Rat over-grooming his brother, bite marks

[milokjd]

Hi all,
My 2 boys are growing up, they are about 6 months old now. Banana has always groomed his brother Waffle a lot, and Waffle usually lets out little squeaks, but usually nothing to worry about. But the last couple weeks Banana seems to be over doing it when hes grooming Waffle. I have noticed little patches of blood on waffle, and he has a few scabs all over his body. On his cheek, behind his ear, and on his back. The scabs aren't really healing because Banana keeps grooming and picking at his brothers scabs. Poor Waffle! They are not neutered, and it doesn't really seem like Banana is being aggressive, but could he be showing his dominance through grooming? Waffle tries to run away, but Banana keeps catching him and grooming him. I wonder if Banana is bored and needs something to do? They have lots of toys, and even when they are out playing he still wants to groom. Would nurturing them make any changes I wonder? Is there something I can put on his scabs to help them heal, or even something bad tasting so Banana wont pick at them? Or maybe there's a certain kind of toy that Banana could take his grooming out on?
Poor Waffle, hes so purdy, and hes got little scabs all over him!

 

[hopefloats]

He most likely has mites. I have serious groomers and scabs are not part of it.. Most of the time it is mites that is causing the problem not the other one grooming. You will need some kitten revolution from a vet to take care of them nothing over the counter will help.

 

[milokjd]

Thanks for the reply. Hmm, interesting. I wonder if it might have been the bedding I switched to for this week. I was unable to get my usual eco-bedding this week, and got carefresh...I have heard that some people freeze it. Darn! I should have just used fabric or something! I will ask my vet about the kitten revolution, thanks for the info. Banana doesn't have any scabs, im sure he could still have mites on him, wouldn't they both be affected from mites?

 

[Aida]

Thanks for the reply. Hmm, interesting. I wonder if it might have been the bedding I switched to for this week. I was unable to get my usual eco-bedding this week, and got carefresh...I have heard that some people freeze it. Darn! I should have just used fabric or something! I will ask my vet about the kitten revolution, thanks for the info. Banana doesn't have any scabs, im sure he could still have mites on him, wouldn't they both be affected from mites?

Carefresh is known to carry mite eggs, yup.

And yes! THey both have mites, and so does their cage, now. They just don't show up as well on ratties with better immune systems. It's better to just treat both. Also, check out the past threads about mites/lice! :thumbup:

 

[jorats]

Well at least once you get them treated you'll probably less hard grooming. Having buggies can make rats cranky.

 

[milokjd]

Thanks guys! I guess I learned my lesson with carefresh, arg. Waffle does seem cranky lately, poor guy. For the kitten revolution, do you just put a couple drops on his back like you would a cat?

 

[Joanne]

Thanks guys! I guess I learned my lesson with carefresh, arg. Waffle does seem cranky lately, poor guy. For the kitten revolution, do you just put a couple drops on his back like you would a cat?

Usually one drop is enough. Make sure that you keep them occupied until it has had a chance to dry thoroughly.

 

[EDK]

Ya and I'd recommend putting it on the back of their neck where they can't reach to lick it off too. My alpha rat Gizmo tends to groom both boys in the cage and they can rough groom each other back, but its never resulted in blood or scratching. So ya its probably mites and the brother was simply trying to help his brother clean himself probably, and the more scabs appear the more he tries to clean them, i think he was just trying to help, he was being a good brother

 

[milokjd]

haha, yeah, Banana is a good brother. He's always looking out for Waffle. I can't get to the vet over the weekend. Is there something I can do to help Waffle feel better until Monday? I was going to put neosporon on his scabs, or some vitamin E. Would giving him a bath make him feel better? ( I haven never given them a bath...not sure they would like it).

 

[EDK]

If they haven't be introduced to water they probably won't, but defiently do not do it without each other if not at all. The last time i gave one of my rats a bath, it washed away his scent and the other rats thought he was another rat invading their turf and a fight broke out. I had to reintroduce him all over again!

 

[milokjd]

Well, I attempted to give them a quick bath. They were not fans! I read on the forum that some people used tea tree oil diluted with water, so i mixed a tiny bit in with water and poured it on their backs and rubbed around a bit. You can really see the bites when Waffle is wet . Then I rubbed some vitamin E oil on the bites. I have a vet appointment on Wednesday. I wish it were sooner! Hopefully I can keep them comfortable until then. Guess I'll keep the cage really clean, and keep putting oil on his bites. Poor Waffle looks really grumpy and lazy.

I sure wish I did more HW before buying that carefresh. I was in such a hurry I just grumpily bought it because they were out of my usual bedding. I guess now I know :emb: . Makes me wonder how often this happens at pet stores and people end up with unhappy bitten rats.