File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
My rats have a little mite problem. I bathed them for the first time and it definitely wasn't a fun experience for any of them(including me!). I used a little flea and tick shampoo for dogs, cats, puppies & kittens and I read that if the Pyrenthrins were 0.15% and under it was ok to use on rats.

Eventually, I had to stop since they were getting so stressed. Fortunately now they are dry and back to their hopping self, but I'm still picking through their fur looking for mites. I am almost sure they got it from their aspen bedding, so right now I have them on carefresh. How many times do I have to bathe them for their mites? Until they are all gone? I scrubbed their cages out with some soap but what cleaning products are safe to use? Is there something else I can pick up at a store that would get rid of their mites faster?

pic not mine but looks like one of my rats.
>> Anonymous
If you still think they have mites, I'd say to bathe them at least once a day until the problem has stopped.

If their skin is getting dry, you can add olive oil to their skin or water bottle. ;D

Shiny coat AND added moisture.

Win/win situation.

Also, I love rats.
>> Anonymous
>>182066
Putting it on their skin I can understand since I used to have a hairless rat with dry skin, but I never heard of putting olive oil in their water bottles..

Everyone should love rats.
>> Anonymous
Soap won't do you any good getting rid of mites. The permethrin is the key.

Permethrin is largely safe for mammals. I would simply wash out their cage and any hard items they have (food/water bowls, hard toys, etc.) with that same wash.

Take their bedding and any soft toys and bake them in the oven at 220 F for about an hour. The heat will kill any bugs or eggs that might be present there.

A quick note: 220F is not hot enough to burn bedding or to melt most plastics. However, the temperature can spike above that when you first heat up your oven. So, preheat it first, then put in the bedding once it's up to temp. Just to be safe keep an eye on it just to make sure nothing gets damaged.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
     File :-(, x)
The four of you are retarded. Especially>>182066and>>182073. Washing them daily will make them sick, putting oil in their water will make them sick and fuck up the bottle, and burning their toys will create horrible fume and also destroy their toys. Seriously, what the fuck?

Your rats do not have mites. They have lice. There is a big difference. Lice appear as little red things (and silver flecks on their fur), while mites appear more like an infection or rash with a lot of scabs and are harder for domestic rats to catch. You cannot catch either of these from your rats, so don't worry about that.

Washing them with the flick and tea shampoo was a good idea, and is the proper/usual course of treatment. Give them weekly baths with puppy shampoo: Fill the tub with about two inches of water, put on your bathing suit, and sit down. Let the rats climb across your lap and legs, and use a cup to pour water gently on them. Scrub the shampoo in just like you would normally "scritch" them, as if there was nothing at all different. They may poop in the water because they're scared, but just shower really well after you get them washed and rinsed off. After the bath, cuddle them a ton and give them treats (I would suggest something they have never had, like hotdogs or something else really smelly but delicious).

Take them off of the carefresh. Carefresh is notorious for having lice! Most bedding can carry it, but the paper-pulp bedding is the worst. Wash all of their toys extremely well, wash their cage out with hot water and bleach (but do be certain to get all of the bleach residue out afterwards). The best way to be certain their substrate is not giving them parasites is to purchase only bedding that comes wrapped WITHOUT holes in the plastic, and to be extra certain, freeze it. Seriously, just get a pack of carefresh and shove it in your freezer for a week. In the mean time, shred some paper towels or newspaper and use that as bedding.

Pic: Nima, my runty boy
>> Anonymous
>>182080

Back off Bitter, you may be a rat keeper but you're far from the genius you act like.

Nowhere in my post (182073) did I suggest that anyone bathe rats. And nowhere did I suggest anything about creating "horrible fumes". Dry-heat sterilization as I suggested is NOT hot enough to melt or burn anything made of typical woods or plastics. Cellulose-based materials (wood, paper pulp) will not burn until the temperature reaches 451 degrees F Remember Bradbury? Yeah. If I recall correctly, I suggested a temperature of less than HALF that. Likewise commonly plastics that toys could be made from all have melting points well above 220F. Heck, most commercial plastic's Tg is above 220. We're not even at glass-transition here, let alone melting, and we're far away from "fume territory" here.

