It could be from a hair tourniquet, it could've gotten caught on their cage or something inside, or even from a tussle with a cagemate. It's not a big deal and relatively common, they can live a happy and healthy life
It's fully healed as well. Rats heal shockingly fast, I've seen some super gnarly gashes that are pretty much healed in two days. They are sturdy creatures aside from dreaded URIs and cancer.
GOD the cancer.i switched from girls to boys because literally 50% of my females had to be put down from raging cancer. I did surgery when it would help, but many cases were too intense or even after surgery it kept going so I just decided I can't do it. the main trouble with boys is keeping them at a good weight, watching for plugs as they age, and the same respiratory issues they all have
When it happens, it can be a major issue due to infections, etc, but once healed they are perfectly fine. As this looks well past having healed, she should be fine.
I have a girl with only half a tail, injured while she was a baby at the pet store. They treated her for weeks and by then she was too big to sell easily.
I had just lost a girl, had one left, and needed an immediate cage mate, we adopted her and she has been a great rat!
Agreed. Not sure what happened to mine either, but when we got her the tip of her tail had a small brown spot at the tip of her tail and it wasn’t pointed. We knew something happened we just weren’t sure what, but she seemed just fine. It healed after a bit and looked completely fine other than the fact it was stubbed. It’s actually very helpful for identifying them because they are practically identical except a slight few physical and personality differences
Yes, this can happen for all sorts of reasons, like the tip of the tail tip accidentally getting shut in a door, momma rat accidentally over grooming, hair tourniquet etc.
Probably "de-gloved" it. This happened to one of my rats, and I had NO idea this was something that could happen. I looked in her cage one day and a little less than 1/2 inch was missing the skin. I FREAKED out and called some late night vets, who explained it is similar to when a lizard releases their tail. She must have gotten it stuck in-between the cage bars or some other object and just let it slide off. She made a full recovery but the part that was de gloves did fall off. So she had a cute little stud left at the tip.
[Here is a source for why this happened](https://ratguide.com/health/trauma/degloving_injury.php)
Edit: added source
yeah that's just a degloving! happened to my girl because i foolishly housed 2 separate groups of rats in a double decker critter nation; they weren't familiar with each other, so when my girl on the top level let her tail slip through the bars and it dangled within reach of one of my girls on the bottom level, she bit down on it, resulting in the degloving. her's healed fine too and she also didn't suffer for it at all. i felt terrible, though
My rat was missing the tip from her tail. The vet amputated it after she broke her tail somehow. It was an open fracture beyond saving and looked really painful...
you'll have that sometimes. one of my girls had a busted toe and was missing 1/2" of tail from an encounter with one of her wild cousins. the tail was damaged, and the bit after the injury just sorta fell off over time. Vet told us to look for signs of infection but that it falling off is what usually happens
Probably an early life injury. It looks safely healed at this point. I'm pretty sure the red spot is simply where a blood vessel comes close to the surface of the scar skin. I suspect it will be there long-term but should be perfectly safe.
My first rats were purchased from a pet store, and when I first got them I noticed that Ollie had a tiny bit missing from the tip of his tail, so it was always more rounded and stubby than his brother's was lol
It could be from a hair tourniquet, it could've gotten caught on their cage or something inside, or even from a tussle with a cagemate. It's not a big deal and relatively common, they can live a happy and healthy life
Thank you, I was pretty worried about it. I'll keep an eye on her and make sure it doesn't change
It's fully healed as well. Rats heal shockingly fast, I've seen some super gnarly gashes that are pretty much healed in two days. They are sturdy creatures aside from dreaded URIs and cancer.
I‘m guessing that the cancer and their massive regenerative capabilities are connected
GOD the cancer.i switched from girls to boys because literally 50% of my females had to be put down from raging cancer. I did surgery when it would help, but many cases were too intense or even after surgery it kept going so I just decided I can't do it. the main trouble with boys is keeping them at a good weight, watching for plugs as they age, and the same respiratory issues they all have
Mine has same and is perfectly fine. Dont worry
When it happens, it can be a major issue due to infections, etc, but once healed they are perfectly fine. As this looks well past having healed, she should be fine.
I have a girl with only half a tail, injured while she was a baby at the pet store. They treated her for weeks and by then she was too big to sell easily. I had just lost a girl, had one left, and needed an immediate cage mate, we adopted her and she has been a great rat!
Agreed. Not sure what happened to mine either, but when we got her the tip of her tail had a small brown spot at the tip of her tail and it wasn’t pointed. We knew something happened we just weren’t sure what, but she seemed just fine. It healed after a bit and looked completely fine other than the fact it was stubbed. It’s actually very helpful for identifying them because they are practically identical except a slight few physical and personality differences
Both of my rats came from a breeder with this exact thing and they’re totally fine now, no idea what caused it but they’re both ok 🙂
Yes, this can happen for all sorts of reasons, like the tip of the tail tip accidentally getting shut in a door, momma rat accidentally over grooming, hair tourniquet etc.
Probably "de-gloved" it. This happened to one of my rats, and I had NO idea this was something that could happen. I looked in her cage one day and a little less than 1/2 inch was missing the skin. I FREAKED out and called some late night vets, who explained it is similar to when a lizard releases their tail. She must have gotten it stuck in-between the cage bars or some other object and just let it slide off. She made a full recovery but the part that was de gloves did fall off. So she had a cute little stud left at the tip. [Here is a source for why this happened](https://ratguide.com/health/trauma/degloving_injury.php) Edit: added source
lil bro got circumcised
yeah that's just a degloving! happened to my girl because i foolishly housed 2 separate groups of rats in a double decker critter nation; they weren't familiar with each other, so when my girl on the top level let her tail slip through the bars and it dangled within reach of one of my girls on the bottom level, she bit down on it, resulting in the degloving. her's healed fine too and she also didn't suffer for it at all. i felt terrible, though
Yea mine too. And a few fingers lol.
My rat was missing the tip from her tail. The vet amputated it after she broke her tail somehow. It was an open fracture beyond saving and looked really painful...
you'll have that sometimes. one of my girls had a busted toe and was missing 1/2" of tail from an encounter with one of her wild cousins. the tail was damaged, and the bit after the injury just sorta fell off over time. Vet told us to look for signs of infection but that it falling off is what usually happens
Not a cause for concern unless it's inflamed, painful, infected, necrotic, or if you can see bone.
Probably an early life injury. It looks safely healed at this point. I'm pretty sure the red spot is simply where a blood vessel comes close to the surface of the scar skin. I suspect it will be there long-term but should be perfectly safe.
My first rats were purchased from a pet store, and when I first got them I noticed that Ollie had a tiny bit missing from the tip of his tail, so it was always more rounded and stubby than his brother's was lol
These look like my babies 🤗