Rat Dander

[ConchRepublic]

My one remaining rat has a horrible dander problem. It used to not be bad but now petting him makes his black fur look white with all the flakes. What can I do to help it? He's always scratching. I was thinking about giving him a bath with selsun blue or some other dandruff shampoo.

 

[bagendhens]

rats are prone to a tiny mite that can cause this issue.
id take him to the vet and have a scraping done.

i would NOT use a dandruff shampoo on him however, the chemicals in those shampoos can cause many issues in ratties.
use a shampoo designed for puppies or babies and an old toothbrush if you want to try giving him a bath first...
but if it doesnt get any better he should see the vet.

 

[ladycrotalus]

What are you feeding? Too much protein can cause skin issues.

 

[Shadowhills Farm]

We don't have the finances to take a pet rat to the vet.

He is eating the Rat/Mice blocks you can get at WalMart. Also, he gets some Hamster food now and then, and picks out what he wants.

We also give him fruits, veggies, cheese, etc...

 

[ConchRepublic]

think it wouldn't be mites because out of all of our rats that we had and recently sold, he was the only one who has this. We've given him regular baths with puppy or horse shampoo and he's fine up until a few minutes after he dries out. Then he starts flaking. We thought it was allergies to the pine shavings so we switched to paper but no change.

ETA: forgot the n't on wouldn't

 

[ladycrotalus]

Quote:
Usually with parasites, if one rat has it the others have it.
I had a bout with rat lice and this worked wonders.
From http://www.rmca.org "The horse-wormer paste products "Zimecterin," "Rotectin 1," "Equalvan," or "Equimectrin" (1.87% Ivermectin) can be used to get rid of mites (or lice, which appear as little red bugs on the skin with tiny eggs on the hair shaft). The dose is a small amount of the paste orally on the end of a toothpick (the size of a uncooked grain of white rice). Repeat dose once a week for three weeks.

Bedding may be dusted lightly with cat flea powder containing carbaryl. Allow the rats to sleep in treated bedding for 1 to 2 weeks to eliminate any hatching eggs. "

I have always had issues with pine bedding. I use and recommend aspen bedding which is a hardwood. It is cheaper then the paper based stuff and equally as safe.

As far as the diet. Those blocks aren't the best. The only decent blocks i know of are Tekland brand and Mazuri.

I find the diet info here http://ratfanclub.org/diet.html to be pretty good. Might be worth looking into.

Also about the vet, have you called around and asked prices? I had a rat that had injured her eye and this one vet only charged me 8 dollars to look at her and 5 dollars for a tiny tube of ointment. When for cats and dogs he charged 35 just to see them.

 

[fluffychicksmomma]

Although I don't currently have rats, I did have them for years. Wonderful little pets! You know, I never experienced this with any of them , BUT, I never ever bathed any of them either, as they didn't like the water when I gave them the opportunity, and they are very self-cleaning little critters. I don't know, but just wondering if bathing could contribute to the problem at all ? It really does sound mite-like though. My rats were very healthy and lived a very long time according to the vets I took them to from time to time. But I ran into the expense problem as well, a typical visit could run me $35-$50 depending on what it was for, and I ended up spending hundred of dollars on $3 rats, LOL!!! I would beg to disagree about the lab block. I almost always got mine at Wal-Mart, they looked the same and were eaten just as well as some I got from a pet food store. Although rats will certainly like some of the items in hamster food, (c'mon they're omnivores, is there ANYthing rats don't like? haha), I don't really think its necessary. My vet told me that the lab block has everything in it that they need, including vit.s and minerals, so I gave them free choice of that, and added things like bits of fresh veggies and some fruits as you said, as well as tiny bits of what we had for dinner. They absolutely loved spaghetti! And they ocassionally got a treat like a couple of Cheerios or a raisin, stuff like that, so it sounds like you are doing fine with the diet. My first rat who lived the longest was kept alive and eating well the last few months of her life, on spaghetti and banana-bread. In the end I was having to coax her to get enough calories in her and those were the only things she would eat. Go figure.

Anyway, definitely try the rmca website. They were a wealth of info for me when I had my rats, very educational and helpful, I'm sure someone on there has encountered this problem. Good luck, hope you will find out what it is!

 

[ConchRepublic]

misspelled wouldn't