mice lice?

Question
Hey again Tam it's me again with more questions on my mice Smoky and Charcoal. This is about Charcoal again... Do you know any thing on mites for mice? because its strange how Charcoal has a red dot and is iching a lot! About 75% of the time I see her in her cages shes iching unless she is eating or sleeping we serched on a site about mites and we found a collom that said " a full grown female louse", whats a louse? It looks like its a full match with the dot on Charcoal. The really bazzare thing is I know mites can spread to other mice that they come in contact with but Smoky has almost no iching at all so were assuming thats it's a rach from a disorder called O.C.D. (obsesive Compulsive disorder) or in other words over scratching. The website said that the bedding can carrie mites manly carefresh and some other kind of bedding but, we have benn useing care fresh for a long time. But nothing can stop it. how do we tell if its mites or a rash and is there a treatment that is SAFE for the mice but not have to go to the vet? We probably cant afford to go to the vet. I'm not saying were poor but I can only spend 500$ and I'm willing to spend 100$ So can you help me get the mice better? If you can thank you so very much and if you can't thanks for trying.

:.( signed the extremely worried owner

Answer
Hi Dianne,

You can help prevent bringing in parasites by freezing bedding (you don't have to stop using carefresh - it's very cuddly!) for at least 24 hours before thawing and using it.  This will kill any little buggies coming in that may have hitched a ride from the store or warehouse it was before it came to you.

Luckily, mice treatments are effective against lice, too!  Lice are parasites just like mites are, but larger in their adult form and a little less common in my experience.  They can come from anywhere - it just happens sometimes that something brings them in, completely by accident.  Does the louse you found move?  It could also be a pimple, bug bite, or a number of other things - check out this link if you haven't already for a great explanation of how to figure out at home (though a vet's always best for diagnosing the itchies) what's causing the symptoms:  http://www.thefunmouse.com/info/hair-loss.cfm  Click the lice link to go down to the section on them for more info.  There's a lot of useful information there!  :)

Mites and some other parasites can be communicable, but sometimes one mouse can be more susceptible than others if they have a naturally less strong immune system, for instance.  To treat for mites and lice you still need to treat all mice that come into contact with Charcoal, even if they aren't showing symptoms.  It's also important to clean the entire cage for each treatment.

A great treatment for both mites and lice is 8-in-1 mite spray, for either rodents (stronger version) or birds (milder but still effective).  Both are safe for use in mice and can be found at your local pet shop.  Only use rodent or bird ones - sprays for other animals may contain different active chemicals.  You can find it online if not in a store - search petco.com if you can't find it locally.  Follow the directions on the bottle, shake well, and treat twice with about a 7-10 days in between (to get the eggs once they grow up).  The treatment works by soaking into the skin, so just do your best to cover the mouse WITHOUT getting it in her eyes (ouch!) and remember to dry her very, very well before putting her back in her new, clean, disinfected cage!  Also remember to remove all toys that can't be sanitized (such as absorbent wooden chew toys or hides).  Here's an excellent link Natasha wrote on how to treat for mites (and lice!):  http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2008/10/red-skin-hair-loss.htm

If you see no change it could be an irritating bug bite, pimple, fungus, allergy, or a number of other things.  If you don't see any change in a couple of weeks after treatment (which is fairly inexpensive), I'd take her by and ask if a vet can just do a simple skin scraping and ID what the problem is.  You may not need treatment FROM the vet, but knowing what is causing it is a good first step!

Best of luck!  I'm sure you'll get her itchies figured out and fixed in no time.  :)
-Tam