lice mites?!?!? PLEASE HELP!!!

Question
I have been searching all night for some kind of answer. I really need help. I Adopted a male rat from a petstore about two months ago. I just noticed red scabs around the neck and head area. There is nothing visible in the fur other than the scabs, i have always feed him the rat blocks, and i give him nut and berry mix for rats. He is always out of his cage and tend to give him bits of what i am eating all of which the are allowed and are safe. His bedding is for rats, it is like shredded cardboard. Once a week i wipe him off with unscented baby wipes and once a month i give him an actual bath with kitten shampoo. I thought i was following all the rules. But i cant tell if it is mites or lice. I don't know how to check and there is not a vet that treats rats for over 200 miles of where i live. I don't know what to do please help me.

Answer
Hi Jessica,

First, breathe! You're doing all the right things! But, what you describe is exactly what happens when rats have allergic reactions to nuts and protiens. And, just so you know, it doesn't take much to throw the skin off balance. Some rats, especially males, can have reactions with as little as 10% of the diet being protein based. Average adult male rats only need six to eight percent protein in the diet, as pet rats don't use the muscle tissue the same way as wild rats do.

Male rats, as you probably know by now, have more oils on their skin. That's why they tend to get "rat-cne", on their tails, and can also get ratty-blackheads up around their necks. It also means they can keep toxins on their skin a lot longer than female rats. This usually means they can react to peanuts, cashews, sunflower seeds, and even chicken and cheeses with a protein scabbing.

The scabs are itchy, which make the rats more scabby. (You can imagine why they called that rat in Harry Potter's story, Scabbard!) For a few weeks, try cutting back on ALL nuts, as the lab blocks alone should have just enough protein to keep his muscles strong. You can even add low sugar breakfast cereals, like toasted oat rings, or even wheat germ, to help balance out the oils in  his system produced by the nuts. For people having bucks rather than does, it's really not necessary to add any proteins at all to a diet, unless the rat is doing agility training on a daily basis.

Now, to help him feel a bit better until the scabs go away, you can mix a tiny bit of oatmeal...about a half teaspoon full, with a half cup of water, and wipe him down with the solution. The oatmeal is nontoxic, and promotes grooming. It also absorbs oils, and helps the itchiness disappear. You can do that three times a week for a couple of weeks. He'll start to smell like cookies, but he'll feel a lot better.

I hope this helps you. You're a very responsible rat owner, as I can tell by how much you love your little guys.

You're doing great, so give the anti-atkins diet a try for a bit, and let me know how he does after a couple of weeks?

Cathe

The baby wipes, although really great once in a while, also have a slight oil to them, making the protein allergens stick to the rats for a longer period of time. Instead, try using a witch-hazel based wipe, if you need to use any. This will help clean the oil from his fur, and it's not toxic.