UniversityGirl
New member
She is the only rat in her cage, and I clean her cage extremely well once a week (clean out the bottom and all her climbing shelves with dish soap and warm water) and change the bedding (carefresh recycled paper brand) an extra time in the week.
For about a week now, she has been scratching a lot. I thought it was stress because last week, I had to force-feed her medicine from an oral syringe for her breathing problems (she would not eat the medicine in any kind of food so I had to force-feed).
She is scratching so bad that she has little scabs all over her back, face, neck and front legs. Anywhere she can kick with her hind legs or chew is basically covered in scabs, when you pull back her fur to check.
At first I thought it was stress from being force-fed. But that finished about a week ago, so I thought she'd be ok by now. Then I thought maybe it was boredom, but she's been getting tons of exercise and I've been playing with her a lot to try to distract her. Is it possible she has mites? She just seems to be very hyper and very itchy.
Experienced rat owners, what do you think? If this behaviour doesn't stop by the end of the week, I'll make a vet appointment for her.
I don't think it's fleas or lice because she lets me pull back her fur and I can't see any bugs at all, just little red scabs.
For about a week now, she has been scratching a lot. I thought it was stress because last week, I had to force-feed her medicine from an oral syringe for her breathing problems (she would not eat the medicine in any kind of food so I had to force-feed).
She is scratching so bad that she has little scabs all over her back, face, neck and front legs. Anywhere she can kick with her hind legs or chew is basically covered in scabs, when you pull back her fur to check.
At first I thought it was stress from being force-fed. But that finished about a week ago, so I thought she'd be ok by now. Then I thought maybe it was boredom, but she's been getting tons of exercise and I've been playing with her a lot to try to distract her. Is it possible she has mites? She just seems to be very hyper and very itchy.
Experienced rat owners, what do you think? If this behaviour doesn't stop by the end of the week, I'll make a vet appointment for her.
I don't think it's fleas or lice because she lets me pull back her fur and I can't see any bugs at all, just little red scabs.