# little black spot.



## drea (Oct 8, 2013)

My rat holly has got a tiny black spot on her face.. i cant get a pic as my camera isnt good enough to capture it its that small.. maybe shes scratched herself or something? its been there for about a week and hasnt changed size at all.. just curious really.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Treat it like an abscess (guide here). I dunno what else. 


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## PurpleGirl (Oct 12, 2012)

Does it look like a regular scab? She might've received a little nick from a claw while playing with your other rats if you have any, or just been too vigorous while itching herself. Because it's on her face, just keep an eye out for more of them appearing, as lots of facial/chin scabs can mean mites. A girl I once had got mites once and in the short time between the first scab and her visit to the vet, she had clawed her chin something silly, there was even blood on her hammock.

Alternatively, a firm black spot that definitely isn't a scab (i.e. doesn't fall off/dry up and go away quite quickly) can sometimes appear on rats, I've never seen one on a rat's face before, but it is generally a build up of natural oils in their fur, a bit like a blackhead on a person. My boy Magnus had one of these on his side several month ago, they don't generally cause pain but they don't tend to go away on their own. Applying a warm compress for a little while and very gently squeezing it can help pop them out, it might take several tries if your rat wriggles a lot. Magnus didn't like it, but my fella managed to hold him firmly and tease the thing out without much effort; they tend to be very hard, and barely leave a mark once they're out.


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## Xerneas (Aug 6, 2013)

PurpleGirl said:


> Alternatively, a firm black spot that definitely isn't a scab (i.e. doesn't fall off/dry up and go away quite quickly) can sometimes appear on rats, I've never seen one on a rat's face before, but it is generally a build up of natural oils in their fur, a bit like a blackhead on a person. My boy Magnus had one of these on his side several month ago, they don't generally cause pain but they don't tend to go away on their own. Applying a warm compress for a little while and very gently squeezing it can help pop them out, it might take several tries if your rat wriggles a lot. Magnus didn't like it, but my fella managed to hold him firmly and tease the thing out without much effort; they tend to be very hard, and barely leave a mark once they're out.


This description sounds very, very much like a sebaceous cyst (which is harmless and usually doesn't grow in size). Looks like this:

http://www.ratfanclub.org/abscess_files/image001.jpg


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## PurpleGirl (Oct 12, 2012)

Yes, I'm sure that's what it was called. Quite common (apparently more common on males) and fairly easy to deal with if your rat doesn't fight you too much.


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## drea (Oct 8, 2013)

Thanks for all your advice


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