# Wood Chip stuck in Head of Baby



## Ivora (Jan 14, 2013)

I have an situation at the moment. There is a baby in Abby's litter that has a aspen wood chip stuck in his head. On day one it was there, and I tried to remove it but it seems to hurt the baby. I decided to wait and see if it just falls off later but I went to check on the litters and discovered blood in Abby's cage. At first I thought she hurt the babies but it was coming from Thorn. Thorn is what I am calling him/her. I cleaned up Thorn with a qtip because he was bloody, and I had to clean a few other babies too because they had blood on them from Thorn. 

My question is, how can I go about this situation? I am not sure how deep it is. I was thinking about using tweezers but I am not sure if that would be too harsh on a 2 day old kido. Any suggestions? Other than the wood chip, Thorn has a full milk ban. I just know the wood chip must be painful. Ugh I wish I would of stayed with carefresh or something similar to it. Any have this happen before? =(


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## Muttlycrew (Dec 21, 2012)

It might be best to just yank that sucker out. If it stays in it'll get infected.


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## Lotus (Feb 6, 2013)

What muttly said is a thought. I have one thought though. If he's bleeding, I'm assuming the chip is IN him and not just stuck to him. My thought is that removing it could cause extra bleeding which could be fatal. You'll want to spend as much time as can be manage holding slight (accent on slight because he's so fragile) pressure on the wound until you're sure the bleeding has stopped. A couple of my babies had chips stuck pretty good to them, because of the mothers blood, but not in them. I found getting the wood softened and moistened with a warm wet cotton ball helped loosen it. Although of course you'll then want to dry him off so he doesn't get cold (but I'm sure you know this). Good luck!! And keep us posted!!


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## Ivora (Jan 14, 2013)

Muttlycrew said:


> It might be best to just yank that sucker out. If it stays in it'll get infected.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


I am really nervous to yank it. I am hoping to wiggle it out some how or maybe apply a topical treatment to loosen it up. Right now I am just continually cleaning Thorn up with a qtip. I am trying to keep the wound as clean as possible. Just using water though. Not sure if I should use anything else on a infant. =/


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## Ivora (Jan 14, 2013)

Lotus said:


> What muttly said is a thought. I have one thought though. If he's bleeding, I'm assuming the chip is IN him and not just stuck to him. My thought is that removing it could cause extra bleeding which could be fatal. You'll want to spend as much time as can be manage holding slight (accent on slight because he's so fragile) pressure on the wound until you're sure the bleeding has stopped. A couple of my babies had chips stuck pretty good to them, because of the mothers blood, but not in them. I found getting the wood softened and moistened with a warm wet cotton ball helped loosen it. Although of course you'll then want to dry him off so he doesn't get cold (but I'm sure you know this). Good luck!! And keep us posted!!


 Thanks so much. That is what I was thinking too. I think it is in Thorn though because it is angled oddly. It may also be harder to remove as you suggested, because of Abby's birthing blood. I do have some cotton swabs, and I will try that. =)


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## lilprincess1026 (Feb 10, 2013)

I would be afriad of it going through the skull since he/she is still so soft. if you pull it out he may have hemorrhaging in the head or brain and die.... maybe a vet could help? poor guy =0( I hope it works out for him... now I know to use soft bedding if my girls get preg. I've never seen that before =0(


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## Muttlycrew (Dec 21, 2012)

Well.. My thought is, if you leave it in there for fear of hurting it, it will die. If you slowly pull and wiggle it, it will be in pain for a longer amount of time since you're working at it instead of just removing and, and you could be literally stirring its brain around if you wiggle it trying to get it out. I would soak it with a wet washcloth (careful not to smother the baby) until the chip is all soggy and then try to pull it out. 
Yes, pulling it out like that CAN kill it, but leaving it in WILL kill it. 


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## Gannyaan (Dec 7, 2012)

geeze.. so so hard!  i really sympathize with you... it may have pierced the skull... at that age, rats are born underdeveloped... another thing though, is that their brains are quite plastic....

