Lice Question UPDATE...SO FRUSTRATED!

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He's probably self barbering because this started when we first got him as a baby and he was by himself for a couple of weeks. Are the back legs a common area? Also, I wonder if this could have anything to do with the fact that he was seperated from his mother way too early, we got him when he was only about 3 weeks and since has been OBSESSED with licking himself, us , and cage mates...?
 
Ok managed to snap a few pictures of Ralphies tummy and back legs, it's been the same spots really since he was a baby, the hair grew back once when he was really bad missing it all over the place after his first treatment but maybe it was lice then and not now?

ralphlice.jpg


ralphlice3.jpg


ralphlice2.jpg


These were from my phone, if you need better quality I can break out the camera, Let me know what you think, thanks
 
is the fur around his front legs normal or has that gone too?

The bottom picture looks like barbering to me, but the skin does look a little pink-ish too (unless thats the photo or my eyes). Im not sure about the one on the stomach though, its in a very random place - but then again, Lilspaz68 had a case of a rat barbering the fur around his cage-mates eyes not so long ago, and that was the first i'd seen of that lol
 
Well I was going to say he isn't missing any fur on his front legs but I double checked just to be sure and he is...

Hard to make out but he's definitley missing a little

ralphfrontleg.jpg


ralphfrontleg2.jpg


And I also took a close up of his back leg, the skin is pink but not overly irritated or anything, hope these pics help?

ralphfrontleg3.jpg


Oh and the spot on his stomach has always been missing hair there since this whole thing started when he was only about 5 or 6 weeks old!
 
I asked about the front legs because if you have a barber, thats generally their favourite place to trim. I have a boy who favours his front legs and chest (his chest is completely bare most of the time), and the past couple of months he has cleaned the fur off the lower part of his belly and his sides.

These barbers :roll: never happy with their hair styles
 
I can't believe I thought it was lice all this time :gaah: I thought the ivermectin wasn't working because his hair was still missing but this makes so much more sense! I see him sitting on his butt all the time grooming his back legs but I thought he was itchy from the lice... So I might not even need the revolution, if none of the other three rats are missing any fur and have no scabs is it safe to say I'm lice free? :bow: Thanks
 
Ya, that looks like barbering. He might be stressing about the new boys and might very well settle down once they are in a colony together.
 
WooHoo :happydance: So I can go back to normal and stop freaking out over these lice! Wood toys and houses can go back and I can stop disinfecting the cage,fabric, and toys all the time, I really thought the ivermectin wasn't working... what a relief :joy:
 
Also, what signs should I look out for in the future to make sure nobody has lice? Right now there are no scabs or anything and the two new guys don't itch a lot so now that I know Ralphie is a barber I can stop thinking that his hairloss means they have lice lol
 
Slapdash said:
Also, what You can see lice, tiny brown/red rice shaped bugs (nasty). With mites they scratch all the time turning the skin a bright red in no time flat. When you see it, you will know, the scratching just looks different from the grooming.
Glad to hear they are bug free at the moment. :D
 
Yeah, your guys don't have lice. I just had mine treated for it and it wasn't pleasant as they just came back after 2 ivermectin rounds. I got fed up and order Revolution online and just treated them with it today. Let's hope my foursome get better.
 
Wow, this thread just helped me so much!

I have been thinking my 3 rattys have had lice/mites for about a week now. I have treated them all with kitten revolution and after 3 days i am still noticing they itch and scratch a lot. I have been freaking about what could be wrong with them butmin this thread it says that they will usuialy not lick their feet after or before they scratch if it is mites or lice. Also their skin does not look irratated at all and i have found no scabs.

Does this mean they are lice/mite free and im just being a worrier????? I think i may be noticing them scatch more because i have been watching them too closely?!

if they have been treated with revolution, should this 100% cure them anyway??

I hope ive been wrong all along.... that would be great news
 
After three days you'd see a significant difference in amount of scratching if they had lice/mites, though the revolution would protect them from a new infestation for some time.

With lice you see little bugs on them... they move and are pretty visible if you look closely. With mites you almost ALWAYS have scabs, especially in the head and neck area.

Sometimes it looks like they are scratching more than usual but you are really just noticing it more. Sometimes there is a different issue at hand, allergies to food or fabric detergents or other, dry skin due to climate change (AKA the heat kicking in) and hormonal scratching in males.

Scratching can be part of the grooming process, so if you have just handled them and they begin to groom and you see the occasional scratch from that, you're fine. If they are scratching almost constantly, stopping other activities like eating or playing to cure an itch, then you may have another problem.
 
Even if they are lice/mite free, the ivermectin and revolution are also dewormers, so it'll help kill some of them nasty worms that rats might have. :p
 
Thanks a lot! I am very relieved now, i believe it is not lice/mites which is great. There is a new rat near by them so maybe it could be stress related also? There skin and fur looks perfect and no signs of bugs or scabs so i think i can stop worrying now!

Again thanks so much!
 
Just wanted to add another quick thing - What type of bedding are you using? I saw exactly the same thing a few years back with a foster rat. I thought he had mites and treated him with Revo 3 times and no change.

It turns out he was allergic to the bedding (Crown's Animal Bedding)
 
I am currently using flece blankets and corn litter as bedding which I hope they are not allergic to! Another thing tho that may be the cause is that they have a wooden bridge in their cage (which has been frozen) and they climb on a compressed wood shelf in my room quite a bit.... Could this be the cause of the allergy or itching?
I have disenfrcted this wooden shelf just incase of mites.
I think I have just been noticing it more.

Another question, what is the best litter to use that is the. Most absorbent, best smell control? It can't be anything too soft or my girls will just sleep in it!?
 
My fave litter is Yesterday's News, by FAR.

Corn litter bedding isn't recommended as it can harbor molds, or something.
 

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