Red itchy scabs, help! Poor Guy.

[Steplyn]

I apologize if this topic has been discussed recently but I searched and found nothing fitting. My 2 year old male rat Loki has little red itchy scabs all over his body. He is constantly itching causing them to bleed. It has only occured recently, yet I have not changed anything in his environment or diet. His brother and him have been together their whole lives yet Mogwai does not have any scabs or itching at all. Is there something I can do to relieve his skin issues or does anyone know what could cause this? Could it be old age or allergies? Any help would be appriciated, I don't like to see the little guy suffer.
Thanks!!

 

[victoria]

It sounds like mites. They are microscopic so you wouldn't be able to see them and not all rats react the same way, so you have to treat all of the rats in your home and clean their habitat really thoroughly. Anything metal or plastic can be cleaned with bleach and water (1:9), wood toys should be frozen for a minimum of 48 hours, and anything washable (i.e. fleece, hammocks) should be washed and dried in the dryer.

You can treat mites with Revolution from the vet (easiest and most effective) or Invermectin that you can get OTC as a horse de-wormer.

 

[MomRat]

Yeah, Victoria basically covered it. It should be noted, mites are invisible, so you only know they're there when your rats show symptoms, and healthy rats can have them and not show symptoms. There are species of mite that can pass from dogs and cats and rabbits via you to your rats, so just petting a dog could do it, if you went home immediately. Treat everyone and do a good cleaning.

Do you use a loose bedding? You should always freeze new packages if you use aspen or paper. That is the other common route they come in via.

 

[Steplyn]

Yes after researching further I had came to the conclusion that it is mites, I did all of the above and more! Their entire habitat in and around cage is absolutely disinfected completely, no mite could have survived my extensive cleaning haha. I had read on a website that a solution of tea tree oil, sensitive pet shampoo and water will help get rid of the mites, but I highly doubt this was effective, I was just hoping to soothe the itch for him and get them cleaned up for their newly disinfected cage. I am going to try to treat them with Invermectin and repeat the disinfecting process repetitively (without irritating the boys), but I don't know where to purchase it in my area. If anyone knows the Kitchener/ Waterloo area in Ontario and where I can find it that would be great. There are farming communities all around so I'm sure I can find it for horses, but is this a safe method?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[StaceyM]

I just sent you a PM before I read this

TSC carries horse wormers, just be sure to check the label as not all are ivermectin.

I've used both revolution and ivermectin safely to treat mites......revolution is by far the better method, but ivermectin will also do the job. I just found they didn't like the taste and tricking them into eating their doses was a pain. I got them by getting them to lick treats off one finger, then quickly switching over to the finger with meds. They were not impressed.

 

[Steplyn]

haha Yes I just sent you a PM back before I read this as well. Thanks to ALL responses, you're all very helpful. And I read somewhere to smear it on their top lip so they have to lick it off, but I don't see this being as easy as it sounds either heh.

 

[jorats]

That's what I did, smear it on their lips and they would clean it up.

 

[victoria]

Make sure you do not give more than a piece the size of a grain of rice, it can be overdosed easily and can be fatal.

 

[Steplyn]

Im on the TSC website and I'm not sure which one is best, most say active ingredient is Moxidectin, does anyone know which product you've used in the past or which is most suited for my little guys?
Thanks!

 

[StaceyM]

TSC carries Bimectin, which has ivermectin as the active ingredient.

 

[Steplyn]

The boys are perfectly healed now and back to their usual trouble Thanks so much to everyone for the advice.

 

[mamarat]

Yay!!