I'd think you'd have to take it out  you cant leave it in... its a huge risk... do you have a rattie vet that could help you out ?

there are a couple concerns:

-the angle that the wood chip is at (shallow or deep)?the deeper, the more chance of harm and harder to stop the bleeding....
-bleeding: how do you stop bleeding in such a young ritten...? you cant use anything harsh....you might be able to put slight pressure and just hold him upright...
-infection

you can clean the wound with sterile saline. you can buy it for less then 2 bucks. it has to be saline, not salt water. saline is isotonic (same amount of salt/solutes as baby's blood) and wont hurt at all, but you can clean up the wound that way by gently dropping it... not a spray. you usually can use some kind of disinfectant or polysporin, but in this case if the wound is open, you cannot use polysporin... you have to use something else...i can look into it... 


If you have a vet, call immediately. if you have extra money, you could even take the little guy in.

if you have no vet willing to help (call around and ask!), and no resources to take the baby, you have to handle it yourself. this means removing it. Remove it AT THE SAME angle that it penetrated. Do not wiggle it around. Do not yank it against the wound. It will make the damage much worse .

have a plan... (this is just an example: clean wound, take out wood chip, apply pressure for xxyy amount of time, hold baby upright, clean would again, apply disinfectant (if any can be used.) try to act soon ok????

Im so sorry  




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## Muttlycrew (Dec 21, 2012)

Both flour and corn starch clot. You can put some on the wound and it'll stop the bleeding. 


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## Ivora (Jan 14, 2013)

Hi everyone. There is only one exotic vet in my area, and I called. She said she does not treat pinkies only weaned rats. I did ask her advice too. I got most of the chip out luckily, but Thorn started bleeding a ton. I had got the chip soggy with a warm wet cotton swab. I still see a piece of wood very deep in the head. I am not really sure what to do now. It looks like a long splinter embedded. Don't worry I do not plan to leave any of the chip in. Just trying to figure out how to go about getting the last piece.


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## Ivora (Jan 14, 2013)

Muttlycrew said:


> Both flour and corn starch clot. You can put some on the wound and it'll stop the bleeding.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Thank you , thats a good idea.

@Everyone- Thanks for helping me out. =)


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## Ivora (Jan 14, 2013)

Breaking news, my boyfriend got the last bit of chip out. I am very thankful, and the bleeding has stopped. We are just cleaning the wound now, and getting up the dried blood. I think Thorn will make a full recovery, we are going to put him back with his mum now. Thanks again everyone, this thread was helpful!


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## Lotus (Feb 6, 2013)

Oh, yay!! I'm so excited!! I was worried for the little guy. Love the name, by the way!


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## Poisoned (Nov 17, 2012)

I'm glad it worked fine.

I was going to suggest warming up some antibiotic ointment and letting it sit on there for a while to soften his skin and the wood chip, but I'm glad you got it out fine.


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## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

Glad thorn is okay! I hope that his recovery will be speedy. This is a good thing to know for people with pregnant rats.


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## lilprincess1026 (Feb 10, 2013)

yaaay!! I'm so happy. but just so you know, if there was a little bit of wood left it would eventually work itself out or the body would break it down (like a splinter size not a whole wood chip lol)


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## FiMarie (Jan 19, 2013)

How did things go? Did you get the last bit out and is he okay?


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Oh Wow, glad he's doing ok. hope he makes a full recovery. Guess you might want to consider using shredded paper for a little while in till they get older. I have never heard of a wood chip getting stuck in a baby rat's head before though. I wonder how it actually go in?


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## Ivora (Jan 14, 2013)

LightningWolf said:


> Oh Wow, glad he's doing ok. hope he makes a full recovery. Guess you might want to consider using shredded paper for a little while in till they get older. I have never heard of a wood chip getting stuck in a baby rat's head before though. I wonder how it actually go in?


I was thinking when he was born he could of fell on it? His skin would of been extra thin then, so a sticking up pointy chip could of made its way in. Very strange though.

@Everyone- You all are awesome, and Thorn is doing well!


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Just a thought, I've used iodine on pinky mice to treat tail rot and on minor adult rat injuries. It works a treat and handy to have around anyway.


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