# Can I treat young (3-5 week old) rats with Ivermectin?



## HeatherElle (Aug 16, 2012)

Hi guys, new here. I's been almost 15 years since I've had a pet rat but I saved an adorable pair of babies from a pet store a couple days ago- they were huddled together in the corner of an aquarium, looking scared and I just couldn't leave them. Unfortunately, it appears that one of them has lice. They've got to be somewhere between 3-5 weeks old. Are they too young to be treated with Ivermectin? I tried searching and can't find any specific info for little ones. We've got access to Revolution from the vet if necessary, we've been there and done that with our hedgehog, but we'll be charged an arm and a leg for the visit (and I'm not totally sure if it's safe at this age either), so if a $5 tube of Ivermectin will do the job, that's my first plan. Thanks in advance if you can help!


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## elliriyanna (Jul 27, 2011)

If your hedgie has had it before you can probably get another tube for her and use it on them. At that age though I wouldn't think its safe plus accurate dosing for their weights may be hard to do


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## HeatherElle (Aug 16, 2012)

elliriyanna said:


> If your hedgie has had it before you can probably get another tube for her and use it on them. At that age though I wouldn't think its safe plus accurate dosing for their weights may be hard to do


Yeah, I thought about that too but was worried about the same things. Another thing I'm considering is slathering them in olive oil and rinsing them off every few days until the lice are gone- I've heard that can work but it sounds messy and they're already kind of scared so I hate to put them through that.


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## elliriyanna (Jul 27, 2011)

You can look up natural cures for humans  Would your bet let you get another tube for your hedgehog? It could save you a lot and if you can use revolution on them her/his prescription should be fine


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

I would use the Revolution on babies (and have dosed 5 weekers before) but not the ivermectin which isso much more toxic. Can you post a pic of your new babies so we can determine if they are 3 weeks or 5 weeks or somewhere in between? A 3 weeker will need extra care as they really should NOT be away from mom til 5 weeks of age


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## HeatherElle (Aug 16, 2012)

lilspaz68 said:


> I would use the Revolution on babies (and have dosed 5 weekers before) but not the ivermectin which isso much more toxic. Can you post a pic of your new babies so we can determine if they are 3 weeks or 5 weeks or somewhere in between? A 3 weeker will need extra care as they really should NOT be away from mom til 5 weeks of age


I tried to take some pics and they're too blurry to really see anything, I can't get them to hold still, lol. I'm guessing the age based on youtube videos...I think they look close to these (our black one looks closer to the first video, our brown one looks closer to the second video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qd6DdicR2I, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Lcf8cPffwA I think they're both slightly smaller than these guys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sqBuTNA770 

I wouldn't be surprised if they were taken from their mothers too soon, they were being sold as feeders.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Lola is not 3 weeks of age. 

I'll show you the difference between 3 weeks,4 week and 5 weeks

3 weeks, stubby little bodies and heads,big pink feet...eyes only opened a few days ago


















4 weeks like litle mini rats - Lola looks about 4 weeks or a bit more to me...the nose is more pointed and the body is more rat like










5 weeks, bigger and more solid and adult looking


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## HeatherElle (Aug 16, 2012)

Ok, I'm pretty comfortable saying they're 4 weeks. They've gotten past the stubby body but they aren't to the more solid looking stage yet.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

HeatherElle said:


> Ok, I'm pretty comfortable saying they're 4 weeks. They've gotten past the stubby body but they aren't to the more solid looking stage yet.


Wait a week and dose them with revolution then  Unless they are teeming with lice then dose them now...


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## Toadsworth (Jul 28, 2017)

*How did it go*

Hi, I have a 6 week old rat with mites (vet checked) and I want to treat her but I was given Xeno and spot on ivermectin treatment. 
It sounds like revolution is ok at 5 weeks then? But I don't know about this Xeno stuff. I've used it on my adult, but I can't really tell if it works because they are sharing a age with the young rat so probably just got mites back again from her. (I don't want to separate them for a month because this is such an important developmental time for the baby, it must be more damaging to be in isolation than have mites).

I can't see many people talking about Xeno on the forum. Im in the UK. 
But if I can be sure Revolution is safe for her (hear from someone who has done it) then I will try and get that and start treating her along side the adult on Xeno maybe?

Its all a bit of a nightmare! 
Thanks in advance if anyone has some experience


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