Shaking head

[Sam]

About 6 weeks ago one of my two rats (female, about 7 months) starting shaking her head a lot (like a wet dog) and picking at her ears. The vet gave her some baytril and told me to give it to her daily for 7 days. I continued to use the baytril until it was all gone, so she got a 12 day course of meds instead.

6 days ago I noticed that she was shaking her head again. She seems completely fine, not sick at all and it's been almost a week since I noticed the head shaking.

Could she have another ear infection, or would it have shown other symptoms by now?
What else could be wrong?

 

[jorats]

12 days might not have been long enough to rid of the infection. Typically we like to treat our rats for a month before stopping.
There could be other reason for the head shaking like a mass growing in the ear, excess was, polyps, abscess growth and even brain tumour.
How old is the rat?

 

[Sam]

she's about 7 months old.

Should I wait to see what happens or is head shaking enough of a reason to take her to the vet?

 

[jorats]

Only if it's constant, once in a while is ok but if you see her doing it repeatedly then something is definitely bothering her.