Bugs!!!!

[cass~o~rat]

Our rat (splinter) just died last night. I was away for the day and when i came home he was acting strange. he was climbing on the side of the wire cage and getting into his hammock. this may sound normal to you but splinter was old and has never done this before and has never even gotten in his hammock unless we put him in there. he also got into his hammock and just walked off the side falling all the way down to the base of the cage which is 3 stories. so i took him out and noticed that he had some kind of little bugs all over his body. so i went to give him a bath. and in the middle of it he died right in my hands :tearful: . i know i didn't drowned him because his head was not wet, and because i am used to it ( i used to give one of my hamsters a bath all the time). my sister said that he might have been acting that way because the bugs were driving him crazy but im not sure since this was my first rat. im not sure if he died because of the bugs or because of old age. he did have some mass growing on him that would disappear and reappear but the vet said that it was not harmful to him so it couldn't have been that....i would like to get more rats in the future but know i am scared....so i need to know if anyone can tell me what causes these bugs and how to treat them? and any other helpful tips about rats health would be greatly appreciated......thanks

 

[jorats]

I'm so very sorry for your loss...
The death was probably a result of a combination of things. The bugs, the age, the mass, and the bath was all too much stress on his body.

Weak rats are attacked by buggies, usually mites but if you can see them, then they are lice. It is best treated with Revolution, one spot on the back, one time maybe another a few weeks later and a good scrub down of the cages.
The buggies will hitch a ride in rat food and bedding and just about anything bought from a pet store. A lot of people will freeze their bedding before using it.

 

[user 78]

It sounds like he was having some sort of neurological problem. Many older rats pass from strokes, their little hearts just can't make it any more. It's also very possible that when he fell, he injured himself internally, and that's what caused him to die. There are many things that could have happened in several orders.

The bugs had absolutely nothing to do with it. Ecto parasites, while truly annoying, don't kill rats. If he had had them for several months, then blood loss may have been a concern, but if you can see them then they're probably lice and you would have noticed them previously. Mites and lice generally appear on rats that are already ill, since the rat can't groom them off.

I'm so sorry to hear about Splinter.

 

[jorats]

javakittie, we had three girls come to us in a very bad way, and they were being eaten alive by bugs. My vet told us that buggies could have been the cause to all the other problems in the girls like kidney failure and malnutrition.

 

[user 78]

Yes, Jo, I remember those girls. Which is why I said if the bugs had been on him for a long time, it would be a thought, but she would have noticed lice running around on him previously. Your girls were infected for some time prior to your getting them, which caused a whole host of other problems.

If he only just started showing symptoms of lice, they hadn't been on him all that long. Not enough time to cause that much damage.

 

[jorats]

In any event, buggies = stress and stress weakens their immune system, pile whatever else on and it's just not good health wise.

But I do agree, bugs alone won't cause death.

 

[user 78]

Oh, definitely, stress does do all of those things, and he most likely had some illness or condition going on and the lice were the calling card.

 

[LA]

(((Cass and Kev))) so sorry for your loss. So hard to deal with.

Jo could the fall from the hammock could also have been a problem?

:roseopen:

 

[jorats]

The fall could have caused internal bleeding which then the rat would just seem like he's going to sleep. But depends, what's 3 stories? 3', 2'?
Those are not great distances unless the rat fell in an awkward way. I've had rats fall almost 6 feet with no problems. Damn little monkeys. :roll:

 

[cass~o~rat]

this is the cage he fell in, the hammock was in the same place as the picture.

 

[mamarat]

:cry:

 

[jorats]

It's high enough, especially if he fell in an awkward way.

 

[Melissa's ZOO]

I am so sorry for your loss of Splinter. RIP :cry:

 

[Melissa]

I am so sorry.