Skin condition?

I have a female rat, under 1 year old. She has what looks like to be scabs and small sores as well as thinning hair. when I first noticed I pulled her and put her into her own tub. Last night she went on a rampage killing rat pups. There was no overcrowding just her and her litter. This was about her 4th litter.

I also have another rat that came from the same litter, looks almost identical to her with no issues.

I tried to take pics but I couldn't get any that showed the skin clearly.

Richard

I have a retired female with some scabs on her back but everyone else in my colony looks fine. I was thinking it was just part of her getting older.

I don't have any idea why she'd kill her entire litter unless she is not healthy enough to care for them.

Good luck with her.

Could be parasites, diet, allergies... Scabs and losing hair is definitely not normal.

at first I thought it was stress and she was biting herself but sores started showing up on her head.. I don't think she is in pain but what do i know, maybe i should just euthanize her?

If it gets bad, yes euthanize is probably the best option.

Like I said, look for parasites like lice, mites, fleas, review what your feeding her. Is it rat food like Mazuri? Is there anything new in her environment to cause her to itch?

For now, buy some triple antibiotic ointment with pain relief (to help her stop scratching) and swab it on morning and night until it's healed. Trim her back nails with human nail clippers just a bit to give them a blunt edge. When you trim them, have someone help by wrapping her in a towel and holding her. You'll want to just take off the bit of the tip. Dont cut into the quick.

If it's any sort of parasite, you'll have to treat her with a product, Frontline Spray not concentrated drops, by rubbing a bit on your gloved fingers and massaging it lightly over her body into her fur.

Continue to watch and treat with the neosporin until it heals. Good luck.

Thanks for the input! I will check for those parasites but I don't think my colony has any.. I really hope its not something genetic because her and her sister started my entire colony.

Richard

My very first male breeder had something like this, I thought he had been attacked. I isolated him for a few weeks. The scabs fell off, the hair never grew back. He never showed any signs of sickness afterwards and is still an excellent breeder today.

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Originally Posted by Somed00d

at first I thought it was stress and she was biting herself but sores started showing up on her head.. I don't think she is in pain but what do i know, maybe i should just euthanize her?

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Could be lice... Lice will affect rats differently, and rats have allergies too. The one rat may not be allergic to the bites while the other is. I would recommend cleaning the cage and getting a bird protector just in case. Not to say that is the problem.
Also, is that is the problem she 1) would have killed them because she thought that's what was bothering her 2) killed them because she was not fit 3) may not be getting any sleep with the pups and the bitting.
Just a thought but it is most likely not lice.
BTW, rat lice will not attatch to humans for long periods of time, only briefly then they die. We're poison to rat lice, mwahahahaaaaa