories of people being able to see mites on their hamster, this may well be what they’re seeing.
Unlike other types of mites and fleas, rat mites don’t actually live on their hosts. They find a host, bite, feed and then leave. The down side is that they can live away from any kind of host for up to 6 weeks, though I have seen some literature suggesting it can be longer.
Rat mites aren’t too fussy about hosts, so they can affect humans as well as hamsters. They are attracted to carbon dioxide which is how they find hosts.
Quite terrifyingly, rat mites can spread human diseases. When biting humans they cause painful bites that are itchy. In hamsters they can cause hair loss, anaemia through blood loss, and pruritus — itchy red skin.
As the name suggests, they primarily live on and are spread by rats. So if you have rat mites, either you have a rat or mouse infestation in or around your home, or something you have purchased has come into contact with infected rats.
Does Freezing Kill Rat Mites?
I was unable to find an answer to this. There are a lot of anecdotal answers ranging from 24 hours to one week, but these are usually in forums or articles that don’t cite their sources. Looking at the scientific literature, it seems no one has tried to establish their usual temperature range.
However, to give us some indication, we know that the rat mite is of the genus Ornithonyssus, so it will be similar to other mites in this genius. I took a look at whether there was any literature on other mites in this genus that might give us some indication. There wasn’t a lot out there, but I did find in a clinical study on Ornithonyssus Sylviarum, (chicken mites, which are very similar to rat mites), scientists disinfected their equipment between studies at -15°c for 5 hours to prevent re-infecting their subjects with mites.
Can Hamsters Die from Mites?
The answer is unfortunately yes, but from what I’ve read during this research it isn’t a fast process.
Demodex and dust mites are unlikely to kill hamsters. In these type of infestations what would likely kill the hamster is an infection from scratched skin or a respiratory tract infection caused by dust mite allergy.
With the other, nastier mites, death can occur either because the skin is infected or because a blood sucking species has caused anaemia, or the prolonged stress of having mites can weaken the immune system and cause death. In most cases, death by mite happens when the infestation is left untreated.
How to Treat a Hamster’s Mites
The best thing you can do is get your hamster to the vet as soon as possible. You can buy mite treatments online or in pet shops, but since hamsters are small it’s easy to get the wrong product or use the wrong dosage. As any hamster owner knows, it’s also ridiculously easy to buy a product that is marketed as safe for hamsters only to find it actually isn’t.
A vet can give you the right stuff, the right instructions and can make sure that there’s nothing more sinister going on with your hamster. For instance, demodex mites don’t usually cause issues — unless there’s something else wrong with your hamster. A vet can find out what kind of mites your hamster has and then treat them appropriately. Or if your hamster has been scratching a lot, a vet can make sure that there’s no signs of infection on your hamster’s skin.
How to Prevent Hamster Mites?
There are a few things you can do besides freezing to limit your hamster’s exposure to mites and other nasty things:
- Buy bedding, sprays and furniture from reputable places. Read reviews to see if others have had problems with the items previously.
- Keep other pets away from your hamster. This may help to prevent the spread of fleas, worms etc if you have cats or dogs, though they can also travel on human clothing and live in carpets too so keep your other pets regularly de-flead.
- Freeze new toys and bedding if you have any doubt as to their safety.
- Bake anything that’s safe to bake, generally temperatures above 100 for an hour will kill nasty things, but I haven’t done a deep dive on that so don’t take my word for it.
- Don’t buy second hand hamster stuff or if you do make sure to thoroughly sanitise it before it goes anywhere near your hamster.
Other Nasty Things That Can Enter a Hamster Cage
Mites aren’t the only things that can affect hamsters. Other things that can be transmitted either from contact with another animal or from contact with contaminated bedding, furniture or enrichment items include, but aren’t limited to:
- Fleas
- Bacteria
- Ticks
- Moths
I’m not going to do a deep dive on these since most people are familiar with them (and there are so many types of bacteria we’d be here all day) but here’s the details on whether freezing kills any of these things.
Fleas — Freezing will kill them, but the only science I can find on this says that it will take five days for them to survive at temperatures below -1°c. It isn’t clear if lower temperatures will kill them faster. They can also live for up to two weeks without a host.
Bacteria — We all already know the answer to this. Freezing doesn’t always kill bacteria it often only freezes the bacteria which later becomes active when thawed. There are probably some bacteria that do die, but it’s definitely not enough to say that something that’s been frozen is free of bacteria. This is why defrosting food is a tricky science. The best way to kill bacteria is through heat.
Ticks — Ticks will die in a freezer in temperatures below -10°c. I have found anecdotal evidence from taxidermy forums which suggests 48 hours is enough time to kill them all but this isn’t science backed. There are lots of tick species, so survival times may vary.
Moths — Again there are different types of moth, but likely the one that’s most important to this discussion is the pantry moth as it is often found in grains, flour, dried flours and sprays. The larvae is particularly adept at eating through plastic and cardboard. The current method for those handling grains and other foods affected by these moths is to freeze the food at -15°c for 48 hours.
With the exception of bacteria, all of these are visible to the naked eye, so a quick inspection would likely tell you if you needed to treat your hamsters items for these pests.
How Long Should I Freeze my Hamster’s Stuff For and at What Temperature?
If you want to freeze your hamsters toys, sprays, bedding etc, the most effective way to kill most of the things that cause issues is to freeze your hamster’s stuff for 48 hours at -15°c or lower. If you’re worried that items may be infected with fleas, extend your freezing time to 5 days.
Should I Freeze my Hamster’s Stuff?
It’s taken me about a month to write this. It’s involved a lot of reading and understanding scientific journals, and sifting through anecdotal stories and evidence. So based on all of that, here is my opinion…
It makes sense to freeze some things. If you’ve bought sprays, moss, soil and things that may have been exposed to the environment at large, it can’t hurt. When it comes to bedding and items that have been wrapped in plastic and likely sat on a shelf for a few months, they’re probably not going to have anything nasty in them, because, as we’ve seen, a lot of mites and nasty things can’t survive too long away from their hosts, in most cases it’s just a few days and in the case of rat mites it’s more like 6 weeks and some species of ticks can live for up to 4 months without a host.
I am now more inclined to freeze new stuff that I buy for Flamey, but I still won’t be freezing his bedding since it’s wrapped in plastic, and I usually have a bale sat unopened for a month or longer before I need it (always have spare bedding!).
It has prompted me to freeze everything I sell in the shop, because I feel like it will give my customers more peace of mind and honestly it can’t hurt. Especially now that I’m about to branch out into forage mixes that contain leaves, flowers etc.
So yes, realistically there’s no reason not to freeze your hamsters stuff, but use your own judgement based on what items you’re thinking of giving to your hamster.
I hope you’ve found this article enlightening. Please share comments, suggestions or corrections using the contact details on my contact page. I’m here to build a world of accurate, well researched and trustworthy information for hamster owners and I’m open to any contributions that will improve this article.
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