lice and getting rid of them

Question
QUESTION: I am getting an adult male rat from my shelter where I volunteer. He is a stray that was found and picked up by animal control last June  . He had a skin condition which was diagnosed as lice  and has received 2 oral doses of overreacting and 2 injections of  of sub q ivermectin in the past month. he has had 2 vet visits and the injections were done at her office and the oral drugs were done about 10 days later at the shelter. I recently read that revolution can be used for lice at the dosage of 6mg/kg.
I just adopted my rat today and gave him 3 mg of revolution topically as it appears (under a microscope) that he still has nits attached to the hair although after his bath last Sun I do not see any reddish orange brown material. His skin looks better than it did but you can see silver dots on the hairs. I am keeping him at the shelter until he is nit and lice free as he has a huge new cage and I want to get a companion for him when he is cured. I feel that he has had a lot of treatment for lice and I am wondering if there is anything I can do to speed this up so that I can take him home. My husband will not allow lice in the house (although we both know they are species specific) ; we have multiple other pets including birds, dogs, rabbits etc and i guess that it is more a psychological problem (with my husband)  than anything else. I have been cleaning and disinfecting his cage at the shelter at least every other day . is there anythuing more that I can do
Thanks
Maureen

ANSWER: I prefer selamectin over ivermectin hands down.

To be honest, it should start to show positive results in another day or so.  The parasites dont live on the rat, but rather, they live on wooden, cardboard or fabric objects, where the lice or mites like laying their eggs etc...

Trying combing the rat with a flea comb too, but refrain from bathing so you dont wash off the selamectin.

He should be free from any creepy critters in around 48 hours.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for such quick response; I'll let you know in the next few days ; when I have been disinfecting his cage at the shelter I mean totally disinfected; his toys are limited there but when I get him life will get better.
I have rabbits also and cannot figure out why vets are so clueless about exotics ; I learn everything from people like you
Maureen
Thanks again  

Answer
         
The reason so many vets are clueless about exotics is that it wasnt long ago that people never really were big on keeping small mammals as pets.  As they become more of a companion animal for people, the demand for proper vet care started. Some vets hit the books and went to workshops to try to learn the basics about small mammal medicine, and it is noted on their credentials that they have "a strong interest" in exotic medicine. This leads people to believe they are exotic vets. The truth is, there are just a few hundred board certified avian/exotic vets in the entire world.

The GOOD NEWS is that as of April 2008, the American Veterinary Medical Association  granted recognition to the first completely new veterinary specialty called Exotic Companion Mammal Practice!

The new specialty will focus on small mammals such as our rats, and also rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, mice, hamsters etc...
The first exam will be early November 2009.
This is FANTASTIC NEWS for all rat owners. We just have to be patient, continue to educate ourselves as best as we can about rat care, and search for a good vet for our rats by finding out who are members of the Association of exotic mammal Veterinarians. Not all members are board certified avian/exotic vets, but they do have a strong interest in exotic medicine and many of them are prepared to handle even more difficult cases.  Still, I am looking forward to having a Exotic Companion mammal Vet to care for my ratties! Frankly, I am tired of telling the vet what to do. Its scary when you know more about rat medicine than the vet knows.