# what IS this???



## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

so some of you have seen, i and another are fostering 4 wild rat babies. 1 is in poor shape. it has a funky mouth and is very skinny.
we are looking for any input as to what to do about this, aside from a vet trip. that is in the works but they are asking for $80 just to walk in the door plus treatment and she is having trouble justifying the expense.. i personally do not blame her.. so please dont bash about that. if there is something she can do at home that would be awesome.. but first we need to figure out what it is.


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## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

Oh man poor baby. I don't know! Sorry.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

people on facebook were suggesting bot fly or abscess. I'm not familiar with either.


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## Mrs.Brisby (Jan 4, 2014)

Has it been spreading? It looks like it's in the ear as well as on it's fur near the neck. They are wild animals. You should be extremely cautious when handling them. I'm talking about gloves and masks.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

no, its not spreading. ear is dirt. they were covered in it. she told me that she took a warm washcloth and cleaned him up. the yellowish tint has faded significantly.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

May be an abscess. While it sounds cruel, he should see the vet. It could be contagious to you other rats or other pets. More so it could be something that means that rat won't live and should be humanely euthanized. If it is an abscess it needs drained it's in a very bad place and waiting for it to pop can cause unnecessary death.


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

Perhaps a deformity? Is it keeping him from eating properly?


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

I'll pass the info along. thanks for your input. at least on the brite side he is doing better with eating than the other she is fostering..


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

kksrats said:


> Perhaps a deformity? Is it keeping him from eating properly?


thats what i thought originally when i had him, that it was just deformed.


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## LeStan82 (Dec 31, 2013)

Could he be having a reaction to something. Or could it be an auto immune problem or fungal infection. Never seen that before. Poor guy


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## magic_carrot (Jul 26, 2014)

I'm actually very curious about what it is.If you go to the vet do keep us updated, I'd love to know more


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

the woman who has him is getting him checked out tomorrow, they offered to take a look at him for free because after cleaning it up she thinks it may just be extra skin..


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

Wow how odd, I thought it was organs or something protruding from his mouth. Poor guy, I bet that's uncomfortable  let us know what the vet says


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

Yeast infection, maybe? Totally weird, hope it's nothing too scary.


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## Zabora (Jun 8, 2014)

Looks maybe fungul? Vary strange indeed.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

She said after cleaning it up it's not so yellow and that those pictures make it look a lot worse than it is. She is having him looked at today at 4. So I'll find out more from her then.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

So they told her that it's not a bot fly and that they believe it's either an abscess or some sort of infection but because he is wild and so young they are not willing to work on him. 
-Also discovered his tummy is hard so she has to apply heat to it and massages. 

She said she make prick it this weekend to see if anything will come out of it but she and I both aren't really sure where she should go from here.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

They said his mouth and breathing seem to be all working the way they should though. They are concerned with his strength


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## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

Poor little guy. I don't know if you want my opinion, but... I would try and just clean it with salt and warm water mix. I always use it to clean wounds and it always works. But in the photos to me it looks like a growth. So I'm not sure what to do.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Do not prick or lance it. 

Can she go somewhere and NOT mention it is wild?


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

I will pass that along. Thank you. Any advice is good.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

She can do warm compresses and try some baby safe antibiotics. Short of touching and such myself I don't feel secure calling this an abscess or anything. Is he eating and drinking okay?


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

He is eating just fine. Better than his brother she is also fostering. Neither of them have pooped since yesterday morning but they are peeing plenty.


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## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

Is there only one girl in the litter?


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

Looks that way. Unless I misjudged the two she has.


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## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

Has anyone established what species of rat they are?


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

Not yet. They are brown. That's all I know. Isn't there a "brown rat"? lol


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## Tesumph (Aug 12, 2014)

What does is feel like? Firm? Squishy? Filled with liquid or solid? I would go to another vet and not say it's wild.


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## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

Fancy rats are the "brown" rats. I don't think they are brown rats.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

I'll ask her what it feels like. When I had him I thought it was just his skin, it looked peeled back and bunched up almost.

How would I go about figuring out what they are? Their coats are coming in more. They are brown majority and have lighter bellys. The sides of their mouths/cheeks are a creamier brown/tan color.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

What state are you in? Honestly by nest location I feel safe calling it a Norway rat.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

Maryland. That was one of my guesses also.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

Says it just feels like skin. It's soft but not liquid filled.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Just have her keep it clean and try compressing it.


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## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

Poor kid. Hopefully he pulls through. Have you named them yet?


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## deedeeiam (Apr 8, 2014)

It kind of looks like a blister of sorts. You know, they have found Foot and Mouth disease in wild rats. (Not to be confused with the Hand, foot, and mouth thing humans get). That's viral and can be spread.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

She named hers wobbles (little one with mouth thing) and scooter. 
I haven't named mine yet. I don't want to jinx it.


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## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

My sister said you should have named him sloth from the goonies. Hahaha .


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## Mrs.Brisby (Jan 4, 2014)

They look like woodrats in my opinion. The nesting location and the fact that there was trash in the nest also suggests that they're woodrats. The description of the mother that was in your other post also makes it sound like woodrats.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

Wood rats have the longhair on their tails right? They don't have anything on their tails yet. 

I didn't name him or I probably would have named him something weird related. In case anyone is confused, the two are at another home. They aren't all together anymore.


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## Mrs.Brisby (Jan 4, 2014)

Not all of them have hairy tails. They do lack scales though.


