# How to get rid of mites?



## mrowfs (Sep 20, 2014)

SOOO I just found out that my girls have mites. We're going tomorrow to get Ivermectin for them, but I'm wondering what else I can do in the meantime and once we treat them to get rid of the mites and keep them away.

And how to they get mites? Where do they come from?


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

I would use Revolution instead of ivermectin. Much safer and will kill larvae, eggs, and adults mites. With ivermectin you will kill only adult mites, plus it is very toxic compared to Revolution. You can get Revolution from your vet or buy it online without a prescription from Canada or Australia.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

The mites could come from their litter or even food if there are any openings in the bag when you bought them. They can come from you if you held a rat at a pet store or someone else with rats came to your house...I always forgot if mites can come from dogs and cats too, I'm sure someone here can shed some light on that. Can the mites that affect other pets like cat, dog, rabbit...infect the rats? I know that you personally have nothing to worry about- rat mites won't do a thing to you.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I've had 'rat mites' actually kill mice and once my daughter brought home mites from a traveling petting zoo after she held some bunnies and guinea pigs... I don't know if mites can reproduce on larger animals but they can apparently travel on them... and that includes humans. 

But I second the idea of Revolution over ivermectin. I'm pretty old and we've used several methods to deal with mites.. There are a few that work and some that don't... Cedar chips worked pretty well in smaller enclosures like fish tanks... but by today's standards most people don't keep rats on cedar or in fish tanks... some folks used dolomite powder and if properly dosed most rats didn't die or get nerve damage from ivermectin...(some did)... but revolution is just so much safer and better... I mean like 1000% better and 100 times safer. And it only costs about $19.00 for a tube that will treat about 10-15 rats... It's about as cheap as it safely gets.

I might add that you really don't need a vet to diagnose your rats with mites, Revolution can be given as a preventative measure so I don't see why your rats would need a visit. But in the US you do need a prescription. Most vets have in on hand for cats and dogs... I get my revolution from a vet that doesn't treat rats, which is perfect as I don't pay for a visit to a vet that won't see my rats. I just buy the revolution from his office.


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## mrowfs (Sep 20, 2014)

How would I dose the revolution for my rats? I have little syringes from awhile ago, but how much do they get? Do I just put it on their backs?

What will happen if they lick it off?


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

It is in pipettes, easy to just squeeze a drop out. No need to use a syringe. Now I haven't done it personally, I just ordered it a few days ago from Canada. I got the cat version (cat, kitten, and puppy have all the same concentration). I don't recommend using the dog Revolution unless your rats are over 1 lb because it is twice as concentrated than the other ones; however many people have used it with no problem.. But yea just 1 drop between the shoulder blades. Distract you rat with food for a few minutes so it goes in. Even if your rat were to lick some of it, it is super safe- so nothing bad would happen I just like to be very cautious.


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## Love My Rats (Sep 3, 2015)

I have 4 rats on Revolution right now , Breezy has mites so they all are on the medication , I just spent 79.00 at the vet today just to pic up the medicine with no vet visit , they know me well it's the only vet I go see , geez the stuff is not cheap that's for sure but I have a second dose to give in 2 weeks


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I usually dose only once, but sometimes twice if the mites aren't gone in about a week and a half and let the rats free range to suck up the mites around the house while they are toxic to mites. I do use a syringe and I apply what amounts to a decent size drop or two onto the skin, pretty much ignoring what the fur soaks up... So this is kind of an eyeball thing... Yes, I know the first time you are going to measure thrice and prepare for every eventuality to get it just right, but then your rat will squirm and it was all for naught.... Trust me, unless you have a rat-vice your rat will move and some of your revolution will get soaked up by the fur.

I looked it up some time ago... I don't recall where I found it on line but Revolution becomes hazardous to rats at doses of something like 100 or 1000 times what is required to kill mites..... But if I'm getting senile or forgetful... for sure 10X is perfectly safe.... I've dosed mice the same amount as rats, and they were fine and mice as a whole are lots smaller than rats.

It's actually the very low toxicity of Revolution that makes it the best treatment. With ivermectin, if you overdose you can cause permanent nerve damage or even kill your rat. You only have a small margin for error. And yes, if you really screw up in an insane way with Revolution, you can wash it off your rats, if you act quickly. Once your rat eats the rice size pellet of ivermectin.... you got it right, or you didn't give enough or really bad things will happen.... and there's no going back.

I don't like to comment on prices as we all live in different areas, but last time I bought revolution it was under $20.00 US per tube here... Still, it works and it's worth what it costs.

Best luck


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

If you can give me weights on your rats you want to treat with Revolution, I can give you accurate doses based on 6-10 mg/kg. I would also need to know which Revo you have (puppy/kitten/cat are all 60 mg/ml, and Dog is 120 mg/ml).

I usually decant a tube into a small glass bottle and use a 1 ml medicating syringe to suck up the appropriate amount. I then part the fur on the top of the head by the ear and put the dose there on the skin. It absorbs through the skin into the bloodstream very quickly and stays effective for 30 days which is longer than the buggy life cycle.

Mites and lice can be gotten from another infested rat, from infested bedding (if you use paper or wood-based beddings its advisable to freeze them for 48 hours before use to kill off stowaways).


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## mrowfs (Sep 20, 2014)

I don't have any sort of scale to weigh them, where can I get one other than ordering online? The only thing close to me a small dollar general, and I doubt that they'd have a scale to weigh my rats on.
I found a local vet that will sell it to me without having to have an office visit, it's abouot $20 per dose of the puppy/kitten revo.

