Mites/lice

[Kiraa]

My boys recently have had lice AND mites. It’s very unfortunate that a few years ago I had one with lice and he unfortunately passed away after we couldn’t get them off of him. Now that we’re more educated, we looked up ways to get rid of them. I cleaned their cage with 1/10 part of bleach and 9/10 parts water. I made sure there was no residue so my boys didn’t get sick. I’ve seen ways to clean the cage and what bedding to get( since the stuff we had before was the source of said bugs) we found out a possible way. Because we where hésitent to use horse dewormer or other forms. So we started by soaking the boys in veg oil and gently washing with dawn soap a few times to ensure the oil was gone, after the first try of this intense cleaning and i haven’t found any live louse. Does it work? Does it have health consequences? How long should I do it?

 

[lilspaz68]

The best and safest method is using Revolution for Cats or Dogs. One small drop and it stays in their bloodstream for up to 30 days which is longer than the life cycle of the buggies. Its so safe that you could dump a huge tube by mistake on them and it won't affect them. You also don't need to do any crazy cage cleaning. If you cannot get it from your friends/family or your vet you can order it online without a prescription from Australia. I've been buying from Pets Megastore for about 10 years now for my rescues and have always had good results.

Ivermectin (the horse paste) is very dangerous to use and its easy to overdose and buying sprays from pet stores is NOT the way to go as they aren't regulated and it can range from not working at all to being very dangerous and possibly killing your rat(s).

 

[SQ]

I would urge you to treat them with revolution as lilspaz68 suggested
The amount given is based on weight and is basically a tiny drop
ratguide.com is a vet approved medical site for rat owners..... please see http://ratguide.com/meds/anti-infectives/selamectin_revolution.php

Also please see our Reference Thread as it contains a lot of useful information https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/reference-thread-read-only.35894/