pet rat with possible ear mites?

Question
QUESTION: A month ago one of my two female pet rats(one over 2 one 10 months old) was acting odd, drunken behavior, dehydrated, lethargic, with no obvious cause and got better on her own, I still took her to the vet but the vet was unable to diagnose anything or figure out what the cause was and neither was I. The vet did mention that she was overweight her normal "healthy" weight is about 320 grams and her weight then was close to 400grams because I'd been sharing my morning bagel and cream cheese with both my rats for a few months without really considering the consequences. Both my rats have always been slender before then, they're on free feed Mazuri rodent block as well as a portion of veggies, cooked brown rice, oat meal, wheatgerm, or fruit daily with scrambled eggs, chocolate, yogurt, pizza, or spaghetti occasionally.

After talking with the vet I realised how stupid it was of me to share chocolate, high fat bagel and cream cheese, and sometimes even Pepsi with my pet rats and stopped immediately. They haven't had so much as a crumb of anything containing refined sugar or caffine or excessive amounts of fat since the vet visit.

Three days after the vet visit I noticed the one rat had small pin-point type scabs at the ends of her mouth but not on her cheeks or neck, it's been a month and they're still there. Then last night I noticed the back of my other rat's(not the one who went to the vet) ears are crusty with what looks like dried blood, she's got small scabs and scratches and there's a small amount of crusty reddish stuff inside her ears too. The crusty stuff doesn't smell and she doesn't seem to be in any discomfort, thou she's obviously scratched herself a lot.

I treated both rats about a year ago for mites and I think they did have mites, the scabs and itching were gone in less than two weeks - this time I'm not sure it's mites, I was wondering if they're having a reaction to their diet change? They've actually been eating two to three lab blocks each a day instead of just moving them around.

Do you think this is something that needs immediate vet treatment?

Is it possible that my pet rats caught ear mites from our dog? Our dog did have mites and an ear infection not too long ago, we're still working on treating her but it's basically healed up.

ANSWER: Hi Tiffany

I am glad you cut out the "people food" in her diet, such as the eggs and pepsi (remember, rats cant vomit or burp so the pepsi could cause gas in these critters)
Mazuri is fairly decent as far as lab blocks go although they are higher in protein than preferred (I believe they are 23 percent) the ideal percentage is 15 percent with an increase  to 18 percent in pregnant or lactating Doe's or rats that are healing from fractures or have arthritis. High protein can contribute to kidney disease later in life which is common as it is in rats as they age.
However, your little girls are not even 1 pound which is about the norm for rats. They are at least close to 50 grams shy of a pound so I would say they were in the high normal range as far as weight goes although I don't know their frame size so its hard to be exact.

By the way, rats will not catch mites from dogs or much of anything else from them other than perhaps the ringworm fungus that we can all pass among ourselves and our pets.  Mites and lice that rats get are totally species specific so our other domestic pets wont catch them. That includes us.  There is one mite that may get on us and even bite us (the tropical rat mite) but they don't like our "blood" and wont keep coming back like they do on the rats.

Usually allergies to food do cause outbreaks on the head/face/ears and around the mouth, like teenage acne, and sometimes around the shoulders and neck too.  Its hard to really determine the difference between food allergies and mites unless you do go to the vets and let him check for parasites.  You can also switch their food to a lower protein diet (try harlan teklad or regal rat by oxbow) for at least 10 days to see if the scabs go away.  You can rub them with cortisone lotion and if the scabs seem angry, neosporin.
I don't think the vet needs to be seen this very instant, but of course if after the change of diet takes place and you treat the scabs and they either do not  clear up or get worse, you should treat for mites just to be safe.

Hope this helps some!

Sandra

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

QUESTION: Thanks for your answer, you're right mazuri does have 23% protein - when I ordered I hadn't had a good chance to research rat diets, I ran out of the old pellets and needed something new asap... Unfortunately I bought a 25lb bag of the mazuri pellets, I'd love to try one of the other foods but I live out in the boonies and I'll have to order it, and I've still got approximately 15lbs of the mazuri that may well go to waste if it is the cause of the problems.

Do you have any suggestions on maybe making a temporary diet that I can try to see if the rat block is the problem?

Answer
Yikes, 15lbs is alot of waste and to be honest, if everything else they get is low protein, the mazuri is an "ok" back up, but regardless if she doesnt seem to have problems with the food, I would still think about a different food. You can order the harlan teklad from the net as well as the oxbow by regal rat.  Doing a google for KIMS ARK is where you will find the Harlan and they offer a variety from low protein to higher proteins for lactating rats, rats recovering from fractures and hairless rats since they need a big higher protein in their diet.
There are alot of various recipes to follow but I would hate for you to have to run out and buy all the stuff to make a homemade rat chow for nothing.
I would finish up the mazuri and after that, try harlan or regal rat (as long as they are over 4 months old since regal rat is more geared for adult rats)

How long has it been since you cut out the other stuff, like the fun junk food?