# Can I Use bird lice spray on my rat?



## Stephi_K (Dec 6, 2007)

It scares me because it says all this stuff about if it gets on your skin, wash it immediatly.

well what about birds skin?
and you cant get in in your mouth, but wont birds get it in their mouth?
because i know my rat will


I need to get rid of her lice
please dont say take her to a vet, because i live in a small town, we have one vet and he doesnt "do" rats.
or birds or reptiles...

and im about 200 miles away from the nearest vet.



Any suggestions?


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## Night (Feb 23, 2007)

Never use sprays, powders, or "dips." Period.

Do you have any farm supply stores near you, or anything like that? You can pick up some horse paste called Ivermectin, that will get rid of the lice.


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## Stephi_K (Dec 6, 2007)

ive heard do NOT use spray and DO use spray


i dont know who to believe.



theres rat sites that say its ok
and people saying its bad


im just gonna go for it


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## Kimmiekins (Apr 14, 2007)

Or, you could ask your local vet for a pack of kitten/puppy Revolution. They should have that (I assume they see cats and dogs!). One drop between the ears of each rat, and hopefully it'll take care of the problem.

But yes. As Night said - never use any sprays, dips or powders.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

The spray, the powders etc are unregulated products. I have even heard of some lice sprays that ended up poisoning and ultimately killing the pet rats. Also their very sensitive respiratory systems make them even more prone to inhaling these and hurting their lungs.

Get to a farm store or tack store, or even order it online. Ivermectin oral paste is a large animal de-wormer that you can buy cheaply. You would need to give each rat a piece of it the size of an uncooked grain of rice once a week for 3 weeks. Its only effective for one week and the lice's life cycle needs 3 weeks of coverage. After dosing each time you will need to scrub down your cage, toys, wash the hammocks etc...use a bleach and water solution to sit on your cage as well, before finally rinsing it thoroughly. Its advisable to freeze your bedding (unless its fabric then you can wash it) for 48 hours as this will kill any hitchhiking lice or mites.

Ivermectin has been used safely on a lot of small animals, like rabbits, mice, rats, etc.


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## cjshrader (Feb 15, 2007)

Stephi_K said:


> ive heard do NOT use spray and DO use spray
> 
> 
> i dont know who to believe.
> ...


The majority consensus here is to NOT use sprays. The reasoning is simple. Beyond the fact that they are not that effective, they are damaging to a rat's sensitive respiratory system.

Why did you ask us if you were just going to use them anyway? You can do what Night said, or you could get Revolution online without a prescription. That's two easy ways to get something that will work.


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## Stephanie (Mar 25, 2007)

you can order ivermectin paste at http://www.vetdepot.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1081 but I am sure you can find it much cheaper at opther places too it will get rid of the lcie very quickly jsut follow the instructions for it on www.ratfanclub.org in the info section.


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## Stephi_K (Dec 6, 2007)

well. i sprayed her with the stuff yesterday
just one spray

and i covered her face and her little nose with a cloth until it dried
and yes, she could still breathe


today, all the big adult lice are gone, and the eggs are brushing off


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## Macabri (Oct 8, 2007)

Even if it gets rid of the lice, it could still pose a serious health danger to your pet. So why take the risk? Just because you don't see adverse health effects now, it doesn't mean it was safe.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Next time, soak a cloth and rub it backwards thru her fur instead of spraying.


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## Kimmiekins (Apr 14, 2007)

I very very much am not trying to come off as rude, but why did you ask, if you went ahead and did it anyway? (Btw, you said "yesterday" but the times between the first post and your last was about 16 hours! Unless you actually had already sprayed?)

You've got, in this thread alone, a handful of very knowledge people who have had a lot of experience with a lot of rats, that are involved in rescue, etc. We all said, don't do it.

I really, REALLY hope there was nothing harmful in the spray. She probably groomed afterwards, ingesting the spray. That's the biggest concern to me... Unless you know what ingredients are in it, what they may do (could very well be poison to rats), and if they are regulated and approved for use on small animals, there's no telling the damage that could be done.


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## Darksong17 (Feb 11, 2007)

I've been watching this but didn't comment because everyone said basically what I would. Not to use anything other than Ivermectin or Revolution on rats for safety reasons. I've seen pet store flea sprays _made_ for small animals kill a rat. Why did you even bother asking here if you were just going to do it anyway? I really hope your rat is okay, it wasn't worth the risk.


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## reachthestars (Feb 27, 2007)

Please don't use the sprays again.... go to the local vet and pick up a tube of Revolution for puppies and kittens. Get a needle and syringe as wll. You'll want to draw up 0.02 CCs of revolution, then take the needle off the syringe and apply the revolution between their ears. 

This method WILL treat the lice and won't harm your rats, and will only cost you around $16. I don't know why you wouldn't just follow our advice, especially when we've told you that the sprays can be downright harmful to your pets. Is it an aerosol spray can? If so, it should never be used especially on birds, as they have a sensitive respiratory system. Another example of a petstore making a quick buck off something without care to what will happen to the animal.


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## JulesMichy (Apr 8, 2007)

Stephi_K said:


> ive heard do NOT use spray and DO use spray
> 
> 
> i dont know who to believe.
> ...


You don't know who to believe, so you just go ahead and use a potentially dangerous product on your rat without knowing for sure whether or not it was safe? That's not a very bright decision, now is it?

You can find books and websites that say pine and cedar bedding are okay. You can find books that say that rats have to be housed individually, and males will fight and kill each other if housed together. It's in a book, so it must be right!

I hope you didn't kill your rat. For her sake. Personally, I don't think you should own pets after this. :roll:


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