Rat Scabs.help?

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benzin.fox

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
211
Location
central coast,NSW,Australia
Genevieve Cottage has had scabs on the back of her neck/shoulder blades/face and sometimes the front of her legs for a few months.

I thought I should just let them heal on their own but they haven't.

I've tried treating all rats (even though she is the only one with scabs) for lice and mites including the cage and bedding.
I've also been making sure to keep an eye on all of their claws and clipping when they get too long - especially Genevieve's.

She is eating/drinking/playing behaving normally which is why i havent rushed her to the money-hungry vet..just yet.

I havent introduced any new or strange foods or new bedding or cage accessory. *thinks hard*

I'm out of ideas and want to help her.I'd hate for them to get infected or something - she doesnt seem really itchy and isnt bothered when i touch her in the affected areas.

If anyone has any ideas/advice/suggestions i'd be really happy to hear them.

Kind regards,
Kristen

PS- I'm new this shack of rats,so hello everyone :)
 
Welcome to the Shack!

You said you treated everyone for mites and lice, what did you use to treat them? Scabs around the face and shoulders is a classic symptom of mites. It may be that whatever you used to treat them didn't work.

The only other thing I can think of that would leave small scabs would be someone power grooming her, but while the head would be expected, the front legs aren't really spots that get power groomed.
 
Thanks for the replies! I didn't expect them so quickly!

I've been doing some digging around on here and i think it must be mites too.

I don't think i've treated them with a good enough quality prouduct.

I treated them with a bottle of spray thats for rats,rabbits,ferrets and guinea pigs. My boyfriend had originally bought it from a pet supply store just incase he needed it for his ferrets- but i stole it from him to use on my rats when i thought they had lice or mites.

I think your'e right it must just not be good enough. blah. poor animals.

I've heard that I should use the kitten version of revolution. Is that right? or am I off track?
I don't want to harm the ratsons!!

But if that's what I should be using I'll be definitely picking some up tomorrow. *feels guilty and bad for Genevieve for not knowing this in advance*

ps- Thank you for welcoming me! hehe

pps- we use revolution on our cats and it treats them for worms too - does that go for rats also?
 
Pleasepleaseplease do not use the spray or powder treatments you find at pet stores. These are potentially toxic in most cases, and are nothing but airborne irritants to your rats. I wouldn't even suggest your boyfriend using it on his ferrets.

Revolution is not half as toxic as the commercially available powders and sprays. Revolution can be dosed up to 10x the maximum dosage before it can become toxic to the animal, so it's a whole lot safer. All you need is a single drop placed between their shoulders. It dries very quickly, so you just want to keep them from grooming it off each other for a minute. You can use either the Mauve tube labeled for Kittens, or the Blue version for Cats. It's the same concentration, just more of the solution for Cats vs. the Kitten tube.

Treating for worms with Revolution is a "bonus" for cats/dogs, but rats don't get most parasites like other pets do. The fact that it treats it won't hurt the rats.
 
Welcome to the Shack!

Revolution is absolutely the way to go to treat mites. Get the kitten/puppy formula and put one drop on the back of the neck of each rat. If mites are the problem, this will be the cure.

You are lucky to be in Australia since you can get Revolution without a prescription!
 
oh no! what have i done?!

I'm on my way to pick up some kitten revolution right now.

THANK YOU.

Thank you for saving my rats..from my not knowing..how stupid this is! I thought i was helping them and was probably harming them:(
 
Hi and Welcome,

I also use Revolution for our rats and our rescued rats (I am in Perth), it is fabulous stuff and kills the mites and fleas quickly and with very little fuss.

What type of bedding are you using?
Some of the wood bedding materials (which should be avoided anyway) actually hold the parasites like mites etc and they get transfered to the animal that way.

Wash all the bedding (if using material) and place new clean bedding in the cages when you have treated everyone. The wounds should heal quickly once the cause is gone.

Hope this helps
 
Have bought the revolution and treated all the rats.(cleaned cage/new bedding and treated the rats before putting them back in) I squeezed the tube of revolution into a syringe (vets advice) so i could have better control on how much i put on each rat...mistake..i put too much pressure on the syringe.. and squeezed too much onto genevieve.i hope she'll be ok.i wiped a lot of it off and treated the other two girls with a smaller amount and made sure it dried and tried to stop them grooming and licking it at. I really hope it has been mites and her scabs clear up. when she gets wet you can see her whole back is covered in small scabs.Many more than i knew she had.

I use lots of different cut up pieces of fabric for bedding.old clothes and things like that.They're changed daily also.
I line the bottoms of the cage with newspaper to soak up the pee. I change the newspaper everyday and give the cage a good clean with bleach or vinegar once a week - then i rinse it off with water.

