Tiny scabs on his back

by j.n379 Sat 26 Jan 2019, 8:17 pm

Gus has been with me for 7 months. He was not young when I got him but exact age isn't clear. He lives alone, of course, on corn cob based bedding (little pebbles of dried cob) and eats a regular mouse block all my other mice eat, none of them had this issue.
He has tiny, pinprick sized scabs on his back. He's not doing it to himself. They've been there a while since he wasn't scratching at them and I never saw any actually fresh/bleeding so I waited to see if they resolved themselves. But they haven't, and there are more now.

The vets here aren't mouse experts, but if I bring him in with an idea of the illness and treatment most likely to help, they'll prescribe it. Should I go with ivermectin? Is there another likely cause other than parasites that I should get a treatment for as well? We only have a car twice a month so I'll be trying to buy every likely treatment all at once if they'll let me, so I'd like to make sure I come in ready with all possible causes and treatments with the dilution info in case they don't know it.

He won't stay still long enough for me to part his fur and get a clear picture, but it's the equivalent of back acne if he were a human, just instead of pimples it's tiny scabs.

by MouseLover Sun 27 Jan 2019, 5:52 am

Ivermectin will treat little fleas or mites that he might have. But you'd also need to give his cage a really deep clean, and any items that could have eggs on them would need to be treated as well (e.g. you may need to boil wooden items).

Another possibility is some kind of allergy or food intolerance. Do you know what the ingredients in the lab block are? Do you know the protein percentage? If the protein is too high it can cause some mice to get itchy skin and other issues.

Personally, if it were my mouse, I think I would treat with ivermectin and do the cage clean, just so that you can rule parasites out. But do have a look at that lab block because if it's not parasites, food is the next most likely issue.

by j.n379 Sun 27 Jan 2019, 3:24 pm

I just put the last of the bag into my container last week and tossed the bag but I can check. I've had an allergic mouse before though and the scratching was mostly on her face.

Ok found it. The protein is 15% so only a touch high, and I give him other foods to lower it a bit. And sometimes a seed mix that's primarily millet with no peanuts. It has sunflower seeds but he didn't always get it, he's gone weeks with veggies instead of seeds when my garden was in. He's lost a little weight so I've been trying to help him fatten up a bit (it's not working). I know oxbow isn't ideal but it's the only thing they sell near me. No nuts in the formula but nothing very natural either which is why I've tried to add the seeds.
http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/our-products/fortified-food/essentials-adult-rat-food

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Tiny scabs on his back

Tiny scabs on his back

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Re: Tiny scabs on his back

Re: Tiny scabs on his back