[Violet]

My female rat has lost most of the hair around her nose and eyes, this happened quite awhile ago but I assumed it was barbering from her cage mates and she tends to enjoy sticking her face through the bars and rubbing it. The skin on her face has recently become quite red but she doesn't seem to be bothered by it at all.
Last night I noticed she also has a small spot of hair missing on her shoulder, the skin looks fine but there is a small small small bump (it looks almost like a whitehead that a human would get).
Im ruling out mites or parasites because her cage mates are fine and have all their hair and my hairless rat has normal healthy looking skin.
What else could it be?

 

[fallinstar]

my roobs had mites but all the other rats were fine, other than that i have no idea what it could be sorry.

 

[twitch]

maybe she's sensitive to protein? but i'll echo fallinstar. i've had some rats show mite problems while the others looked completely fine. so it still could be mites. cut back her protein intake and if that doesn't clear it up take her to the vet for some ivermectin for everyone. if you have a good relationship you may just be able to request enough ivermectin for your horde wihout having to take her in for a scrapping that can come back a false negative anyway.

 

[Violet]

Thanks for the input everyone keep it coming!
How do rats get mites? and does anybody have any pictures of rats with mites so that I can compare?

 

[twitch]

it comes in the litter. more common in wood type litters. the little bugs get in while its sitting in the factory. its really just luck of that draw that you get them. i don't hav eany pictures but rats with mites normally get bit on the shoulders and around the face the most. they'll lose hair there and have little red bite marks. they'll also itch a lot. thankfully ivermectin given orally is VERY effective and safe to sue even if the rat doesn't have the mites. what i do if i suspect mites is just get the vet to give me the medication without testing. the tests can come back as a false negative 50% of the time anyway. to dose i would take the weight of my rat and call the vet for her to tell me the right ammount to give (i don't know the math behind it) and because i have different rats at different weights. the vial i got cost me $11 CDN and can dose 4-5 rats maybe more (i on;y had to use it on one).

 

[Violet]

Thanks guys!

I made an appoinment with the vet for tomorrow evening to have all three of my girls looked at. I would do it myself but where its my first time dealing with a skin issue I feel safer taking them in. I'll let you all know what happens tomorrow!

 

[DonnaK]

Thanks guys!

I made an appoinment with the vet for tomorrow evening to have all three of my girls looked at. I would do it myself but where its my first time dealing with a skin issue I feel safer taking them in. I'll let you all know what happens tomorrow!

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

 

[Violet]

She seems to be really tired now, she is napping alot more and not moving as fast as she used to...

 

[fallinstar]

let us no how the vet appointment goes

 

[IceLore]

Violet - I hope everything goes well at the vets and you get things sorted out! Best of luck to your girl and the rest of your colony. Please let us know how it turns out?

 

[Violet]

Well my girls and I are back from the vet. All three girls were treated with Revolution to get rid of any bugs and the vet gave me a powder to sprinkle on them once a week to help with any bugs, Isabelle (the one in the pictures) also got some enrofloxacin because from all her itching she developed some bacterial infection.
The vet said that she has some lice and then from itching developed the bacterial infection on her skin.
So right now Im just cleaning everything and then I'll get them settled in for the night.
I'll keep you updated!

 

[DonnaK]

Glad you got it all sorted. And yes, do keep us posted

 

[fallinstar]

glad u got it sorted its always better to be safe than sorry keep us updates, your luck my boys were given a shampoo lol u try bathing rats that hate water 3 times a week my hands were full of cuts!!