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Mites
13 years ago
Groups 2 + 3, and the girls, de-mited tonight.
Even managed to get close enough to do Spirit, the wild rat. She's probably the only wild rat in suffolk now who is parasite free!
I often get asked about parasites in rats.
The parasite rats most often get is mites. They pick these up from anywhere, but usually the bedding/litter that is used. If these bags/bales of litter sit in warehouses before being shipped to stores, they can harbour mites from passing wild mice or rats. Some people freeze their litter/bedding for a while before use to try and prevent this.
You can't see mites with the naked eye, but you will usually know if your rat has them because they will scratch excessively, and, soon, cause little scabs to appear on their bodies. These usually occur around the neck, muzzle, and shoulders.
If a rat comes in with small scabs around this area, the first thing I do is treat them for mites.
However, it gets complicated since some rats have mites, but don't show signs.
Others really suffer with sores and constant itching.
There doesn't seem to be any clear reason why some rats show signs and some don't, but perhaps it has a genetic basis? Data, Lore and Lyra are all prone to mites, and so is their mother and father.
So a lot of people wrongly assume 'my rats can't have mites, as only some of them are scratching, wouldn't it be all of them if it were mites?'
Nope. It might just be one, or two. But if one is showing signs of mites, then they all have them, whether they show it or not, so all would need treatment.
Sometimes signs of mites are apparent in the rat when he is stressed or his immune system is compromised so he can't keep symptoms at bay anymore.
I treat my rats for mites when I see the first signs. I do not treat regularly or routinely, as I don't like to put more chemicals on my rats than necessary, and a mite infestation is never guaranteed, so I prefer to wait until I see signs rather than dose them all up just in case.
I do treat all new rescues that come in, however.
I treat my rats with Ivermectin, which I get in bottles from a breeder friend of mine. This is a drop on the back of the neck/back, similar to how cat and dog flea treatments work.
I would avoid vets who wish to inject ivermectin. Rats can and have died from this, and it is considered risky and best avoided.
In the UK, the best treatment for mites is a product by a company called Beaphar. It is a rat/mouse/hamster/ferret spot on, and can be bought from pets at home in their small animal section (or ordered online if you don't want to support that place). It is around £5 for a pack of 5 treatments.
The only reason I stopped using this was the expense.
If you only have 2 rats, these 5 pipettes would last you a decent while, making the £5 cost pretty reasonable.
But when you have 40+, you're talking about needing to buy 8 boxes of this stuff, costing £40.
My bottle of ivermectin wasn't a fraction of this cost, and I've treated all my rats many times over with it and still have loads left.
Mites are the most common rat parasite, but they can get others.
Rats can also get lice. These are different to mites in that if you look extremely closely with a sharp eye, you can just about see them moving in the rat's fur.
I treat this the same way as mites.
Can domestic rats get fleas? Well, yes and no.
Yes as in they can have a flea jump onto them from your cat or dog, and feed on their blood. But the fleas would not be rat fleas and, from what I understand, could not live on rats permanently. They would simply be hitching a ride, much as cat and dog fleas do to humans, but they cannot live on us.
But it would be highly unlikely that domesticated rats would get actual rat fleas, unless they're in regular contact with wild rats.
Fleas don't just spring from no-where, they have to be obtained from another animal.
You can see fleas very clearly, particularly on animals as small as rats. You can't miss them.
I had one bout of fleas in my rats many years ago, caused by my cat. I treated them with Xenex, but you can use advantage for kittens. I would consult your vet or ask on rat forums though before throwing these chemicals onto your rats, as its been a looooong time since I had to treat fleas, and treatments may have changed/advanced.
Mites can also cause mange in rats. One sign of sarcoptic mange in rats is a tattered or bumpy, thickened edge to the ears, or a small, hard, 'rino horn' growth on the nose.
Can rats get worms?
I will say this.....yes. I'd imagine any mammal can.
However, I've never in my life had a worm infestation in my rats, so can only presume it is rare and probably not anything to think on for the average rat owner.
I treat worms with panacur, but I've only had to use it twice: once on a rescue girl that was found roaming about in the wild, and once on a little boy with severe stomach/bowel issues where panacur was used as a 'just in case' to eliminate the chances of worms while we tried to figure out what was wrong with him.
If you're taking rescues from situations where they've been in the wild, it may be worth worming. But we do not need to do it routinely, like we do with our cats and dogs.
