Ivermectin was the standard treatment until Revolution came along and is hardly more toxic IF given correctly. You need to get the 1.87%
horse paste from a feed and grain store for $5. And that $5 giant syringe will last you forever even if you have a lot of rats at all times. You give an uncooked grain of rice sized amount 1X/week for 3 weeks, although with proper cage cleaning I only had to give it one time. Now...if you can afford to go to the vet to get a prescription of Revolution, then that is definitely the way to go. Both treatment's are toxic, but the selamectin is the lesser of the two. It's purely a personal decision, just don't let the catastrophists sway your decision. Ivermectin is totally safe even up to a double dosage, but I would certainly not recommend it. Just give them the recommended around in the recommended timeframe and you'll have mite-free rats in a few days, even though the instructions say to give it 1X/week for 3 weeks. I'm not sure of giving it to young rats, but I think it's best to NOT treat a rat younger than 6 months. Personally? I give it to my guys only once, and along with a 100% perfect cages clean out, they are fine. Mites are almost always due to unkempt, unclean living environments, i.e. - dirty cages and especially old dirty nesting materials, old cardboard boxes, soiled fleece, basic husbsndry, etc. ; along with rats with some sort of condition or health issue that keeps them from grooming themselves as well as they should. It could be due to a variety of things, so I won't elaborate, besides, my comments are long enough already, lol. So, go ahead, skip the vet visit, save yourself a big chunk of money, and treat ALL your rats and do a total cage overhaul. Everything washed or replaced, including the cage itself. And be careful of bedding materials, many of which harbour little hitchhikers that get a free ride right into your ratties nests. Ok, hope this comment helped.
