Mites are almost gone

[Jay_Bunny]

I had a pretty bad mite infestation a while ago. Enough of one that I CO2ed my entire rat colony (about 10 or more rats). I kept one because my husband had named her. She's not handled at all and freaks out if you go anywhere near her. She will never be bred, so that leaves us with no rats for breeding.

The mites are almost gone. It has gone from me getting bitten every day, in several places, to never getting bitten and I've only seen one mite in several weeks. The one mite lets me know they are still there, but I no longer see them cruising along the rim of the tanks or crawling all over the water bottles. I treated the one rat with flea spray but other than that she has not been treated with anything else. I did get a tube of ivermectin meant for horses and was told to give her some in the amount the equivalent of a grain of rice.

I'm pretty certain these are rat mites as they only showed up when I got a new rat from a pet store and my mice seem unaffected. I check their cages and them on a daily basis for signs of mites, but so far, nothing.

I have several snakes that eat small rats. I'd like to breed my own but I'm afraid of having the mites take over again. I would be starting over with new, healthy stock, but I'm still afraid of the mites. We might be moving soon to a new apartment with hardwood floors. I plan on starting over with brand new tubs and brand new animals, but some of my supplies will have to come with me, including two mouse tubs that were exposed to the mites and a small 2-tub rat rack that was also exposed to the mites (and where the rat that introduced the mites first lived.)

The last mite I saw was only a few days ago. What steps can I take to ensure I have no more mites. Bombing the room is not an option as I also house several other animals in there that would be hard to move. If I treat the one rat with ivermectin and wash/bleach all of the tanks, tubs, and water bottles, would it be safe to start over with new stock or should I throw everything away and start over with brand new tubs (including throwing out the 2-tub rack)?

[fatty]

spray the racks with head lice spray and the room they will be gone in no time you can even spray the bedding the one rat is in

[Jay_Bunny]

Thank you. Will spraying the carpet and all of the cages help as well? Things are moving forward with getting our new place. We will basically be moving into my sister-in-laws apartment. They just bought a house and if they close on the house, then my husband and I are going to try and take over their lease. She is getting us the application this week, so I've got my fingers crossed that we can get this place. Hardwood floors are so much easier if you have rodents and snakes.

I was thinking of taking all my cages, tubs and racks I plan to take with me and wash them as well as I can with hot soapy water, rinse them really well, spray them with a bleach solution, rinse really well again, then spray with the head lice spray.

Is there anything that can be applied to new rats coming in as a form of mite-preventative that won't harm any babies? I've heard treating with ivermectin (an oral dose) will kill any babies the mother happens to be nursing. How can I avoid this but still make sure they don't get mites?

[snakesRkewl]

The head lice spray works great for ridding yourself of rodent mites,
or at least it did for me when I had an infestation a couple of years ago.
I sprayed the carpets and the shelves and all around the rat area, lightly but everywhere I thought a mite could be, lol.
I also diluted head lice shampoo and gave the rats I wanted to save flea baths.
I lost a number of large breeders before I figured out what was up but was able to save enough to continue on without losing my genetics.

I'm not sure about ivermectin, I think I wouldn't feed the babies to my snakes, but they do live through treating the momma rat, or at least my partners rats did when he treated with that.

The only way I know of to prevent re-infestations is to do preventative treatments every 2 months or so, whether it's healthy or not I'm not sure, I haven't had a re-occurrence since I got rid of it long ago.

Bringing in new rats is tough because of quarantine issues, it's always a gamble if you don't quarantine before adding new stock.
I make all of my own breeders and only take in rats from 2 people that I trade with and I still quarantine for long enough to determine that the rat doesn't have any respiratory issues.

[Rhasputin]

Use Iver-on as a preventitive once every few weeks, and the mites shouldn't be able to take over ever again.

[Jay_Bunny]

What is Iver-on?

I only have one rat and she will be kept only as a pet. Depending on how we arrange the new place, I can always keep her away from any new stock, as we are thinking about getting her a cage and setting her up like a pet. (even though she won't let anyone touch her.)

So if I could treat the area I have, get rid of the mites here and treat again and do preventatives once every few weeks at the new place (if we get it) then will I be okay to bring in new breeding stock? I plan on getting the new rats from a good source. Not sure where yet, but somewhere that is mite free with healthy rats. I was thinking of starting out with two females and a male.

[snakesRkewl]

Sounds like a plan to me, take em down!

[Jay_Bunny]

Thanks everyone. I'd really like to get into breeding rats again. So while I'm getting rid of the last few mites, I can start looking for a good source for my breeders. No more pet store rats. That is where I made my mistake. I bought rats from Fin and Feather here in Richmond. Once or twice I saw rats with scabby ears and didn't think too much of it. I purchased a blue hooded female who was the sweetest thing. My sister purchased a blue berkshire from there at the same time. Not long after that we both have a huge mite infestation. Never again! I need to find my rats from a good breeder.

[Rhasputin]

oh god. NEVER buy rats from Fin and Feather or Perfect pets. They're both terrible stores, with terrible practices, and are KNOWN for mite problems.

Iver-on is a liquid version of Ivermectin that you just put on your animals dirrectly. It comes in big jugs, and is like $30 for a big bottle, but you dilute it 4x with water and just give your rats a few sprays every day if you have mites, and about once a month if you want to use it as a preventitive.

You can get it at Tractor Supply. There's one here in Mechanicsville not far from where you work.

[Jay_Bunny]

Awesome, Thanks! I'll have to get some of that!