One of my pet rats, i have two, has developed numerous scab like bumps along his tail. My other rat to has started to develoop such bums. What are they, if it is something bad then how do i get it fixed?
Answers:
Move the hair back in the opposite direction of the hair growth. Do you see any tiny reddish-brown specks that move? These are Lice. Mites you can only see under a microscope, but you see their irritating damage in the way of scabs and sores.
Fur mites like to hang around the shoulders and back of rats. Lice like to congregate around the back end of the rat. Both can burrow under the scales of the tail. The irritation and itch that they set up causes the scabs and sores because the rat is scratching so much as to cause self-mutilation. Because the two rats have been living together one got them first and passed them onto his buddy. Both have to be treated.
Could also be tropical rat mites
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=tr...
More on rat mites
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=ra...
Just last night I answered a very similar question for someone else with loads of information to help you out. You have many options for treating your rats, from simple to expensive, from conventional to holistic.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...
E-mail me, see my profile, for free advice on dealing with ectoparasites
http://www.amonline.net.au/insects/featu...
Whatever you choose to do, treatment has to start ASAP.
As an expert on pet rats I have never heard of "gardner's tail", please explain further, need a source. Intreged, I did my own search and asked on my forums and no one has ever heard of it. Can't find an internet source. I'm thinking this is a slang for another condition that I am familiar with.
Rats do not get wet tail. Wet tail is an illness of hamsters, not rats.
Fleas are something that rats don't get, unless you have Yersinia Pestis in your home, the plague flea. Fleas are species specific. If you see a cat or dog flea on a rat it doesn't mean the flea is sucking the rat's blood. It just means that your cats and/or dogs are bringing fleas into the house and infesting your home.
Be careful with Revolution. Some rats are sensative to this drug and it's made some rats sick.
spazrats
"my life has gone to the rats"
Take them to the Vet!
It is a condition known as gardners tail, you should probally get it checked, but i don't think it is fatal.
Is it possible that they are biting each other? If so, try separating them to see if it goes away. My rats did it once and it was only a few days before I saw improvements. If that's not it you may want to find a vet near you that knows how to take care of rats. Be sure that they know what they are talking about. The best way to tell if a vet is qualified to take care of a rat ask them if they would recommend not feeding the rat for 24 hours before surgery. Rats don't vomit so if they say yes you should try a different vet. Your rats my just have a little infection and just need a shot or special medicine to be added to their food.
take them to a vet it sounds like wet tail
Sounds like mites to me.
Treat for fur mites. The larvae of the fur mite are small enough that they can hide in the hair follicles where they are protected against topical pesticides. Theoretically, if you apply a mite spray once a week for long enough, it should be able to eventually kill all the mites, but in practice this doesn鈥檛 seem to work very well. Plus rats hate the spray!
You must treat all of your rats, since if one rat has fur mites they probably all do, even if they don鈥檛 all have scabs.
The treatments currently recommended for fur mites is Revolution (selamectin) which you can buy from your vet (with a prescription) or from a Canadian online pharmacy at www.canadavet.com. They ship to the U.S. In the UK or Australia you can order it from www.pets-megastore.com.au or 1-866-270-2303.
Revolution is a spot-on product, a liquid that is applied to the skin on the shoulders. After application, you need to distract your rats so they don鈥檛 scratch off and eat the liquid, or lick it off of each other. The liquid will dry in about 5 minutes. Only one dose is needed.
Revolution comes in tiny tubes of different sizes for different size cats or dogs. Packages of Revolution come with either 3 or 6 tubes of liquid. (If your vet treats a lot of small animals, he or she might be willing to split a package and sell individual tubes.)
Each tube costs about the same amount no matter how much Revolution it contains, so you want to figure out which tube will treat all your rats. To figure out what package to buy you will need to weigh each of your rats, total the number of pounds and multiply that by the dose (6 mg/lb). That will tell you the total number of milligrams of Revolution needed to dose all your rats.
it could be mites try to put some olive oil on tail but separate your rats first
When my rat had scabs it was because of it having fleas. There terrible and cost alot to get rid of at the vets, but its ll worth it when your baby is okay!!
It sounds like they have mites. When mites bit the little droplets of blood start to harden and create scabs. You can go to PetsMart and by mite shampoo. If it's for dog or cat that's ok, you can still use it for you rat. Bathe their entire body, be carefull around the face. Dry them off real good and put them back in their newly clean cage. Also depending on what kind of bedding you use it could have something to do with the mites. Bedding like CareFresh is not good if your rats have mites. They best kind of bedding is called KayKob. It work great and controlls the smell more then CareFresh and pine shaving or woodships. Good Luck
well i Had a mouse at one time that Had scab like things. we took it to the vet and they seed that it was mites. (i have 2 rats). just get mite spray.
it could be mites. go to the vet and get the meds for them and then change the bedding that you are using. the bag that you have may have them in it.
go to the vet,duh
this is a condition called gardener's tail. it isn't that serious but you should probably take them to a vet.
I would take your little rat to the vet. THe vet will see it and will now whats best to treat the bumps on his tail. Good luck!
They probably have mites... treatable with Ivermectin.
(orally- both get one dose a week for 3 weeks)
Call your vet, some will just sell the meds to you without having to do an office visit.
You'll need to disinfect their toys, bedding, cage, etc several times a week during all this, so I recommend you keep them on paper towels instead of bedding so you can change it daily. (You can purchase a mite spray from pet stores that you can spray in the corners of the cage, but if you keep it all clean, you don't have to) When it comes to toys, only put back the bare minimum while you're treating them and throw out anything you can't disinfect.
They are either flees or fighting scabs, if they are flees you should use rat shampoo. if its biting scabs you should separate them for a little bit.
Vet!! duh
Could be a variety of things and only your vet can know for sure. Make an appointment today and he/she will be able to tell you what it is and what to do. He'll probably prescribe some medication for them.
Good Luck!
I breed and sell rats for pets. You don't state the sex of the rats or how long you've had them.
If the rats are males and you've had them awhile with no problems until just recently, then then territory dispute is probably the issue. Males tend to bite each other on the fattest part of the tail nearest the body, on the upper side. The bites are severe and usually get infected. We use Neosporin or Bacitracin. If this is the problem, the rats will have to live in separate cages.
If the rats have mites, there are several types. One type is only visible under the microscope, but all the others can be seen crawling on the rat or the cage. Be careful using pesticides because since rats are small animals, they are easily subject to tumors. Several kinds of mites can be taken care of with olive oil. Just apply it liberally to the body and tail.
Otherwise, use common sense and pay a vet as I do.
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