# Scabs all over body



## kindhearted (Aug 4, 2011)

My rat Minnie, has scabs all over her body I have no idea what it's from?? I'm worried because there's hair missing. She's had it for about 3 weeks now, I thought the hair would grow back by now. I have a neutered male who keeps grooming her.. is he making it worse? Also I tried to put medicine on her cuts but she seems to lick it all off. What is a good ointment that I can put on her without her licking it all off? I'll post pictures soon


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## mistymornings18 (Aug 13, 2012)

Possible Mites?


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

He could be making it worse.

Iodine is a good thing to put on the wounds. make sure to buy the drops you buy to put into water in stead of the stuff to put on wounds as the drops will be safer for her to lick

Does she have Thyroid issues? My rat Storm has thyroid issues and when he doesn't get enough Iodine (I'm not sure if Floride is one of the states that this isn't true in but Tap water has Flouride which competes with Iodine and keeps it from being absorbed, it's not a good thing) He'll get itchy and loose his fur and get scabs. Any other signs? maybe some pictures?

Could be mites or lice but you would see if by this stage.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Can you post a pic? Are they little scabs or really large ones that spread?

This is lice and mites

http://lilspazrats.wikispaces.com/Health+Care+-+What's+On+My+Rat?++(ectoparasites)


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## kindhearted (Aug 4, 2011)

Okay I have pictures for you guys now. I put her on my cats tree house when I took these, and there are little crumbs from their kibbles so don't mind them. 

I don't think they are mites because wouldn't my other rat have it as well? He doesn't have any scabs on him. There's nothing for Minnie to get caught on in the cage that could of done this to her so I'm really confused as to what this is. Unless they're cuts that haven't healed and she has an infection? Is bacitracin okay to put on her?


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## kindhearted (Aug 4, 2011)

I'm not aware if she has any thyroid issues. Where can I get these drops from, what section would they be in? Is it for humans or small pets? In FL we have soft water and I believe there's a small percent of flouride in it. 



LightningWolf said:


> He could be making it worse.
> 
> Iodine is a good thing to put on the wounds. make sure to buy the drops you buy to put into water in stead of the stuff to put on wounds as the drops will be safer for her to lick
> 
> ...


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Human drops. My mom gets them off Amazon. you can get them in 2% or 5%

Any amount of Flouride can be harmful. I would check with your city to make sure.

I wouldn't say those are from Thyroid issues though. Looks like she was either itching up a storm or got mangaled. Granite Soda looked kind of like that (just scabs) and it was from a thyroid issue. Maybe she isn't getting enough fat or other nutrients? Malnutrition (normally lacking or too much protein) can cause this type of issue.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

The other option is surface pyoderma. Its a staph or a strep infection of the skin and can be very nasty and painful. You will need metacam (meloxicam, pain med and anti-inflammatory) and antibiotics and eventually skin ointment.

This is old Faith...she had mites which triggered the scratching which caused the staph infection. The old owner didn't treat her with anything and just left her alone scratching and bleeding for months. This is a pretty severe case of surface pyoderma.










If the lesions are hot and angry looking you most likely have an infection. Don't touch them but put your hand over them to see if you feel extra heat.


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## marcp1956 (Oct 12, 2012)

I think it is time to take her to the vet.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

If the wounds are around the head and neck, it's most likely mites. And no, not all rats are equally succeptable to mites. Our new rat infected out old rat. The new rat never showed a single sign of mites whereas the older one that had also had them before was infested in just a few weeks. That's not to say the new rat wasn't being bothered, just not developing the scabs.

Treat everything with Revolution if you suspect mites, one tube will treat multiple rats or even more lesser rodents.

It's a cheap fix to an insidious problem... There should be multiple posts on Revolution if you search the old threads.


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