Why does my rat have these open sores on his neck and face?

Question

We took him to two different vets and they thought it was mites but both different treatments have not worked at all. We change the bedding every other day. We play with them (we have two male rats) every day. They will be one year old in October. They started fighting and drawing blood with each other so we put them in separate cages. But now one of them has those mysterious sores all over him.

Any ideas/advice?

Answer 1

It was probably originally mites, they caused your rats to scratch, but once the sores are open the rats aren't smart enough to not pick them and leave them alone to heal. Also if you are using the same shavings as before they are probably infested with mites and they keep coming back. Never get wood shavings from any where but a pet store but even then they can be infested with mites I use Carefresh its recycled paper shavings that mites can't live in like they can live in wood shavings. Get your vet to pluck some hairs and put it under the mircroscope to be sure there are actually mites, most likely where is. It is extremely hard to get rid of mites you need to go back to several times before they go away. What you want to get your vet to do is treat your rats once a week for at least 3 weeks, my vet does in by an injection, simple and effective. It is not uncommon to have to repeat this even more, just get rid of the shavings get carefesh, go to the vet and get several treatments. and that is all you can do

Answer 2

Do you ever see him scratch?  Mites are my first thought, because they are very itchy and cause them to scratch until they bleed, especially at the center of their back where the hind leg reaches.  However, wounds on a rodent's face typically signal barbering (biting from another) or rubbing against cage wires.

Mites are still the most likely problem, and they can be difficult to treat because they are in the cage and bedding and if you are only treating the rat, he is probably getting re-infested.  In addition to repeating the treatment (usually 2-3 injections of ivomec, 2-3 weeks apart), you need to strip the cage and environment and thoroughly clean them with hot water and soap.  Throw out any nest material or hammocks.

If you are using wood shavings, especially aspen, they can carry mites so I would stop and switch to paper-based bedding, like Carefresh.

Answer 3

i had the same problem (i think)

i just put pawpaw ointment on her and they went away

but they scared her and now she is bald lol

Answer 4

Well, sores on the face are usually self-inflicted. It is usually caused by excessive itching.

Itching can be caused by parasites (mites, lice, or fleas), but if you have put him on a treatment for that, then it should have gone away after a week or so. What kind of medications did you use? Have you noticed any tiny bugs crawling on him? Look at his skin really close in good light.

It can also be caused by a skin fungus infection. But you will usually see that spread to other parts of the body and the other animals, even yourself.

Itching on males especially can be caused by a diet that is too high in protein. What are you feeding him?

Wounds on the face CAN be inflicted by a cage mate, but obviously that's not the case if he has developed new wounds since you separated them.

He could also have an allergy, but this is rare.

Answer 5

Sounds like parasites. Did you clean the cages and surroundings properly while treating them? What was the treatment and were the vets you saw small animal vets?

Read more on rat ecto-parasites and dealing with them: http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary...

Safe treatments you can get from the vet and how to dose rats with them:

http://ratguide.com/meds/antiinfectives/...

http://ratguide.com/meds/antiinfectives/...

Also, please don't keep your rats separate without exhausting all options first. If they were becoming overly hormonal and aggressive, get one or both neutered (at least the aggressor) and reintroduce them. This usually solves the problem.

More on fixing rats: http://www.petinfopackets.com/rats/rathe...

Edit: It's true that aspen can carry mites, but actually, so can Carefresh. This is why your best bet is to freeze either bedding for 24-48 hours before using it. And I'm sure you know never to use pine or cedar bedding regardless.