Astramitis

Level of Severity: Tier 2 - Tier 4 (only in severe cases of neglect)
Susceptible Species: Astralits, rarely Nyulops, anecdotal cases among Wind and Ice Draken
Susceptible Ages: All ages (children and elderly most affected)

General Information

Astramitis, caused by parasitic mites called Starmites (sometimes called Astramites), which are strictly host specific to Astralits, is a contagious skin illness. Their name was inspired by the fact that they look like little stars and are monoxenous parasites of Astralits. Nyulops and Draken are accidental hosts, which Starmites avoid due to high specialisation to live in Astralit fur hoods. Starmites spread in various ways on new finley hosts. The most notable being: physical skin/fur contact with the affected finley (e.g. hugging) and sharing certain items (like bedsheets, towels, brushes etc.). Recently, it was discovered that Starmites can infect you by Battle phoresis (they attach to them solely for the purpose of travel)!

The life cycle is pretty simple: a female lays an egg attached to the hair and a transparent, white larva hatches after two days (not depicted). It's very similar to nymph, which is very fair and smooth. Unlike their adult counterparts, which have 8 limbs, they have 6 limbs. After a few moults, the nymph reaches the adulthood. The adults grow bristles, which they can easily shake off, when feeling endangered (like a tarantula). They feed on epidermis and, when mating, females drink blood of their host.

Starmites are usually beige but often times, Starmites on Light Astralits happen to be more blue and purple. It's hard to tell why Starmites have contrasting colour to their host Astralit, but it's hypothesised that this is due to an attempt of mimicking the Star Sprinkles AP.

Signs and Symptoms

The first tell-tale signs are a sudden appearance of star-like, moving Star Sprinkles "markings" on the fur hood. When trying to touch it, the Starmite will try to escape, while shaking off their sharp bristles. Over time, the skin becomes more itchy as Astramitis progresses.

Starmite bristles and droppings can easily irritate one's skin, causing rashes around the face and eyelid swelling among finley with weaker immune system. Other symptoms include: coughing, yellow discharge from eyes, and hair loss. Scarring occurs if left untreated.

Progression

Astramitis usually lasts from 4 to 6 weeks.

Phase one (first week) - skin becomes itchy, then rash starts to appear over time, eyelid swelling (usually among children and elderly or sickly adults).
Phase two (second to third week) - eyelid swelling (healthy adult finley), rash and itchiness become more severe, coughing.
Phase three (fourth to sixth week) - yellow eye discharge, fur hood hair loss begins, coughing intensifies, but previous symptoms seem to be less severe.
Phase four (sixth week and forward) - if left untreated, hood skin becomes flaky and, later, scarred.