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## Ladyfish_xx (Feb 26, 2013)

Oh gosh. Take the sweet baby to the vet. Yes, it costs a lot, but you chose to foster them. It will be more expensive down the line- that does not look like it is just going to go away, and that poor little guy could be suffering. I totally understand your being on the fence about financial issues, but I promise you, it is so much easier to know what is wrong and either treat it/put the poor thing down, than to just watch them suffer and worry what is wrong! Find an exotics vet (if you don't already have one), and get him checked out. Your peace of mind alone is worth the price, not to mention his!


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## Ladyfish_xx (Feb 26, 2013)

Where do you live, december333?


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## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

Ladyfish_xx said:


> Oh gosh. Take the sweet baby to the vet. Yes, it costs a lot, but you chose to foster them. It will be more expensive down the line- that does not look like it is just going to go away, and that poor little guy could be suffering. I totally understand your being on the fence about financial issues, but I promise you, it is so much easier to know what is wrong and either treat it/put the poor thing down, than to just watch them suffer and worry what is wrong! Find an exotics vet (if you don't already have one), and get him checked out. Your peace of mind alone is worth the price, not to mention his!


 they took this rat to the vet already."So they told her that it's not a bot fly and that they believe it's either an abscess or some sort of infection but because he is wild and so young they are not willing to work on him. -Also discovered his tummy is hard so she has to apply heat to it" Also, it isn't in OP care. It is in someone else's care.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

Scales? Lol


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## Pandorascaisse (Mar 12, 2014)

All our domestic rat's tails are covered in tiny little scales - this is why you must always wash your rat's tail in a down direction, never an up direction, because if you wash/groom upwards you will get dirt under their scales and it may become impacted.


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## magic_carrot (Jul 26, 2014)

I don't understand why they wouldn't work with wild baby rats.Their age makes it less probable for bad things like Listeria spp or Leptospira spp, the Rickettsia buddies, Hantavirus maybe, but yea wild rats can carry so many things I wouldn't keep them in my home as a pet...But treating one while wearing gloves doesn't seem dangerous.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

I'll take a better look at their tails next feeding. Now that you mention it their tails are smooth. I just thought it was because they were young.


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## EmilyGPK (Jul 7, 2014)

Depending on state law the vet may have legal reasons to not work on any/all captive wildlife. In different places there are different requirement and liabilities so it take a flowchart that looks like a submarine dashboard to work out what vets are meant/allowed to do.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

I'm trying to find a chart or something of the different species of rats to try and compare them too. It's a little hard though since they aren't fully developed.


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## Mrs.Brisby (Jan 4, 2014)

Well the brown rat is a very social species. So if the babies are brown rats you would think there would be a whole colony running around. You live in Maryland? If you do then you likely have an Eastern Woodrat. What scares me just a little though is that the Allegheny Woodrat also occurs in parts of Maryland and it's a threatened species. They prefer rocky places though so the chances are slim.


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## magic_carrot (Jul 26, 2014)

Are rats protected wildlife in any place?In most cases I hear killing them in order to protect wildlife and not the way around.


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## Mrs.Brisby (Jan 4, 2014)

Usually you can justify the killing of rodents because they are pests. However, some woodrats such as the Allegheny Woodrat are protected because they're a threatened species. A threatened species that just so happens to live in Maryland. You would kill the invasive rat species (black rat, brown rat) in order to protect native wildlife. However, the woodrat is a native species and it plays an important role in it's ecosystem so killing it would most likely hurt other wildlife.


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## EmilyGPK (Jul 7, 2014)

The legal statis of wildlife species is often rather complex. Often the people most on top of it are wildlife refuge centers.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

Here's some pictures I took today. One of the male's eyes has open. Upon further inspection, there tail has hair but I don't think it is scaled so I think wood rat might be right. As far as what type. I'm lost.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Brown rats have hair on their tail too. Looks brown to me.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

If they are just Norway rats, will they get real big? I saw a picture of one on a guys back... It was giant. And they girl who had found them did say the mom was the size of a chihuahua...


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Well they can get pretty big it varies rat to rat but I wouldn't expect wildies too. Mama rat would never be the size of a chihuahua unless the chihuahua was 8wks maybe. Wild rats are very lithe and slim.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

Ok. She was probably just exaggerating.


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## Mrs.Brisby (Jan 4, 2014)

So can you feel scales on their tales? A belly picture would help.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

I don't know what scales would feel like with them that small. It just feels soft and smooth to me. This was the best I could do with him being so squirmy. His tail is lighter tone on the bottom too.


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## Mrs.Brisby (Jan 4, 2014)

It will be easier to tell when they get a little bit older but i'm still leaning towards an Eastern Woodrat. http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/mrri/acechar/specgal/eastrat.htm


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## madihicks4 (Jul 2, 2014)

Eew it looks pretty gross. You should probs go to a vet asap


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

Wobbles has taken a decline. He is very cold and has stopped eating. She has been up since 4am (it's 10 now) messing with him trying to get him to eat or warm up. We fear he won't make it to tomorrow.


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## december333 (Aug 9, 2014)

He has passed on. Poor baby. At least he is in a better place and feeling no pain. 

I supposed this thread is not needed now. If anyone wishes to keep following their story of the other 3 here is the link to my other thread
Fostering wild rat babies HELP!! http://www.ratforum.com/showthread.php?t=219242


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## lovemyfurries (Aug 13, 2014)

I know I haven't said anything but have been following the story. Sorry to hear about little Wobbles, poor thing


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## Ladyfish_xx (Feb 26, 2013)

So sorry. You were so kind to him and I know he had a happy- if unfairly short- life, because of you!


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