rat with mites?

[klf73]

I was looking at my son's rat. His hair appeared to be thinning, so I looked closer. He has little red dots on him that moved when I messed with them. I am guessing they are mites from the shavings? anything else they could be? how do I get rid of them?

thanks for any help, it is greatly appreciated

 

[Aneesa's Muse]

Freeze all bedding materials for 48 hours prior to using (it kills the ones that come WITH your NEW bedding.. yes, the new stuff has bugs)

Get some kitten Revolution from your Vet and follow the instructions.. or get some Ivermectin and offer an uncooked rice grain sized dose, once a week for 3 weeks.

Put some olive oil on his/her tail ..to help with the itchy skin ..as s/he will proceed to clean the tail and ingest the oil. It helps quite a bit ..to condition them from within.

You can also bathe your rattie kid in some "baby soap" ..or other mild soap ...avoiding orifices, especially ears and eyes. Dry with a warm towel or a hair dryer set on the lowest setting ..with your fingers in between the air flow and the rat ...to be sure it isn't too warm.


Good Luck!

 

[asa]

The vet could do ivamectin.
or
I had them on a Gerbil, it took bleaching her cage twice.
I also used the rabbit mite spray from the pet store twice, my boss recomended it. You put it on with a Q-tip instead of spaying. I had to use a hair dryer on gentle with no heat to dry her fast so she didn't ingest it. I used to work at the pet store, I couldn't afford a vet visit for a abandoned gerbil. I did it once and when they showed up again I did it again. The second time was the charm.

If your rat has open wounds, I would do the vet. The mite spray has Pretherins( not sure on spelling) in it that will kill the rat if there are open wounds or scratches. It is like flea dipping your dog.

I use vegtable oil on reptiles when they get the same mites. I don't think your rat would like the vegtable oil thing.
Good Luck

 

[klf73]

I am actually a prof groomer by trade(went to school for it 17 years ago) so I know what you mean by the pyrethrins. It is a horrible chemical and I personally never did do dips, I stuck with the shampoos....
can I get ivermectin OTC?
feed store have it?
thanks for the help

I hear you on the reptile thing ( I also worked in a pet store an eternity ago) and acquired many different and unusual pets. I don't think he would like the oil, besides his bedding will get stuck to him, now that's a visual

 

[Aneesa's Muse]

I get my Ivermectin from my Feed Store ..in the horse version (a big ol' syringe looking thingy). It's 1.87% or something like that ..and just give the teeny tiny little dose ..one per week, for 3 consecutive weeks.