# I'm starting to get anoyed....



## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

There's a pet store thaI like to go to to pass time,buy food and play with all the ratsys I can't have but lately they've been hireing some very... ratsy ignorant people. Just the other day I found that a buch of there ratsys had ratsy lice and I told this one guy ( I wish I'd gotten his name) and he told me to show him and when I did he's all that's just dirt so I said no it's not dirt doesn't move. 

Can you beleive how stupid this guy is?! Those poor babys are supper friendly and they're only 2-3 months...

GRRRRRR!!!!!!!


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## jando426 (May 15, 2007)

tell a manager.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Uuummm........

...Well..... the manager doesn't like me......

And I didn't get the guys name.

*Sigh*


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## OhBugger. (Apr 6, 2007)

yeah, I was at Petco with a friend the other day and noticed a female in with the male's tank.
it irks me that they even dare to cram eight rats into a little tank, but how can you possibly not notice the absence of those huge testicles?
I did after about 20 seconds of looking at their cage, and the people that are there five hours each day dont.

she was already showing too, but thankfully she was older than a month or two.


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## chefner (May 6, 2007)

Sky14 said:


> There's a pet store thaI like to go to to pass time,buy food and play with all the ratsys I can't have but lately they've been hireing some very... ratsy ignorant people. Just the other day I found that a buch of there ratsys had ratsy lice and I told this one guy ( I wish I'd gotten his name) and he told me to show him and when I did he's all that's just dirt so I said no it's not dirt doesn't move.
> 
> Can you beleive how stupid this guy is?! Those poor babys are supper friendly and they're only 2-3 months...
> 
> GRRRRRR!!!!!!!


I know how you feel. I had a guy at Petsmart tell me that the lice on a rat was just dandruff! :roll: It was actually lice nits on the hair shafts along the black stripe of fur down the rat's back. Plain as day. And when you brushed and rubbed the hair they didn't budge. It took me 3 treatments with Ivermectin to get rid of it, but it worked. 

I also was upset when after just a couple days of getting a new rat from them, I had to return him because he was sneezing so badly. They assured me they would treat him and call me when he was healthy again. I visited the other day and there he was, sicker than before, back in the cage with the OTHER rats!!! Lo and behold, there was a cage full of sick rats. 

Tell me what is SOOOOO hard about keeping healthy, clean animals when you are a PETshop!!!!????!!!!

Okay, and since I have raged this far, I am also annoyed to learn that the in store veterinary clinic doesn't treat rats or other small animals?!?! Yet they sell them in the store...

Makes no sense at all...


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## ratvocate (May 15, 2007)

Since I am new to owning ratties, can someone tell me how I would know if any of my girls had lice or other kinds of nasties? They are white so I cant see anything on them. I checked them over and they look okay but I do notice them scratching a bit more lately. Makes me nervous!


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## chefner (May 6, 2007)

ratvocate said:


> Since I am new to owning ratties, can someone tell me how I would know if any of my girls had lice or other kinds of nasties? They are white so I cant see anything on them. I checked them over and they look okay but I do notice them scratching a bit more lately. Makes me nervous!


The adult lice are actually brownish/orange colored and you can see them moving on the skin. It helps when you bathe them and under the wet fur you can see their skin better. I couldn't see any adult lice on my boys until I bathed them. They were just little brown specks. The nits cling to the hairs and are harder to see on white fur. They have a shiny look to them and appear as teensy white specks on the hair. The tell-tale sign that they are lice nits is that they don't come off of the hair when you brush over it or try to rub them off. 
I have also had rats with mites before. Mites are very tiny and kind of more reddish colored usually. They move more. Again, they are easier to see when you wet your ratty down. 
If your rats do have lice or mites, Ivermectin treatment works. You can check out the Ratguide for dosing and what and where to buy here:

http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary_skin/ectoparasites.php

http://ratguide.com/meds/antiinfectives/ivermectin.php

I bought my Ivermectin at a Feed Supply store that carried horse supplies. I did the regimen and dosing that the Ratguide layed out and it worked great. My rats are lice free after 3 weeks of treatment. In order to dose about the size of half a grain of rice (mine were young at time of treatment) I used the tip of a toothpick to put it in their mouths.

That is what I know and have experienced. I hope that helps!


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## ratvocate (May 15, 2007)

Thank you Christina! I will check them good next bath time.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Hmmm...the standard fur mite is microscopic so I don't think you can see them. You can only tell they are there with scratching, fur loss, and scabs on the neck, shoulders, head, and chin. Also a standard scraping for mites often comes back as a false negative. If you suspect mites its best just to treat them first.

Classic mite infestation (foster boys I took in, don't worry Revolution cleared them up)








Marty's scabby face (he was undernourished and scared, and had the worst of the mites)









Both of these boys were totally infested with lice but only the dirty PEW boy really showed them. On the black fella you could only see the shiny nits.


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## fallinstar (Nov 26, 2006)

i was in a petshop 2 day buyin toys and while waiting in the que i over hurd the staff tlkin about a woman had rang who had brought 2 rats and she had a problem so they called her and from what i could make out one of the rats had lots of small cuts on them, the staff sed she could bring the ill rat back and they would take it 2 the vets but if not then she could exchange it, then when she got off the phone she sed 2 another staff member ' wen she brings IT back we will take it out the back n look at it and just put some tea tree oil in the cuts then tell her its ok and the other person sed yeah the rat might have acne and tea tree oil gets rid ov my spots! omfg they are stupid! it sounds like mites! and they are gunna put tea tree oil on it. i sed excuse me tea tree oil isnt made for rats they sed excuse us and walked off!


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## jando426 (May 15, 2007)

*Tisk tisk tisk* kids these days.


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

Although tea tree oil might actually effectively work against the mites (it works against lice and such in humans when it's pure), the smell would make them woozy/sick no doubt, that stuff is STRONG.


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## ratvocate (May 15, 2007)

at the risk of sounding ignorant.. can "I" catch mites or lice from my rats if they get them? Or can my dog? I need to read more! Two of my girls are sitting on my shoulders playing with my hair right now.. eeeek.. I dont want to get lice!


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## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

rat louse is different than the louses that live on other animals. They only can live and thrive on rats so you're safe. They won't get on you because your temperature isn't high enough. Human lice are a completely different species. Mites may bite you but they can only live on rats so you are safe there as well.

You would know if you saw lice, they would be crawling around and they leave shiny silver nits attached to hair shafts. With mites, you notice a rougher than usual coat and scabs on the skin. It's pretty obvious actually, don't worry.


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## ratvocate (May 15, 2007)

thank you poppy seed! I had a flea issue years ago and its one I dont want to re-live. I am happy to know this info about lice and mites. I dont think my girls have any, they look fine. :O)


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Can you post pics? That way we can tell you more.


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