Pet rat scratching herself all the time

Question
My rat is a mix between a hairless rat and a normal one. She is always scratching herself and now has little scabs all over her body. I've read that you could cut their nails, but I don't want to do that. I haven't seen any mites on her so that doesn't seem to be the case. The cage is kept fairly clean. She has a massive environment to live in and I clean it about once a week. I'm now using Kaytee Aspen bedding. I have used Suntime Aspen and Kaytee cobcorn. Had no impact in any of these cases. I feed her bananas daily. Just small piece. Other than this, her diet consists of Kaytee Forti-Diet. I place a clean hand towel in her cage to keep her warm. I ususally replace this towel every other day.

One thing I wonder about is whether the towel may be the culprit. I was wondering if the detergent could be the cause. But I think that the scratching was an issue before I starting putting a towel in the cage.

Thanks for any advice you provide

Answer
Sounds like you have a double rex by her description. The first thing we think of when we hear of your description is indeed mites. You can't see mites with the naked eye, all you can see in the damage that they do after they have irritated the skin causing the rat to scratch itself. Many times I have seen a reduction of scabs, and itching after the first dose of Ivermectin.

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/bugs.htm
http://www.ratfanclub.org/skin.html
http://www.petratscanada.com/scabs.htm

May I suggest a wider variety of foods by adding more fruits and vegetables to her diet.
http://www.ratfanclub.org/diet.html

A diet that is too high in protein can cause scabs. The culprits would be peanuts, sunflower seeds, and the like.

If you suspect that she does have dry skin from the bedding change to something like bed sheets, pillow cases, and t-shirts instead of the commercial rodent bedding. You can add Essential Fatty Acids to her diet by way of canned salmon. You can rub a little olive oil into her skin, or give her a bath with oatmeal water (very watery porridge).

You are correct to suspect your detergent. Try a hypoallergenic liquid baby detergent.

Here are some more tips to caring for hairless, or almost hairless, rats
http://www.skyclyde.com/HairlessCare.html?1054491765137

spazrats