Rats and Lice

I see that there are a few rat owners on here and i wonder if you would know the answer to a question i have asked several vets but have never had a satisfactory answer.

I owned rats for 10 years and could always tell when one was about to die because suddenly they would be infested with lice. Now i used to check my rats regularly for bugs, and they were generally always clear, but as soon as the rat was sick there would be loads.

Now my question is, where do they come from?!!? the vet always gave the same reply that becuase of their immune system being weak they could take over, but how can they take over if they were never there in the first place?

My rats have picked up lice at a show and they can also come from certain beddings - CAREFRESH bedding is often blamed.

I have wondered the same as you though .... have also become paranoid about them, Steve was once found to have them by a judge at a show .. I almost died of shame (my baby with nits!!!!) but weirdly none of his 20 friends had them ....

I have only experienced it with my guinea pigs not my rats and that came from their hay. Only one of six piggies got them and she was old. Wierd aren't they?

now im worried. shall be going through the ratties and piggies fur like a paranoid mother!!

Ad I'm sitting here scratching

one of my girlies fur is not in as good condition as the others fur and this is the bedding i use for them, i have just bought the big bag of it as well im wondering now if it could be this bedding causing this
what else could i use ive been told not to use shavings

Are we talking mites or lice here?

Mites (invisible to the naked eye) are always around rats and yes they do take over when their immune systems are low. main symptoms are tiny red scabs around the chin chest & neck.

Proper rat lice, the real deal, are rarer. They come from other rats only, or from hay/straw. They can be seen as small insecty things like red specks at the base of the hair usually around the rump. They really can be seen and so can their nits. they may cause scratching but they do not normally irritate a rat's skin.

It would be extremely rare for real lice to come from bedding such as Carefresh; if not impossible. They are easily got rid of with an application of Ivermectin or Frontline spray or Beaphar spot-on.

But mites don't need a source, they are always on rats. Stress is enough to make them become a problem.

It's important to know the difference
And for those of you sitting there scratching - neither are transmissible to humans!

I bought Carefresh as a treat for my first rats, they chucked it out of the bed

I use fleece on the floor of my cages, cardboard squares in the litter trays and paper towls tissues and loo roll in the beds now.

The girls love a loo roll poked through the top of the cage so they can haul it in