Examining rats and mice for small numbers of external parasites can be accomplished by washing the anesthetized animal in a detergent-disinfectant bath. The sediment is concentrated by centrifugation and examined microscopically for parasites, their parts or eggs. This method was successfully used to demonstrate mites of the genus Radfordia on six of seven rodents for which skin scrapings had failed to contain evidence of mite infestation.
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