# Scabby eyes, scabby ears



## squirrelpot (Aug 5, 2017)

Hi all,

I've run out of ideas, I need help!

Background: litter of seven, now four months old. Born to a doe who was much too young, conceived the litter at around 5 weeks, and gave birth a week after she came to live with me, which was a bit of a surprise - though she did look oddly bulbous for the two days before the litter was born.

The seven babies vary a lot in size and vigour. Some are beautifully sleek and healthy and big and vigorous, some are not. I'm assuming that the smaller, less vigorous ones are thriving less because the mother was really too young for breeding, I gather that the minimum age for a doe to breed a fine healthy litter is twelve weeks.

One of the seven has terrible problems with crusty eyelids (red crusty muck) and scabby ears, especially scabby at the outer edges of the ears. Sometimes small pieces of ear fall off when a scab falls off, which is distressing (for me, and quite possibly for him too).

I've assumed it's parasites (mites or some other tiny infestational creature). I've tried Bob Martin Spot-On for small animals. No effect. The vet gave us Ivermectin. A slight improvement but not a cure.

Are we barking up the wrong tree? Is there some other condition which could cause crusty eyes and scabby ears? He doesn't have scabs on his back or flanks or in any of the other usual places. Conversely, those less vigorous chaps in the same litter sometimes have scabs on their back but no ear/eye problems.

What's remarkable is that none of my other ten mice have these ear/eye problems, though there must be cross-contamination of any parasite, because I handle them all every day, and I don't decontaminate myself or irradiate myself or anything like that after handling each mouse. This suggests that all my mice are exposed to the same parasites, vigorous mice can fight off parasites and show no effects, weaker mice cannot. Am I making a sensible assertion here?

Thanks in advance for any help & advice offered.

Chris


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

Did you treat all of your mice for mites/lice?If not do them all and give the cages a clean and spray with an insecticide.After that, I would suspect staphylococcus to be the most likely cause.Try bathing the ears/scabs with hibiscrub(can buy online)daily and applying tea tree oil.I would apply Chloramphenicol antibiotic cream to the eyes.Can be bought over the counter but you will have to say it's for your partner who has sore eyes or you can buy it online with no problem under many brand names.Also available from the vets but at a high price I've posted a link for the antibiotic but doesn't have to be a branded one .Cream or drops are available, whichever you find easiest.Keep in the fridge.
Most likely this mouse has a compromised immune system that leaves it open to secondary infections.I've got more suggestions if you don't see any improvement after a couple of weeks.

https://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/optrex- ... s/prd-1454


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