# Rescue Boy's Tail? Tail Rot...?



## Mousey (Oct 23, 2012)

I noticed one of my older rescue boys' tail is very abnormal looking. It is very scaly and appears as if it is flaking off. It looks very painful and bumpy - reptile like. What is this? What do I need to do to treat it? Are my other boys at risk, and what is this caused by?! It looks so terribly uncomfortable 


Thank you!


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

How long have you had him?

This isn’t an illness at all, it’s kind of like rat dry skin. The scales on rats tails go through a cycles like there skin cells, when they get old they get bigger, become loose then flake off. If the tail has got a bit mucky in that time (which is highly likely as its on a rat) the scales will appear darker. If this guy is relatively new (last month or so) then it’s probably that his diet has improved when he’s come to you and his tail is finally catching up nutritionally (a dry flakey tail is often a sign of too little oil in there diet or a protein imbalance). It might just be that he’s moulting a little slowly at the moment which is why it looks bad. The tail underneath looks nice and healthy, does it feel dry at all or is it nice and smooth underneath the old scales? If it feels dry at all try adding a bit of good quality oil to a wet meal once a week. You can also massage it directly into the tail if needed

I would suggest giving his tail a clean once a week for a few weeks to get rid of the old loose scales. This is easily done, just get hold of a cheap soft tooth brush and a cheap sponge with scouring side. Tear the scorer bit off the sponge (this is softer than a shop bought scouring pad so better). Get some soap, I find shampoo or handsoap works well, and a cup full of warm water. Sit your lad on a towel on your knee with everything to hand and get the scorer bit wet and soapy. Pull it down the tail a few times (never towards the body) twisting slightly as you pull it. This gets the loosest stuff off and any general muck. The take the toothbrush and get that wet and soapy, then gently brush his tail in a circular motion, you can go up the body with this but don’t scrub, your more interested in flicking off any loose scales than properly cleaning and rubbing hard will hurt. Once that’s done then just dry it off with a towel and pop a bit of fragrance free moisturiser or oil on it. I would expect most of the old scales to come off in the first week or two but it can take a bit longer for the stubborn ones to shift. If they are very loose you can sometimes flick them off with your finger nail if your gentle too.


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## Smilebud (Jul 31, 2012)

Sorry Mousey, I'm about to hijack this topic.
Okay, so I was just about to post somthing about this problem in my friend's rat. She has had these scales since My friend got her. The rat is about could be anywhere from 6-8 months old. My friend has had her for about 4-5 months, and she still has these weird scales. The thing is, the don't flake off. They have been in the same pattern on the tail since I first saw her (the day after she brought her home). It's not dry, just bumpy. Her tail looks the exact same as these pictures. Any advice?


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

that is just a lovely dirty tail that needs washing or at least wiping down if your rat will let you. I use Dawn dish soap, and a tooth brush for my filthy tails. But you can wait until he trusts you more. I have some girls with worse tails than that...when the scales start to lift then you could be looking at health problems from all the buildup, but yours aren't that bad.


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