Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Now my two new rats have 'em!!!! Geez they are in the cage they were in when I got them....and now more parasites!!! Luckily it isn't anywhere near as big as the number of bugs I saw on Clubber...and these girls have been around for awhile...so they've probably been dealing with them longer and will be able to get treatment sooner.

Are you using ANYTHING from the old rat? same bag of bedding maybe> Sometimes mites are spread that way. Freezing it kills them off.

Or any cage accessories from the other one that are cloth or wood?

Nope not a single thing from Clubber's cage. Not even the same food. Everything I had for Clubber was brought home(it'd be tough to sneak two cages out of a dorm lol). The cage is even in a different part of the room..

My room, actually, is VERY cold right now. Just out of curiousity would the cold kill the lice(if any?).

>>My room, actually, is VERY cold right now. Just out of curiousity would the cold kill the lice(if any?).

No the cooler air will make lice proliferate. In farm animals lice thrives in cooler air and are seen more in fall months than any other time of year.
Freezing them would kill them off but coolness won't.
If there are lice again, you'll have to get the right medication to kill them off for good.
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PHRatz

I dust with Seven 5 everytime I clean. I just sprinkle some in the bedding. I bred rats in MD for 12 years and ALWAYS had problems with fleas and lice. As long as I dust everytime I clean they are fine. I have been breeding rats in NV for 4 years so I stopped treating them with the dust at first to see if it was the region. And they came right back so I am convinced that they come from the bedding.

Where can I get Seven 5?

Do you think they could be coming from carefresh bedding?

You have to be very careful with powders. I'm not saying it didn't work for other rats but if you use too much you can kill the rats. Also powders can bring on respiratory illnesses because they are so dusty.

Until you can get to a vet you could bathe them in a mild kitten or puppy flea shampoo. Do not use a flea AND tick shampoo, flea only.
If they have them you've got to do something to get rid of them.

It's possible that parasites can come from bedding if that bedding was contaminated at the store, the warehouse, during shipping or whatever.
It could be that this is an epidemic for rats in your area.. no telling how they got them.
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PHRatz

You can get it at home depot. Its about $6 for a 1.5 pound can. I just dust the bedding and not the rats when I change the cages. I will dust just the backs of the rats if I see anything on them but that is not often at all. I use aspen bedding.