Question of the Day

With age, the hair coat of male light-colored rats normally becomes yellowed, and may also show a brownish, granular sebaceous secretion at the base of affected hair shafts. The owner may mistake this condition for a skin parasite.

Mite infections in rats are common and are very pruritic; constant scratching leads to excoriations and small crusts on the back.

Staphylococcal skin infections can occur in rats, and appear as multifocal ulcerative skin lesions.

Ringworm is uncommon in rats, and keratinization orders have not been described.