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  1. #1
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    Ringworm outbreaks in feeders

    Interestingly enough.... I was just telling someone what I would do for an outbreak only to have my newly started colony show symptoms. Caught it fairly early so hopefully it won't be too much of a hassle. One rat has the ear crust but it looks like I missed a lesion on another that had mostly healed over and looks like clipped fur. =/
    I figured I might as well share what I'm doing for treatment here in case someone else has the misfortune.

    Here's what I'm using:
    Miconazole cream
    Bleach
    Ketoconazole antifungal dog shampoo
    Lotrimin athlete's foot powder

    My starting group is only 7 animals currently, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get them through this. Since it's so small I'm just treating them all the same and not worrying about dividing them up.
    In a larger colony, my first step would most likely be to separate the ones with symptoms as far away from the healthy looking ones as possible. If there's really not a way to do this, make sure the symptomatic ones are in the bottom of your rack. That way spores don't fall down to infect rodents underneath that cage.

    Again... not really feasible on a larger colony. I don't know if it would be easier to cull the ones that have it open sores and crusting.
    My next step is to bathe them. A ketoconazole or anti-fungal dog shampoo usually does pretty good for this. Let them sit for a little with the suds before rinsing them off. Honestly didn't take too long if you use a bucket to soak them down, lather them up and then once they're done rinse in the sink. warm water.

    Put them back into a clean tub. I use a watered down bleach spray to clean and kill the spores then wipe it with a damp cloth after it dries. I also try to wipe down as much of the surrounding areas. Or mop floors as well to catch the stray hairs. Dirty bedding, stray hairs and cage accessories can all be infectious. If it's porous and not able to be sterilize, I would toss it.

    Miconazole cream for athletes foot is the general go to for treating the lesions. at least once a day. Twice if you could. Until the lesions are healed over and the fur has mostly grown back in. can take up to 3 weeks in a bad case.
    All of the cages also get a sprinkle of anti fungal powder as well. That way there's a little extra protection going on in the bedding as well. Cages will need to be cleaned at least once a week.

    I'm going to be treating mine all the same. Bath and bedding change with fungal powder once a week. Miconazole cream daily for the ones with lesions.
    If this was a larger colony, I would bathe the healthy ones once and then follow up with the bedding changes with powder for 2 weeks. I would also give them another quick bath with dish soap and give a through cleaning and rinse of their tub to get rid of any lingering antifungals after treatments. I don't know how sensitive reptiles would be to them, even if the rats tolerate them well enough.


    It may be easier in a larger colony to just separate the infected/exposed from the rest of the colony and treat as needed. Hopefully it will stay isolated in just a couple of tubs if you clean and sterilize around the area. I would still treat any that had been in contact with one that has lesions as infected. Some rats won't actually have lesions but can still carry it to the other cagemates. For that maybe keep the 'healthy' ones in a quiet area away from the colony and foot traffic until you can be sure they don't breakout. Usually I see symptoms within the week if a cagemate had crust and lesions.

    I'm curious to know if anyone has done anything similar or dealt with a largescale breakout. How did you manage it? I don't have too many at the moment but eventually I'll need a larger colony for my BP habit....lol
    Here's to hoping this little regime gets mine over this quick and easy!

  2. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Armiyana For This Useful Post:

    Albert Clark (08-07-2022),Bogertophis (08-07-2022),EL-Ziggy (08-07-2022),Homebody (08-07-2022)

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