Even managed to get close enough to do Spirit, the wild rat. She's probably the only wild rat in suffolk now who is parasite free!
I often get asked about parasites in rats.
The parasite rats most often get is mites. They pick these up from anywhere, but usually the bedding/litter that is used. If these bags/bales of litter sit in warehouses before being shipped to stores, they can harbour mites from passing wild mice or rats. Some people freeze their litter/bedding for a while before use to try and prevent this.
You can't see mites with the naked eye, but you will usually know if your rat has them because they will scratch excessively, and, soon, cause little scabs to appear on their bodies. These usually occur around the neck, muzzle, and shoulders.
If a rat comes in with small scabs around this area, the first thing I do is treat them for mites.
However, it gets complicated since some rats have mites, but don't show signs.
Others really suffer with sores and constant itching.
There doesn't seem to be any clear reason why some rats show signs and some don't, but perhaps it has a genetic basis? Data, Lore and Lyra are all prone to mites, and so is their mother and father.
So a lot of people wrongly assume 'my rats can't have mites, as only some of them are scratching, wouldn't it be all of them if it were mites?'
Nope. It might just be one, or two. But if one is showing signs of mites, then they all have them, whether they show it or not, so all would need treatment.
Sometimes signs of mites are apparent in the rat when he is stressed or his immune system is compromised so he can't keep symptoms at bay anymore.
I treat my rats for mites when I see the first signs. I do not treat regularly or routinely, as I don't like to put more chemicals on my rats than necessary, and a mite infestation is never guaranteed, so I prefer to wait until I see signs rather than dose them all up just in case.
I do treat all new rescues that come in, however.
I treat my rats with Ivermectin, which I get in bottles from a breeder friend of mine. This is a drop on the back of the neck/back, similar to how cat and dog flea treatments work.
I would avoid vets who wish to inject ivermectin. Rats can and have died from this, and it is considered risky and best avoided.
In the UK, the best treatment for mites is a product by a company called Beaphar. It is a rat/mouse/hamster/ferret spot on, and can be bought from pets at home in their small animal section (or ordered online if you don't want to support that place). It is around £5 for a pack of 5 treatments.
The only reason I stopped using this was the expense.
If you only have 2 rats, these 5 pipettes would last you a decent while, making the £5 cost pretty reasonable.
But when you have 40+, you're talking about needing to buy 8 boxes of this stuff, costing £40.
My bottle of ivermectin wasn't a fraction of this cost, and I've treated all my rats many times over with it and still have loads left.
Mites are the most common rat parasite, but they can get others.
Rats can also get lice. These are different to mites in that if you look extremely closely with a sharp eye, you can just about see them moving in the rat's fur.
I treat this the same way as mites.
Can domestic rats get fleas? Well, yes and no.
Yes as in they can have a flea jump onto them from your cat or dog, and feed on their blood. But the fleas would not be rat fleas and, from what I understand, could not live on rats permanently. They would simply be hitching a ride, much as cat and dog fleas do to humans, but they cannot live on us.
But it would be highly unlikely that domesticated rats would get actual rat fleas, unless they're in regular contact with wild rats.
Fleas don't just spring from no-where, they have to be obtained from another animal.
You can see fleas very clearly, particularly on animals as small as rats. You can't miss them.
I had one bout of fleas in my rats many years ago, caused by my cat. I treated them with Xenex, but you can use advantage for kittens. I would consult your vet or ask on rat forums though before throwing these chemicals onto your rats, as its been a looooong time since I had to treat fleas, and treatments may have changed/advanced.
Mites can also cause mange in rats. One sign of sarcoptic mange in rats is a tattered or bumpy, thickened edge to the ears, or a small, hard, 'rino horn' growth on the nose.
Can rats get worms?
I will say this.....yes. I'd imagine any mammal can.
However, I've never in my life had a worm infestation in my rats, so can only presume it is rare and probably not anything to think on for the average rat owner.
I treat worms with panacur, but I've only had to use it twice: once on a rescue girl that was found roaming about in the wild, and once on a little boy with severe stomach/bowel issues where panacur was used as a 'just in case' to eliminate the chances of worms while we tried to figure out what was wrong with him.
If you're taking rescues from situations where they've been in the wild, it may be worth worming. But we do not need to do it routinely, like we do with our cats and dogs.
Parasites- the one thing I am the smart.