i personally think some rats, like hmnuas, have dryer skin depending on their living situation. if you use any type of bedding, but especially Carefresh then you NEED to freeze it. any bedding that could potentially have holes in it could contain any type of parasite. freezing will ensure that anything is killed and it won't harm your rats then. i had so many issues with lice from Carefresh that i've stopped using it. hold one in your hands with it's back toward you and blow on their fur. if there are little brown or black dots on their skin they have lice or mites and it would be from the Carefresh bedding. i've found Hartz flea and tick shampoo for dogs works wonders to kill the parasites and you may need to bathe them a few times to kill them all. if they do then clean the cages out very well and freeze any bedding you have left and freeze it from here on out. some rats just scratch often (then again we sometimes itch more, right?) while other scratch because they have no choice. check their skin and freeze any bedding you get, even if they don't have lice or mites currently. it'll save you the hassle of bathing them later when they get it =)
-Jolanta
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