White spots on tips of fur

Question
I have two new 6 week old rats who came from a breeder, and I've noticed they have these tiny white specks on the very ends of their fur, mostly around the haunches. These specks do not come off at all, even when scraped with the edge of the finger nail. There are no other symptoms of lice or mite infection except that one rat seems to have fairly thin fur. No excessive scratching, no redness, inflammation, or sores, no lethargy, nothing. There don't seem to be any spots on the hairs closer to the skin either. I tried to take a picture but i don't have a good enough camera so they don't show up in the images.

Answer
Hi Rachel,
Lice eggs, called nits, look like silvery blogs on the fur, but they are usually down farther on the hair, not on the tips. But that would be the most likely thing. Rats can have small numbers of lice that can be difficult to see. I recommend you treat them for lice. My website at www.ratfanclub.org has an article called Skin Problems that will tell you how.
Deb