Mites? Or something else? Eeew.

[rhapsody]

I'm fairly sure that my foster hamster brought in a host of mites. Aside from general itchiness all around, Jasper seems to have gotten the worst of it. He's the only one showing any visual signs - his butt is all covered in scabs, and the skin is really flaky. He's one of my original two rats, so he's getting up there in age. Everyone just got treated with Revolution, but does Jasper need more TLC? Or are his sores not from mites? Please excuse the weird lumpiness - Jasper was a big boy in his prime, and his muscles kinda lost their tone over the past several months and have gotten droopy.

 

[victoria]

Mites, with the exception of sarcopic mange, are species specific. (Revolution is not effective against mange.) I heard once that hamsters can be affected by parasites that would otherwise affect only other species but I'm not sure how accurate that is...

If the Revo doesn't help, I would take him to the vet soon. Rats don't usually develop scabs in that area from mites.

 

[jorats]

I had a rat once with severe mite bites and scratches, it took a couple of weeks before he finally completely cleared up. I didn't do any extra care, just the one time treatment.