My poor Genevieve.I really hope i'm doing the right things for them all. I try to keep educating myself for them. I hope they're going to be ok :(

Thank you everyone!
 
For future reference, all you need is a single drop, which is roughly the equivalent to aprox .02-.03cc. That's the average dosage for adult females. I find it much, much easier just to get the drop straight from the tube. If you ever over dose like that again, though, you can just rinse the rat off and reapply in 2 weeks. Those are the instructions from Pfizer [co. that makes Revolution] in case of accidental overdose. You should start seeing results within a few days, she'll start itching less and the scabs should start to go away.

With everything, there's a learning curve. Sometimes it's nice and smooth, most times not. We all have to mess up a little before we get it completely right. You're doing very good by your girls, and it sounds like you're really trying to do what's best for them.
 
It also sounds to me that you are doing very, very well by your girls. Don't beat up on yourself! We all have something to learn here.
 
thank you. i'll try not to beat myself up! *slowly pulls fists away from face*

What symptoms should I look for incase I have harmed genevieve by putting too much on her?

I was aiming to only put a single drop between the shoulder blades,only a single drop! grrr. If i have to administer revolution again i will definitely be enlisting the help of someone with steadier hands.I'm quite shakey,that may be why i failed so miserably.

Genevieve seems fine at the moment but i'm keeping a close watch.

Thank you for all your help everyone - thanks javakittie for keeping an eye on this post and making sure I'm armed with the right information for my girls.
 
She would have shown symptoms by now if she was going to, but rash at application site, tremors, and seizure like activity are the symptoms for overdose. As I said before, Revolution has to be dosed at a ridiculously high amount before it becomes toxic, so you and Genevieve should be fine.

Maybe drawing up just the one dosage into the syringe for each rat would be better? While it's always nice to have people to help, they're not always there when you need them to be. Of course, if they are, then you're set.

You're very welcome! I'm glad I could help you out. :)
 
Draw up one dosage at a time with the syringe.deal.that's a good plan,it sounds almost foolproof but lets not speak too soon.haha.oh rats.

Just finished cage cleaning and they all seem fine. Can't thank you enough ,javakittie

*runs back to cage for rattie kisses*
 
Hey Kristen! Sorry that I didn't answer your email, but I see that everyone has helped you out tremendously already. I know you are busy, but you should stick around. It is nice to see you here! :)
Genevieve will be fine, like javakittie already said they have to receive a ridiculous amount in order to OD on the stuff.
I hope she is feeling better soon.
 
hey vanessa! thanks for the reply.

everyone has been really wonderful helping me out. It's really good to know that there are places (even if its online) that you can go to get help..where people really know what they're talking about.

I hope you and your boys are well!

I'll definitely stick around, this place is awesome!
 
Hi everyone.just a quick update and more worrying from me..

How long after treatment with the revolution should Genevieve's scabs dissapear? So far I don't think they are dissapearing at all. Tonight I found a small wound on her back that looked pretty new. Perhaps the other two girls are picking on her? Could that be happening?

I have also noticed that Geneivieve seems to be lean and long whereas Marcelle Pencil is what i would describe as "stout" Audrey Ratburn also has more weight on her than Genevieve. Both have more dominant personalities than Genevieve who is rather quiet and always seems to go with the flow.

Should I be worried that there are more sores on her back? They are still on her face,back and shoulder blades none are on her legs or stomach.

What should I look out for? Should I try her in her own cage for a little to see if the scabs dissapear? or would that cause unnecessary stress?

I'm out of ideas and worried that one of these scabs could get infected.

Any help,(again) would be much appreciated.
 
You should have seen some results by now. Have you noticed her itching or scratching at all? If there are a few smaller scabs, then it might be possible that the other two are power grooming her, but you would also be seeing short, almost clipped patches of fur from their overabundant grooming. Have you witnessed any scuffles or fights lately? If they're inflicting wounds like that during a scuffle, I wouldn't think it would be totally silent.

As for her weight, unless she's very, very thin, she may just be a leaner rat than the others. Just as with people, some rats are stockier and others are long and lean.
 
hi javakittie thanks for the reply!

There definitely are missing patches of fur on her neck/shoulder blades and these are where the worst of the scabs are.

During the nights there are often some scuffles and lots of banging about and rat noises.this happens to my knowledge a few times a week. they all sleep together and what i think is "play" together. (like "boxing" and knocking each other over and keeping each otherin that position,chasing each other all over the cage)

I have noticed her using her back legs to have a bit of a scratch every now and again but it isnt contant or furious but I have seen her do it.

-No she is definitely not thin,so i wont worry about that. she's just what i call my "handful of rat" she stretches out to be picked up and therefore is a handful. haha.

Does any of that information help?
 

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