Has anyone else got a pet rat (skin complaint)

has anyone else out there got a pet rat because i need some advice, my pet rat is 13 months old, female, and having a few skin problems can anyone help.

ive tried everything, even a vet.

I used to keep pet rats. what kind of skin prob is it? a lump or flaking of the skin? Rats can get both of these when they start to get old.

its not flaky but she is scraching and drawing blood, her claws are ok ive changed her diet, ive been bathing her with warm salty water, but nothing seems to work.

thankyou for your reply

Sounds like a flea allergy, Are there other pets in the house? I remember one of my rats getting something very similar to this and it got so bad that he winced when water went into the cuts. The only way I managed to make it better was by cleaning the cage out every day and making sure the other pets were clear of fleas. It takes a while and it doesnt get rid of it completely because of the rats age, but at least it improves it and makes the rat more comfortable.

Jabberwocky, thankyou for your advice.

there are no other pets in the house, i clean her cage out everyday, we took her to the vets, and the vet said she thought it was a skin infection, she didnt think it was caused by mites or fleas.

does anyone know about skin infections on rats because i just want to see her look nice again.

I found this : http://www.ratfanclub.org/skin.html I hope it helps.

thankyou very much for your help i will try this cream, its better than paying £20 to the vet and getting nowhere, will let you know if it helps.

do you think its safe to use human antiseptic cream on a rat, thankyou

I used to keep rats and they can be suseptable to skin complaints, if you have more than one, isolate the "infected" one as it can spread.

thankyou very much for your help i will try this cream, its better than paying £20 to the vet and getting nowhere, will let you know if it helps.

 

do you think its safe to use human antiseptic cream on a rat, thankyou

TBH I always say that what's good for the goose is good for the gander when it comes to things like creams (obviously not with prescription meds though!!!). I reguarly use antiseptic creams intended for animals on myself, and my horse is a regular user of Vaseline and E45 intended for humans!

One the topic of possible creams for skin irritations, there is a cream called Camersa Ointment that I have used on my horse's skin and rabbit's skin with success. If you google it you should find suppliers.

my rat is always washing herself and i thought if she licked herself she might swallow the antiseptic cream and i dont know if it will her hurt her.

We've had several rats over the years as they make excellent pets for kids. Anyway they have all developed skin problems as they got older. We applied over the counter antiseptic creams with no problems, use v. sparingly. You could also look at vitamin drops in their food, you can get them for hamsters/rabbits so they should be fine for rats. Make sure they have plenty of 'fresh' hard veg, must be fresh, no lettuce as this gives them the 'poos'. I have also rubBed a little olive oil on my hand and then hand groomed the rat. Tiny drops of fish oil, can also help. (i've used i for my cats with good effect, but must give only a little)

amandakm, thankyou very much, will try olive oil before using antiseptics.

i will get some tommrow and do as you say.