My pet rat has strange sores on his ears?

Question

The pet shop said that he had mites in the past and had been treated. I presumed that the strange growths were scars but after finding this site with a picture that exactly matched my rat,

http://www.xs4all.nl/~tirion/Medical.html


i have realised that he has something called sarcoptic mites. Does anybody know anything about these? I'm taking him to the vet tomorrow, what sort of treatment will he get?
The page i read says that the mites can pass to himans which worried me too.

Answer 1

That's exactly the website I was going to send you to.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~tirion/Medical.html
Rat-keepers are very familiar with this case. Since the condition is so rare this is the best case study to follow. This condition is itchy but not painful for the rat. It's the only rat mite that affect humans.

Sarcoptic mange mites in rats:
http://www.rathealth.co.uk/articles/mangemites.html

Ivermectin treatment works just as well to get rid of these mites as it is to get rid of other mites in rats. Do not put any ointments on the rat's ears, re antibacterial ointment. The rat will groom it's ears and consume both the ointment and the mite debris, neither are good to consume. The rat will show some instant relief after the first Ivermectin dose. Two (maybe three or four) more doses are needed to complete the treament.

Treating rats with Ivermectin:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=Treating+rats+with+Ivermectine&ei=UTF-8&fr=ks-ans&ico-yahoo-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAjHzut8DgXrXzrCJCtOShLEazKIX%2FSIG%3D11itum5ju%2FEXP%3D1187907306%2F*-http%253A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch&ico-wikipedia-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAiXvwuERODEeHpG5pRVUxrQazKIX%2FSIG%3D121lbidsp%2FEXP%3D1187907306%2F*-http%253A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSpecial%253aSearch&p=Treating+rats+with+Ivermectine
Or you may e-mail me at [e-mail] and I will guide you through the dosing instructions.

The biggest problem here is that the rats left back there in that pet store also have these mites and the pet store may not have given them the proper treatment? Are you able to pass my info onto them?

spazrats
"my life has gone to the rats"

Answer 2

you can go to the petshop and get beaphor spot on which will cure this
it comes in four tubes for about £4 and you just put the whole contents of 1 tube on the back of their neck

one tube lasts the whole four week cycle of the mites so will kill adults and emergants equally

MAKE SURE ITS THE ONE FOR RATS

please read this article with a quote from beaphor themselves, take note of the last two points

http://fancy-rats.co.uk/community/viewtopic.php?t=77424&highlight=mange+mites

from

http://www.dr-dan.com/sarcopt.htm

Can people get Sarcoptic Mange?
Yes! Ever hear of the "Seven Year Itch"? That's another term for Sarcoptic Mange in humans. Like pets, humans have a particular variety of mites that can cause advanced " Sarcoptic mange". This is totally separate variety from the ones that cause "mange" in dogs and cats; however, if the variety of mange mite that affects dogs and cats gets on a human it can cause a nasty red welt just like a mosquito bite. Several of these bites can be rather troublesome. Since these varieties are not well adapted to humans, they do not produce the extensive tunnels and cause the advanced lesions and scabs over the skin surface. They just burrow in a short distance and die. This causes inflammation and the resulting welt.

so yes whilst the mite may drop onto us it cannot LIVE on us, each species has its own zoonic type so dog scabia will not infect cats, cats scabia not rats etc etc

lastly a sudden flare of mites can indicate an underlying condition that is making the rat an easy target, as you going to the vet anyway get him to give your rat a thorough once over just to make sure

Answer 3

Without hearing the sound it's hard to know. Rats squeak for many reasons. Some rats will squeak when you touch them while they are eating something they're enjoying -- basically telling you to let them eat. If the rat is squeaking without being touched, it's possible he might be having some sort of problem, and you should carefully observe him to make sure he's not choking on his food. If he squeaks a lot for no apparent reason, you might want a vet to check him out. Make sure you shop around for a vet who has experience with rats.

Answer 4

Anti bacterial ear cream 3 days or more
if the vet thinks the rat is in pain then he might get given some kind of anti pain treatment this might be an injection or something but for a rat i doubt it.



Watch out It can infect humans as well!!!

Answer 5

don't know about this type of mite but getting vet to look is a great start you mite get a spray or a bathing solution but be care full not to get in eyes and inner ear but more likely will be drops that go on nape of neck like they advertise on dogs on telly

Answer 6

i duno wot cud b rong but u can take it 2 the vets 2 find out x

Answer 7

I wish you hadn't told me that just before I am going to eat supper. That is really more rodent and infestation info than I need before a meal. And I sure won't look at that picture. Right now I know more about that than I ever wanted to.