quick question about mites/ scabs on back

[smilez_n_hugs]

Currently I have 5 boys but I only have one boy with scabs so I was just wondering if it was mites shouldnt all the boys be scratching and have scabs? I have checked all my other boys head to toe and they have no scabs whatsoever and I havent noticed a personality change in my one boy that you sometimes see with mites. I will be calling first thing tomorrow morning to make a vet appointment but I was just wondering what everyone else thought. And if its not mites then any treatment ideas? Thanks.

 

[MumsyRat]

If one of your rats has mites you can count on it that all of your rats have mites. Your boy with the scabs is just more susceptible to them for some reason or other. In fact, I would keep an eye on him because (IMO) susceptibility to mites is sometimes the first sign of illness. But don't let me scare you, he could just be more allergic than the others.

Here's a picture of a rat with mites:


You will need to treat them with Revolution. Don't let your vet do the ivermectin injection!!
And don't let him sucker you into the old "I need to do a skin scraping on ALL of your rats before I can prescribe Revolution." What he's really saying is "I would like to sucker you out of a lot of money....." One tube of the purple (for small dogs) will be enough to treat your boys.

You'll also need to do a thorough cleaning of the cage and everything in it, especially fabric items. Wash them with bleach to make sure you kill the suckers! If you have an open bag of bedding/shavings you should freeze it before using it or throw it out and buy new.

 

[jorats]

Each time I see scabs, I treat for mites first... if the scabs don't go away then we try to figure out what else could be the problem.

 

[ryelle]

Each time I see scabs, I treat for mites first... if the scabs don't go away then we try to figure out what else could be the problem.

Same here, i presume that any time i see scabs that its mite's.
Hence Sid, he had scabs everywhere, i treated BOTH of my rats for mite's over a 6 week period (misdirected as to how to use the Ivermectin in the first few weeks, and he then had ivermectin shots at the vet), and when Patricks scabs cleared and Sids didn't, i took him back to the vet. He is now having twice weekly baths for skin allergy's and is clearing up nicely but slowly