If you have a pet rat, you already know they can get fleas, lice, mites, ticks and skin conditions that can make them sick. It can be hard to tell what sort of parasite your pet rat has but if it’s mites, this can be easily remedied.
If your veterinarian has told you that your rat has mites, he or she will mostly likely apply a topical spray or ointment all over the rats body and allow it to dry in order to kill the offending mites.
Some mites can be seen by the naked eye while others can only be detected with a skin scraping done by a veterinarian. The most common type of rat mite is fur mites. You can usually see them with the naked eye and they do not infect humans. So if your rat has these mites there’s little chance you will have any problems with them after you get them off your rat.
Symptoms of Fur Mites
Patches of hair loss.
Rats scratching a lot or over cleaning themselves.
Seeing small bugs moving around in your rat’s fur.
How To Get Rid of Mites
Firstly it is extremely important to disinfect your pet’s cage every week. You might be able to keep the mite problem from ever becoming a real problem just by doing this.
Seeing a veterinarian regularly can help prevent getting mites or other parasites in the first place because they can tell you how to prevent them or what to do when you first see the signs of a parasite.
There are shelves of flea, tick, mite and lice treatment in most pet stores. If you already know what your pet rat has and are looking for a good treatment to get rid of the rat mites you will probably find it. Most over the counter cat and dog treatments are going to be too strong to use on your pet rat but you can check out the ingredients and see that most sprays for cats, dogs, and other small animals have the same ingredient just at different strength levels.
I used Ultra Care 8 in 1 Flea and Tick spray when my pet rats had a mite problem. It says it controls fleas and ticks on hamsters, gerbils, mice, rabbits, guinea pigs and mice. The active ingredient in this is Pyrethrins 0.06%
I went to the vet clinic right inside the Petsmart where I bought the spray and asked a veterinarian if it was safe to use on rats as well. She told me it was but to make sure to keep them out of the cage and play with them to try and keep them from licking too much of the spray treatment off of the fur before it has a chance to dry.
I used the spray and the next day when I looked at the mites on my pet rats. The mites were all dead. I took a fine tooth comb like the ones you get in a box of lice treatment and combed it through my pet rat’s fur. That got rid of the dead mites and combed away the eggs or nits as well. You may have to do this more than once because if even one egg or nit is left on your rat or in the cage, they will come back.
Where do Mites Come From?
There are several places that your pet rats can get mites from. They can already be on your rat when you adopt him from a shelter, pet store or friend.
Mites can also hide inside of the bedding sacks you buy. The best way I found to kill mites that might be in bedding is to put the whole unopened sack of bedding right in the freezer for 3 hours. Any mites or parasites will be killed in that time.
Mites can also be found in the packages of food you buy in pet stores. I once found 2 small white worms in a package of rat food I bought at a Petstore. I called the company and they said because of the amount of foods they have stored in their warehouses it occasionally does happen. The best thing to do to kill off any unwanted buggy friends in your rats food bags or boxes it to put the whole bag or box in the freezer as soon as you get home from buying it for about 3 hours.
That will kill off any parasites, worms or any other bugs that could be hiding in the food.
