# Rat bleeding from ear



## kali mabel (Sep 30, 2015)

My female rat is bleeding form her ear i'll try to get pictures shes very shy and a little skiddish so i only noticed when she came up to me while i was wiping down their cage what should i do im sorry if im kind of all over im a little freaked out im a first time rat owner


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## kali mabel (Sep 30, 2015)

sorry if the pics are kind bad i only got them when i gave her food and through the bars because i didnt want to take the time to coax her to come by me because i wanted to get them asap


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

It could be a few things: an ear infection, ear mites, a scratch in her ear from too sharp/long nails, or Zymbal gland tumor. How long has she been bleeding? Any other symptoms like scabs on her body, lots of scratching, is she eating/drinking ok? Squinting eyes? Porphyrin...?


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

How old is she?


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## kali mabel (Sep 30, 2015)

Gribouilli said:


> It could be a few things: an ear infection, ear mites, a scratch in her ear from too sharp/long nails, or Zymbal gland tumor. How long has she been bleeding? Any other symptoms like scabs on her body, lots of scratching, is she eating/drinking ok? Squinting eyes? Porphyrin...?


 I didn't notice any this morning before leaving for school. She seems to be eating but I have not seen her drink today but maybe thats just because I haven't been in the room while she was drinking.She has porphyrin which is pretty common for her because she is a very skiddish rat and is just becoming to trust me


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## kali mabel (Sep 30, 2015)

Gribouilli said:


> How old is she?


 About one year. Should I take her to a vet or should I handle this on my own (and if so how??)


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## kali mabel (Sep 30, 2015)

I might also add she has one cage mate female rat around her age, even though this rat is hostile towards humans her and stickers get along just fine and whenever they are playing they never bite each other hard enough to puncture skin, its mostly just tumbling, wrestling , and various squeaking


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## kali mabel (Sep 30, 2015)

now that i think of it, my other rat had a bit of dry blood by her mouth the other night, i assumed she wasnt chewing her toys and her teeth just scraped her but now maybe they did play too hard, if it is a bite how should i go about treating it?


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

It would be hard to check if it is a bite unless she let you clean it up...I would wait a day and see if she cleans it up herself. If it is an ear infection or ZGT blood will come back. How are their nails? She could also have scratch herself too hard. Maybe with a Q-tip and warm water you could clean the dried blood and see better- don't use the Q- tip anywhere inside the ear, it is just the clean the outside part of her ear.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

If some blood comes back, a vet visit is in order.


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## kali mabel (Sep 30, 2015)

Gribouilli said:


> It would be hard to check if it is a bite unless she let you clean it up...I would wait a day and see if she cleans it up herself. If it is an ear infection or ZGT blood will come back. How are their nails? She could also have scratch herself too hard. Maybe with a Q-tip and warm water you could clean the dried blood and see better- don't use the Q- tip anywhere inside the ear, it is just the clean the outside part of her ear.


 This may sound dumb but what is ZGT blood? Their nails are normal length I did not see any blood by them, she seems to have cleaned it up pretty much herself I still see no marks :/


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## kali mabel (Sep 30, 2015)

Gribouilli said:


> If some blood comes back, a vet visit is in order.


 Will do!


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

kali mabel said:


> This may sound dumb but what is ZGT blood? Their nails are normal length I did not see any blood by them, she seems to have cleaned it up pretty much herself I still see no marks :/


ZGT is Zymbal Gland Tumor. It would be the worst outcome. But I don't think it is what's going on here.

http://ratguide.com/health/neoplasia/zymbals_gland_tumor.php


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## kali mabel (Sep 30, 2015)

yeah, hopefully it's just a nick,but I will keep a watchful eye on her! thank you!!


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

If she gets any head tilt it is most likely an ear infection.


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