# I think my rat has mites!



## smopey (Feb 3, 2012)

I think my rat, Ginny, has mites! I don't see any actual bugs but I noticed she's been getting these little scabs on her skin. Like little pinpoint size scabs. Then I noticed she had a lot more under her neck, around her shoulders and around her face. I think she got them from a tube filled with hay and alfalfa that I bought from Petsmart. I read about using Revolution to treat mites but I wasn't able to find any in the pet stores near me. I ended up buying kitten flea medicine (it says it's used to treat fleas, ticks and chewing lice), the kind that you would normally apply to the shoulder blade area. It's by Pet Armour and it's for cats/kittens 8 weeks or older. The active ingredient is Fipronil 9.7% and it's a 0.50 mL pipette. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on using this on my rat before I put it on her? Thanks in advance!


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## KelseyShea (Jan 20, 2013)

I can't give expert advice on this, but I think I have heard of other forum members using kitten meds before for pests like mites. I would assume just to use it in a smaller dosage to account for size difference, but it couldn't hurt to maybe call a vet. Or, you may be able to find an old thread through the forum search box. Maybe use "mites" as the keyword, that should bring up quite a few threads. Sorry I didn't have any definite answers!


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## Crezzard (Jul 20, 2013)

Weigh her and follow the instructions on
The pipette. It does work on rats and shouldn't harm her if you use the right dosage. Make sure to flea all the animals in the house at the same time because if she has them then they do. 
I use stronghold small dog flea spot on and one pipette does all 4 of my rats. The vet recommended I use it x


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I tried several over the counter meds, honestly it didn't work and made my rats sick, I didn't try the one you mentioned.

You get revolution from a vet. NOW PAY CLOSE ATTENTION... Revolution is used to PREVENT as well as treat mites, fleas etc. There is no reason you need a costly diagnosis from your vet to buy it. I usually get if from vets that DON'T treat or see rats. Unless you MASSIVELY overdose it it does no harm, so if you were to treat a healthy rat, your worst problem is that it won't get mites for a full month.

And by the way, you most likely got the mites from another animal not your bedding. Either you touched another animal at the pet shop or someone else who handled your rats handled another infected animal first. Mites live on animals, and they need to eat. They can take weeks to a few months to become an infestation that you will notice, but unlike ticks or bed bugs there's no evidence that I've ever seen that mites can lay dormant in bedding for months in storage and then infest your pets. I'm not saying it's impossible, but before you start to bake your bedding, rule out the more reasonable means of transmission. Animal to animal or animal to human to animal and think back at least a couple of months.


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## smopey (Feb 3, 2012)

Rat Daddy said:


> I tried several over the counter meds, honestly it didn't work and made my rats sick, I didn't try the one you mentioned.
> 
> You get revolution from a vet. NOW PAY CLOSE ATTENTION... Revolution is used to PREVENT as well as treat mites, fleas etc. There is no reason you need a costly diagnosis from your vet to buy it. I usually get if from vets that DON'T treat or see rats. Unless you MASSIVELY overdose it it does no harm, so if you were to treat a healthy rat, your worst problem is that it won't get mites for a full month.
> 
> And by the way, you most likely got the mites from another animal not your bedding. Either you touched another animal at the pet shop or someone else who handled your rats handled another infected animal first. Mites live on animals, and they need to eat. They can take weeks to a few months to become an infestation that you will notice, but unlike ticks or bed bugs there's no evidence that I've ever seen that mites can lay dormant in bedding for months in storage and then infest your pets. I'm not saying it's impossible, but before you start to bake your bedding, rule out the more reasonable means of transmission. Animal to animal or animal to human to animal and think back at least a couple of months.


Thanks for the info! I found Revolution on this site without going to the vet. Which one should I get? The one for cats/kittens 0-5lbs? 
http://www.1800petmeds.com/Revolution-prod10265.html?AFFID=GG&ID=159623410

Honestly, I'm not sure where she got the mites. She hasn't been in contact with any other animals (and neither have I). Her cage mate, Luna, passed away about 2 weeks ago and I thought maybe the scratching/itching was caused by being stressed/depressed from losing her friend but it's just gotten worse the past few days. The only new thing that she's come in contact with was the cardboard tube filled with hay and alfalfa. Either way, I just want to get her back to feeling better! 

What do you think is the best way to attack the problem? Should I bathe her before I give her the Revolution? Should I clean her cage and then treat her? Or treat her and then clean her cage? I'm probably over-thinking this but I just want make sure she doesn't get re-infested! Thanks again.


