Goosemoose Pet Portal

 Lately I've noticed that one of my girls has been itching and upon inspection I found a few little tiny red bugs. Are they mites? If so how do I get rid of them?
Can people get them?

It was always my understanding mites weren't visible to the eye, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have them or lice.  Mites and things like that won't usually get on people, but they will get in your carpet, clothes, etc, and on your other pets.  Better to just hurry up and treat everyone so you don't have to worry about them passing it around and being uncomfortable more then they need to be.

You'll need one or the other of these medications: Ivermectin or Revolution. There's a great article about treating for lice/mites here: ectoparasites (http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary_skin/ectoparasites.php). If you can see them, they're probably lice. Mites are too small to see without a big magnifying glass or microscope.

You'll also need to throw out the batch of bedding/litter you have and get a new batch. That's generally where lice come from. Unfortunately, freezing won't kill lice eggs. The only way to kill lice eggs in your bedding is to store it through at least one life cycle of lice, which I think is about 60 days. Many folks who've had bad luck with ectoparasites have opted to use fleece for bedding, changing and washing it every couple of days. Fleece doesn't have bugs. You'll also need to scrub your cage very thoroughly to get rid of any bugs that might be hanging out on it or on the bars.

Ectoparasites are a major hassle to deal with, but you need to treat every rat for them. The bugs can cause some severe health problems (in addition to the terrible itching) if left untreated.

I appreciate the help guys.  :wave2: