Itchy Baby- Helpful suggestions?

by Hope4Allwhobreathe Thu 31 May 2018, 10:50 pm

Hi guys (I know, I'm asking a lot of questions to start here!)

But I have one itchy mouse out of three- and I'm not sure if it's due to stress of losing a cage mate/gaining two new ones, or if its mites or lice. I checked all of their fur and none of them seem to have any shedding, hair loss, scabs, or white bits indicating eggs. Should I seperate the itchy baby from the other two and ditch the bedding? Or should I wait and see if they all calm down after a while?

Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas?
I am such a nervous nelly of a mouse mom. Worry

Thanks!

by Rodents rock! Thu 31 May 2018, 11:57 pm

We are always happy to help and answer as many questions you have Very Happy

I would definitely not separate them, that will only stress them all out. And if one of them does have mites, since they have all been together, no point in separating them now. Itching doesn't necessarily mean mites. Could just be stress. Do you have any wood items in their bin? My Mickey was allergic to wood. He had scratched so much he started losing his fur in one spot. I cleaned out his tank and got rid of anything wooden in his tank and within about 2 weeks his fur grew back and he had stopped itching. Instead of wood, I started decorating his tank with things that were plastic and ceramic. A lot of people will treat any new mice with something, I can't remember the name of it right now, but I know there is a thread about it, just in case the mice have mites. I never did it with my mouse, but I know a lot of people do. I will try to find where that info is.

by Hope4Allwhobreathe Fri 01 Jun 2018, 12:03 am

OMG I didn't even think about it- I got them a new wooden toy to play with!!
That might be it! I'll remove it now just in case- but the mice are definitely stressed out because I've now checked them 3 times. There's a lot of angry squeaking going on, but I just want to make sure that they're safe and sound.

I am such a nervous mom, this is why I only have fur children!

by Rodents rock! Fri 01 Jun 2018, 12:08 am

You are a good mouse Mom Very Happy

I did find the name of the stuff to treat mites, it's Ivermectin.

I don't know how to copy and past on this tablet, so I wrote out the place to go for all the instructions.

https://www.petmousefanciers.com/t17-itching-hair-loss-and-parasites

by Rodents rock! Fri 01 Jun 2018, 12:14 am

I just thought of something else, what bedding do you use? Paper or wood? If you use wood, I would switch to paper.

by Hope4Allwhobreathe Fri 01 Jun 2018, 12:23 am

Yup I've got that in my Amazon cart right now! I just don't want to put it on them if they don't need it, or if they are just stressed. I would hate for it to stress them out more. I also read that it could be due to too much protein- and Skunk does love her mealworms...too many reasons and no little voice to tell me what's going on!

Should I watch it for a few days and then put the treatment on? We use aspen bedding, with a mix of Carefresh (which is known to have mites etc). But it didn't give her an issue before...

by Rodents rock! Fri 01 Jun 2018, 12:38 am

Did Skunk start itching shortly after you added the wood toy? If so, that might have been it. Also, like I mentioned, could just be stress. Skunk lost Possum and has two new cage mates, so all of that is stressful. Mice do scratch quite a bit as it's part of how they keep themselves clean. Itching is a tough one because there are so many different things it could be. It's hard to pinpoint the cause. Sometimes it's just a process of elimination to figure out what it is.

Maybe order the Ivermectin to have on hand just in case, but I would think if it was mites, they would all be itching by now.

Hopefully some more members will have some thoughts on this. Very Happy

The more info, the better.

by Peachy Fri 01 Jun 2018, 10:55 am

What food to you feed? Itching can be hot spots from allergies or high CRUDE protein. It won't be the MEAT protein from mealworms causing itching, but the crude protein in a food mix/block.

Here's some more info on diet that addresses this a little bit:
https://www.petmousefanciers.com/t15-mouse-diet

I would buy the Ivermectin just to have it on hand. Mites are so common, and this will work as a treatment and a preventative. We recommend treating every new mouse that comes into your house with Ivermectin during quarantine, just to be safe.

by Hope4Allwhobreathe Fri 01 Jun 2018, 10:59 am

Peachy wrote:What food to you feed? Itching can be hot spots from allergies or high CRUDE protein. It won't be the MEAT protein from mealworms causing itching, but the crude protein in a food mix/block.

Here's some more info on diet that addresses this a little bit:
https://www.petmousefanciers.com/t15-mouse-diet

I would buy the Ivermectin just to have it on hand. Mites are so common, and this will work as a treatment and a preventative. We recommend treating every new mouse that comes into your house with Ivermectin during quarantine, just to be safe.

Thank you! I will have it delivered ASAP. They are all under 3 weeks within my care, does this still count as quarantine? I have a "time out" cage if I need to separate them, but I've been very closely monitoring them (hence all my silly questions!) for any signs of disease or parasite. I am also going to check on the Crude protein levels within their food, to make sure it's at a safe level.

Thank you so much, this helps a ton!

by Peachy Fri 01 Jun 2018, 11:06 am

Ideally, any mice that weren't brought home together would go through quarantine separately. Quarantine isn't just for health reasons, it also helps settle and tame mice up a bit, which often helps introductions go smoother.

But what's done is done. No need to separate them unless any behaviors escalate! If they came from the same place within days of each other, it's likely they've all been exposed to the same health concerns anyway.

by diamond7 Mon 02 Jul 2018, 12:48 pm

My one girl has been scratching since before I adopted her from a animal shelter, we did treatment for mites, and I get her toenails trimmed at 4-5 weeks. Some tell me she developed a bad habit.

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