# Hello new (Mice Lice?)



## hannababe10 (May 10, 2015)

Hello, I'm new to this forum and have been searching for a good mouse related forum for months now, cam across yall. Thank god, mousie heaven. I am 23 years old and am not a breeder but i am very much in love with my first pet mouse louis. Two years ago i worked at a fishing tackle/pet store and was not overly fond of mice and rats to begin with but soon fell in love with them. It was very hard to sell them as snake food after i got so attached. But i saw louis who was so different in color he looks like a brindle dog color, like a blonde, gray tan mix. So i bought a 30 gallon aquarium and brought him home and have spoiled him ever since. I've become a nerd about him he's so smart and such a great companion even better than my dogs and cats, my family thinks im a little nutty for feeling this way about such a small animal. but i dont mind. They've never spent the time with him as i do everyday.
So he is almost two years old now, and for the first year had no visible health problems. But around late this winter i noticed scabs on skin and white things (i assumed eggs) on his hair. My initial thought was that he had mites because at work the previous summer i had come in contact with a rat that had severe mites that was dropped at the store that we nursed to health. So after some procrastinating i took him to a local small town vet here in michigan. She told me straight up front before i took him in that she has no small animal training and little experience but would do her best to help, and considering his age she was skeptical on the phone and throughout exam about his surviving. She gave him a microdot dose of topical ivermectin (*SPELLING) and had me give him a second dose 10 days later with bedding changes. This did not help after a waiting quite a few weeks so then she gave him a dose of revolution for cats and this has seemed to help so far. The scabs are gone but white eggs are still visible on hairs behind his right ear (the only place they were ever visible) I am kind of at a loss as to how to handle this is the problem comes back. Going to the vet is stressful for him, and i worry about putting any more meds on his body with him being so old. What would you do?
I am wondering if anyone has ever had lice problems with mice and any solutions in case this comes back. And is he really at the end of his life span as my vet said at almost two? How old can they live under good conditions (i feed lab blocks daily, some seeds carrots and dried fruit as occasional treats) he's not overweight and even with the lice he never seemed to scratch more than normal. He runs on his wheel like crazy.
Sorry for the rambling and terrible grammar, not my strong suit, and these darn tablets are nearly impossible to navigate let alone type on lol. This forum is what i've been looking for for years now im so glad to find a group of people with a passion for mice. I really would love to own more someday and breed if my life and job allows adequate time and money for it.

Thank you for your time any advice about lice  would be appreciated!

-Hanna-


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## Agoutigoo (Nov 8, 2013)

Hi and welcome 

most likely lice if you can see eggs on the fur (lice lay eggs on the hair). They have a life cycle of 2-3 weeks so any treatments need to be done once then again 2 weeks later to kill the nymphs when they hatch. i use pharmaq ivermectin 0.1 which works out as 1 drop per 50grams of body weight. also make sure that cage is throughly disinfected, including cage furniture (wooden stuff can habour lice so is best thrown out). A Bleach dilute is best to kill off everything, just make sure its well rinsed before adding mouse. freezing bedding/hay/wooden toys prior to adding them to cage will eliminate the risk of mites/lice completely.


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## EdgewoodMousery (May 7, 2015)

Welcome


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## raisin (Sep 22, 2014)

I have a couple of old males that I think have/had what you described. I will tell you I think it's probably not lice, unless you know Louis had lice when he was young and all his life.
My guy Gerry came from a local pet shop that sells mice for feeders. The mice there tend to have problems with chronic scratching as they get older. At a bit over a year, He was looking very bad- bald on the shoulders and scratching himself up with itching. Looking closely, he had those little white dots/ things where he was itching so I put some diatomaceous earth onto his bedding with every cleaning. this stuff (food grade) is a great effective and safer alternative to chemical solutions for parasites (internal too, if its in their drink). When it had no effect on the itching, I knew it wasn't parasites. When his old cage mate, Ben, started getting bald, minus the scabbing, I took a look and he has the same white things. I think it is just balled up dead skin from being so old and itchy (these mice have a somewhat shorter life span as they are bred to be eaten)

So what I did for gerry before I decided to put him down was rub some "allercain: with bittran ii antiseptic, anti-itch spray for dogs" onto his bad areas. I did rub it in then wipe off the extra so he wouldn't lick it off. It seemed to help, doing it everyday. I've also used this stuff to keep my one gal from scratching her giant would open. So I recommend it. I also tried to give him kitten milk for extra strength/energy (he didn't like it, but my girl sure did).

Anyway, good luck with louis. It doesn't hurt to try a few things for him to help stop the scratching even if he has a different thing than what my boys have/had.


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

Three applications at one week intervals with something like Ivermectin Pour-On dilute one part Ivermectin to five parts water, three drops between shoulders/behind head is what I do. Or you can spray it on. Some breeders spray everything including the food, but I think that is excessive. Changing the bedding with each application will also limit the number of eggs and pests.

Good luck!


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