help!!! rat scabs!!!

[likeapanda101]

Hey i need help. First thing is i cant afford a vet or anything caus my family is poor....
my rat has scabs that seem to get a littl e bigger and alot more of them appear like every month. Princess (my rat, she is a girl) is about 1 year old and she lives by herself in her cage. her scabs are all on her back.... I havent noticed her scratching her back. when i touch her scabs i dont think it hurts her alhtough she doesnt like me just holding my finger somewhere or else she gets annoyed lol. i feed her regular rat food and i use paper shreddings for her bedding. please help!!!! i will answer any questions you post!!!!!

 

[Moon]

No matter what her problem is, she most likely needs a vet. You are likely dealing with a mite or lice infestation and she'll need medication to deal with it. You can get a medication for her without a vet, it's called Ivermectin, but you have to be very careful with dosing it. A safer, easier solution is Revolution which needs a visit to the vet.

If it is not mites/lice then you could be dealing with a skin infection which would require antibiotics and also a vet visit.

You say she eats "regular rat food"... if that means a seed mix, that is not the best diet and I have heard of rats getting skin conditions due to a diet too high in protein but I don't think it's as common as people say it is.

Your location is CA... does that mean California or Canada? If you are able to give us a bit more of a specific location we might be able to help you better.

Are you old enough to get a part time job or do odd jobs in your community to raise some money and take her to a vet? Rats need vet care as much as any other pet does and no matter what is causing the scabs she can't be comfortable.

Another thing that would help is if you can take some pictures of her and post them here for us. If you don't know how to post the pics we can help with that also.

Finally, I'll move this to a different part of the forum since it's more of a health query than an actual introduction.

 

[likeapanda101]

its california not canada and im not old enough to do anything but babysitting... ill talk to my mom if you guys think its really serious. i will try to post a picture if i figure it out.

 

[missnikki]

Yes, scabs on a rat IS serious and she needs to go to a vet as soon as possible. Please ask your mom. Also if your rat does not have a rattie friend to play with make sure you are giving her lots of attention and playing with her a lot!

 

[xxchelle]

Yes, scabs on a rat IS serious and she needs to go to a vet as soon as possible. Please ask your mom. Also if your rat does not have a rattie friend to play with make sure you are giving her lots of attention and playing with her a lot!

Rats should *always* have friends no matter if you spend 12 straight hours every day with them.

 

[likeapanda101]

this is not my rat cause i cant figure out the picture thing. it looks like the picture on this link exept it looks like the scab is building higher so i could grab the scab if i wanted. she just started hetting a few little dot scab things on her shoulder. here is the link to something similar but not stacked:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... =146&ty=61

 

[likeapanda101]

this is not my rat cause i cant figure out the picture thing. it looks like the picture on this link exept it looks like the scab is building higher so i could grab the scab if i wanted. she just started hetting a few little dot scab things on her shoulder. here is the link to something similar but not stacked:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... =146&ty=61

 

[likeapanda101]

oh and her face (if it matters) looks almost exactly like the 2nd post's profile picture

 

[Moon]

It would still be a bit better if you could post pictures of her but you are probably dealing with mites. So she needs to be treated with either Revolution or Ivermectin. I would really recommend getting a Revolution dosage from a vet, the meds will probably cost around $15 max, but the office visit can really vary depending on area.

 

[missnikki]

Please get her to a vet now, and if you can't pay for vet visits maybe you should give her to a family who can properly care for her.