Freezing is only of marginal effectiveness against insects--how do you think they survive the winter? Or does God magically recreate them every year?

Bleach contains calcium or sodium hypochlorite, which is much more toxic to small animals than permethrin is. And it's a fairly poor insecticide. Just washing their cage is doing much more good than the bleach is. It's not a bad thing to use for sanitizing, but it's a lot more risky than keeping up the permethrin treatment is--and given the problem here is not bacteria but insect parasites, Bleach is a poor choice.

Methinks you need to do less bitching and perhaps crack a book to UNDERSTAND what you're talking about. Freshman chemistry and biology wouldn't be a bad start.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
>>182093
I don't act like a genius, except when I am correct. The information I posted comes from various rat websites (particularly http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary_skin/ectoparasites.php) and things that I've personally found to work (the bathing technique, in particular. Some people suggest just doing a dunk-and-scrub thing, which ends up shredding your hands and scaring the hell out of your rats).

The reason I was (and am) so against using heat to 'clean' the toys and whatnot is because it is more dangerous than just washing. I've put plenty of things in ovens that probably shouldn't go there, and lots of things create smoke or fumes that you wouldn't expect. It is almost impossible to know what chemicals have been in contact with cages and toys in the past, and while the actual item may not burn or melt, residue on it may. Freezing is highly recommended by responsible rat breeders, and I have never heard anyone suggest heat. I thought it was stupid too, but it seems to work.

I have kept rats for about six years now. I have had two outbreaks of lice, resulting from not following proper quarantine procedures. Doing the things that I mentioned in my previous post cleared up the problem in under two weeks both times.
>> Anonymous
>>182093
lol butthurt
>> Anonymous
>>182080

I hate to break it to you, but tiny little red creatures on rats are usually mites (a relative of our good friend, the spider), not lice! Often, though, you are correct, mites are too small or very difficult to see. Lice are typically white or brown, and they can also be difficult to see. The BEST way to tell if a rat has mites or lice is not to look for the "bugs," but to look for the presence of lice nits. If a rat had lice, he will have little flecks that looks like slat crystals interspersed in his fur. Those are the nits/eggs. You won't have this with just mites alone.

Personally, OP, I found that ivermectin worked magic on my rats' lice problems. A round for everyone in the cage and I never had another problem.

For more information, check out this article by Debbie Ducommum, who pretty much knows more about rats that any other person in the world:
http://ratfanclub.org/skin.html
>> Anonymous
>>182193
Yeah. They were little tiny red things and there was two or three scabs on each of my rats. I know what lice are and those looked nothing like lice.
Where can I get ivermectin? I'll look into it.

k.. If I can't get that. Wash them once a week, freeze their bedding(just in case, even though it might not kill everything)..
>> Anonymous
>>182080

Bitter, I use Carefresh Ultra (the white bedding), does that have a risk for lice too? I've never seen any and my pets are fine. And there are no holes in the package when I buy it. :O
>> Anonymous
>>182277

Also, if they are mites, try soaking a piece of bread (toast is good since it won't get too soft and possibly chokeable) in olive oil and feeding it to your rats. Besides adding needed moisture to their skin and scabs, the oil they eat will come through their fur and smother a lot of the mites as well.
>> Anonymous
>>182285
>>182277

But only give them bread soaked in olive oil once a week, probably after you bathe them would be a good idea.
>> Anonymous
Definitely go with carefresh, but keep it in the freezer for a day or two before you use it. It will kill any organism hiding in there. Order some ivermectin (like that other dude said) online and add it to the water. Keep the water bottle covered and away from sunlight (I keep mine in a black dress sock with a hole cut in the toe when I do this). Keep them on it for a week or two, then they can come off it. Always freeze your bedding and like others have suggested always wash anything that you are going to put in the cage.
>> Anonymous
>>182277

I got my ivermectin from my veterinarian... but then again, I worked there, so it was dirt cheap. You can probably find it at a local feed store or order it online, as last time I checked it was not prescription only.