little red bugs

Question
I have 2 female gerbils, Joon and Sugar, and every once in a while I will see little, tiny red bugs no bigger than a pen head crawling in their fur. When I squish them they look like they are filled with blood, but they do not look like ticks. It does not matter how many times I clean the cage or Joon and Sugar, they just keep coming back. What are they and what should I do?

Answer
They could be mites or ticks, but since you said they don't look like ticks they are probably mites. The best thing to do is to go out and buy some flea and tick spray for small animals. Also many times fleas and ticks will live in wood shavings and so if you are using wood shaving I would try switching to something else like carefresh or soft-sorbent bedding. I hope this helps.