I have one full grown chubby female, and two females around 2 months old. One of the babies is a double rex and losing fur around her neck right now.
Sorry about the weird pics, but these are the best ones that show their sizes.




















We'll probably get the revolution today or tomorrow, so how should I go about giving it to them once I get it? I know, one drop between the shoulder blades and let it absorb. Should I bath them with baby shampoo before? Or wait a few hours and do it after? Will I need to clean out their cages and scrub everything down or should the Revo kill everything? 
And how long should I wait before trying again if the mites aren't gone?


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## mrowfs (Sep 20, 2014)

I also use care fresh bedding for their litter, they have fleece lining their cage. So I'm assuming it's either from that or from Aster(my blue girl) since that seemed to be when I noticed them itching more. 
Is there a different type of bedding I can use for their litter that is less likely to have mites? The bags are pretty big, so I can't fit them in my freezer without taking everything else out..


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

You don't need to scrub your cage, the Revolution will kill everything. Give it asap, so they get better quickly. No bath before or after necessary or recommended. Not sure how long to wait to give another dose in case it didn't work- frankly I never read a post about Revolution not working. Have you any idea where they got the mites from? Do you have other pets?


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Oh sorry, didn't see your comment about carefresh. You could put it in smaller bag (large ziplock maybe) and freeze it. You don't have to freeze it all at once if you can't fit it all- just put the bag away from your rats. 48 hours in the freezer should be enough.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

If Aster was a new girl you brought to your house, that's most likely it.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Pretty much any bedding you use is safe unless the bag was opened and the contents came in contact with animals carrying mites.... 

Mites coming from bedding may not be a myth, but it's outrageously unlikely. Both paper and wood bedding is kiln dried before packing, then it's sealed in plastic and then it lays around for months or even years before it's sold and used. Mites are drawn to animals as hosts... they don't and in fact can't live in bedding with nothing to eat... 

So although anything is possible... and maybe somewhere wild rats got into some bedding somewhere along the way... and the bedding contained mites... it's a one in a million occurrence. 

Most likely if you have mites, you brought in a new rat or other small animal, we always get mites with new rats... And my daughter brought mites home from a petting zoo event at her school.... and sometimes you might handle or pet someone else's animal... or handle something in a pet shop... Mites are small and you can't see them, they are easy to carry and spread, but to bake or deep freeze all of your bedding is a lot of work for just about no real benefit. And by the way.... by freezing... the correct term is deep freezing, as in a deep freezer not a normal fridge. A friend who managed a store that carried bird seed told me that deep freezing will also kill seed moths. I can attest to the fact that after a year in our normal freezer the moth larvae and/or eggs were still very much alive... I'm thinking the same would be true of mites.... Baking at over 250 degrees for about half an hour should kill about anything though, if you want to be super over careful.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

You had moth larvae and eggs in your freezer for a year! What were you trying to do?


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Our parrot passed away over a year ago and I found a bag of parrot food in the freezer recently.... Parrot food? - Rat food?, same difference in a pinch.... and now the house is full of moths again.... 

I love wool clothes & I hate moths!


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Rat Daddy said:


> Our parrot passed away over a year ago and I found a bag of parrot food in the freezer recently.... Parrot food? - Rat food?, same difference in a pinch.... and now the house is full of moths again.... I love wool clothes & I hate moths!


No problem. All you need is a few hundreds huge spiders, a few dozen frogs and voila no more moths in a few weeks. But seriously how are you going to get rid of the moths?


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Actually we chase the moths around with an electric tennis racket now. We finally went high tech. We had the parrot for over 20 years and moths off and on over the years... Thought we were finally rid of them, but not yet. Misty hides food all over the house and the moths seem to eat more than seeds and wool....

I've lost a couple of really nice suits, a scarf and an over coat to the miserable flying pests.... For now... it's fun to watch them explode on the electric racket.... but would rather not have them at all....

Some years ago a friend who bred tarantulas suggested the spider idea..... Didn't happen!

And how would I get rid of the spiders and frogs? Bats and snakes perhaps?


On the other hand, bats might work for the moths and I can skip the spiders, frogs and snakes and get a flying rodent, which could be fun... I've had a bat loose in the house once, They're really almost cute when they are sleeping (and my x girlfriend actually wanted to keep it as a pet... she also had pet toads) but likely bats need more moths than we have to survive... maybe if I let in more flying bugs to feed the bats... replace the screens with bars... there are lots of mosquitoes around and.... NO... wife will never go along with bats.... 

But I'm open for more reasonable suggestions!


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Rat Daddy said:


> Actually we chase the moths around with an electric tennis racket now. We finally went high tech. We had the parrot for over 20 years and moths off and on over the years... Thought we were finally rid of them, but not yet. Misty hides food all over the house and the moths seem to eat more than seeds and wool....I've lost a couple of really nice suits, a scarf and an over coat to the miserable flying pests.... For now... it's fun to watch them explode on the electric racket.... but would rather not have them at all....Some years ago a friend who bred tarantulas suggested the spider idea..... Didn't happen!And how would I get rid of the spiders and frogs? Bats and snakes perhaps?On the other hand, bats might work for the moths and I can skip the spiders, frogs and snakes and get a flying rodent, which could be fun... I've had a bat loose in the house once, They're really almost cute when they are sleeping (and my x girlfriend actually wanted to keep it as a pet... she also had pet toads) but likely bats need more moths than we have to survive... maybe if I let in more flying bugs to feed the bats... replace the screens with bars... there are lots of mosquitoes around and.... NO... wife will never go along with bats.... But I'm open for more reasonable suggestions!


Umm I think the electric tennis racquet is the most reasonable option, lol.


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