# My Rat has mites, is there a home remedy?



## Acanthophis

My sister came in today to tell me her rat has red spots all over her body. I checked it out, and it's clearly mites, but I don't have to budget to go get medicine for her. Is there a home remedy I can use? I saw something on another website about olive oil, but I wondered if that is effective or if someone had a better treatment.


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## Hatchet_Chick

Yeesh, sorry.


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## A1APassion

nix the above suggestions

do you have 5 to 10 bucks in your budget?

you can buy what is considered the single dose horse worming paste for that much

Granted there is enough in this small tube to treat many many rats since you only need a tiny amount

check rat guide for dosage instructions for ivermectin

that puppy kitten flea bath & pwder suggestion could be extremely toxic & possibly lethal

When dealing with poisons, & that is what these chemicals are that kill parasites.... you have to be accurate about how much you give & how you use it or you can cause extreme neurological damage to your pet.

Take for example the ivermectin.... most commonly used chemical for treatment of parasites but some breeds of dogs will die from it just because of their species being highly sensitive to it. I have one of these dogs... in fact, most shepherds are on this list. It would require the DNA testing to determine whether she is for sure susceptible to a bad reaction to this chemical... I elected to use a different chemical for her flea,tick, mite prevention that is safe rather than risk it. It is more expesive but I knew this going in. Yet another reason why you research your pet before getting it. You never know when you might need that info

just like with the rats & mites.... a very common thing to deal with since we can expose our rats to mites in one poorly packaged bag of bedding


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## SamAnthrax

i've used ivermectin, cheap for any hardware or something store thaat will sell horse stuff.


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## A1APassion

I think the .21 oz tube runs $6 or something like that


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## Marysmuse

Is Kitten Revolution effective against mites? I thought I'd read you can use it on rats? (but don't, until someone more experienced answers! As A1 said, it's important to understand what you're doing before using any chemicals on rats!)

Best of luck.
Rejoicing in the day,
-Mary

Ps In the future, it would be wise to have an emergency vet fund. Bills can add up fast, and what if something like a broken bone or degloving happens? I understand the whole issue of budget, believe me! And yet I had to come up with $200 this month for a guinea pig who wouldn't eat. (overgrown teeth) The alternative would've been to let her starve. :?  
It wasn't easy, but I found the money.


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## mishasmom

I use kitten revolution with good results. It is expensive but each dose when given will last almost 2 months.


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## amandahoney

don't forget to dispose of or bleach all of your hammocks and freeze your leftover bedding, or it will all be pointless! good luck.


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## Acanthophis

Thanks for the advice, I'll try to get to the feed store tomorrow, I'm sure they'll have it there. I'm not sure where she got them from though, because I use the same bedding for all my pets (I have several others), and none of them are infested, not even the other rat (who resides in another cage).


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## amandahoney

you know, my vet said sometimes rats will carry a few mites or lice or other parasites all their lives, and unless something like stress lowers their resistance, it will never be a problem... that's why my girls came down with a massive infestation of lice after they lost their adoptive-momma-rat to old age. did something stress her out?


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## Acanthophis

She's just getting older, her sisters have both passed away in the past year due to massive spontaneous tumors that grew too big to do anything for before we knew something was wrong. I got the medicine finally today  , I'm about to go administer it, as soon as I check on the dosage.


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## amandahoney

ah, yeah, it's amazing, the depth of the bond between rats.

keep an eye on the red spots, too. when mine had them, olive scratched herself up so bad that i needed an antibiotic to get the little cuts and scabs to heal. i think olive oil on bread will help keep her skin hydrated.


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