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## autumnshay (Aug 17, 2013)

I am currently using revolution on my rats. My vet gave me the kitten version and told me to split the tube equally into 3 and give 1/3 of the tube to my rat. It is meant to kill mites and fleas but worked amazing to get rid of my sickly rats lice that she had. Im not sure dosage matters too much because its topical so i suggest if you do use revolution to do around 1/3 of the tube. Revolution doesnt require you to bathe them and i suggest not to because it stresses the rat out. i would clean the cage but if you give revolution it will kill all the adults so even after the babies hatch they have nothing to feed them. its a good idea to get rid of old cardboard or wood items just incase but revolution is definantely the best and was a life saver for my little girl. *edit* treat ALL your rats.


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## smopey (Feb 3, 2012)

autumnshay said:


> I am currently using revolution on my rats. My vet gave me the kitten version and told me to split the tube equally into 3 and give 1/3 of the tube to my rat. It is meant to kill mites and fleas but worked amazing to get rid of my sickly rats lice that she had. Im not sure dosage matters too much because its topical so i suggest if you do use revolution to do around 1/3 of the tube. Revolution doesnt require you to bathe them and i suggest not to because it stresses the rat out. i would clean the cage but if you give revolution it will kill all the adults so even after the babies hatch they have nothing to feed them. its a good idea to get rid of old cardboard or wood items just incase but revolution is definantely the best and was a life saver for my little girl. *edit* treat ALL your rats.


Thank you! I'm going to go to my vet tomorrow to pick some up. I only have one rat right now but I'm picking up two babies in a few weeks so I wanted to make sure she was mite-free by then.


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## autumnshay (Aug 17, 2013)

careful with getting the two new rat babies. it can take a while for the baby mites to fully be gone. It took me a month to get rid of all the eggs. I am doing a second treatment on my rats this sunday to make sure they dont come back. mites dont lay eggs on the rat if i am remembering right and they lay it in the cage and toys. Revolution will take care of it but if they live in the environment id quarentine the baby rats until you are sure there are none left.


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## mcbride4227 (Aug 13, 2013)

My vet specializes in small animals and she gave me ivermectin for both of my girls and it works like a charm 


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## smopey (Feb 3, 2012)

I gave her the Revolution today so we'll see what happens. I plan on keeping the babies separate until I know the mites are gone for good and everyone gets along alright. When should I give her another dose of the Revolution? 30 days or can I do it sooner?


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

I would do a thorough-wash down with dawn and hot water of the cage and any plastic hides/toys, toss wooden chews out or freeze them, and to run any fabric through the washer (hammocks, fleece bedding, etc) and vacuum really well (if you can find flea carpet cleaner, use it). Not only should you be concerned about the rat's cage, but anywhere the rat plays and the room the rat resides in. Also any animals that may traffic the area.
When my grandmother's **** tenants moved out of the house, the carpet was infested with fleas. Worse, the fleas managed to reproduce or hatch in the vacuum so that transferred it to the car and then to her house. It was an awful affair.

As for re-treating her, I would be careful. You are already using something meant for a bigger animal on a smaller one. The only time my vet recommended I use a monthly dose weekly was when my dog had scabies, which is pretty extreme.


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## smopey (Feb 3, 2012)

Thanks! Yeah I'm going to get rid of everything and do a deep cleaning in the morning. Luckily, I have hardwood floors. I'm still going to clean the area really well just to be sure. I have two chihuahuas and I don't want them catching anything. Thankfully I keep them up to date with their flea medicine.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

As the price is about the same I buy the larger size of the lower dosage of revoluion and store what I don't use. 

I use about one drop directly on the skin, but it's hard to overdose...

And lastly I don't go nuts cleaning the cage or elsewhere. My rats free range all over the place. Once a rat is treated with revolution it's toxic to mites for a month. So basically I use the rats free ranging as a mite sponge to pick up any mites that happen to be left over after the treatment.


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## autumnshay (Aug 17, 2013)

My vet suggested 21 days after the first time to make sure all the bugs were killed (again I had lice, which revolution isn't labeled for but it still worked and they were hard to kill). You should be able to do 30 days with mites. Here is a website that has a lot of info on it if you haven't seen it. http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary_skin/ectoparasites.php


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## smopey (Feb 3, 2012)

Thanks everyone. I gave her the Revolution and cleaned her cage really well and she seems to be better! She's definitely not as stressed out as she was before. I'm going to retreat her again before I pick up her new friends in about 3 weeks!


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