Itching rats

Question
QUESTION: My son has 4 female rats ranging in age from about 4 years old to about 1 year old.  Recently I noticed the older rat losing hair and itching a lot.  I took them outside in their cage so I could see them better and I can see tiny black dots (sort of elongated) on their bodies and fur.  Their bedding is kaytee aspen non aromatic. We have cleaned their cage and done the bleach thing just today and gave them a bath in a diluted tree tea oil and aloe shampoo.  Are these mites?  They are so miserable.

ANSWER: Hi Jacki

Yep, they are mites and the nasty tropical rat mites to boot. If you can see them, they are the tropical mites that are anaplura (blood sucking) and they are engorged with the rats blood when they are visible to the naked eye.  If you pop one, you will have a splatter of blood under the mite...more blood then you would think, and its your rats blood you are seeing.  Thats enough to make anyone itch and lose their fur!!

Having these pests are a real pain in the neck thats for sure.
What you can do next (since you already cleaned the cage) is freeze the aspen bedding for 24 hours and this way, any eggs or mites that may have been in the litter will die, too.

The best bet for these mites is revolution. They dont do so great with ivermectin and it seems that there is a tolerance being built by some mites and lice to ivermectin. We have been getting conflicting reports the past few years about how the rats seem to take long to get rid of the ectoparasites when using ivermectin but when revolution is applied topically, it seems to work in a few days and only one treatment, maybe two (usually once per month is the proper duration in most cases)

If your vet sells revolution (which most do) for four rats you will need two vials of the kitten/puppy strength and a good estimate about how much they weigh and I can tell you the doses for as per their weight or of course the vet can tell you unless you dont need to see the vet and simply walk in and purchase it without having to pay for an office visit.  I believe a 1 pound rat would get .10cc, a 2lb rat would get .25 ccs and a rat around one and a half pounds would get around 15ccs and up, depending on the weight.  This should really help  them in just a few days.

Good   luck


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

QUESTION: Sandra - I went out and tried to 'pop' one of the little critters but they don't have anything in them.  They just fall off when I rub the rats.  I do see, now, white things on their fur.  Maybe lice?  Poor babies.

Answer
Hi Jack


Yes, possibly lice. The lice rats get are not the same as the ones human gets so dont let that worry you.  These lice will appear as white nits attached to the ends of the rats fur. They are elongated shaped bugs that are light to light brown, not black.

Revolution is still the idea way to treat them. They are species specific too so no worries your dog or cat will catch them, either, they are just nasty to think of since we have a bad feeling when we hear the word LICE anyhow!