Bad Wolf

i have two gorgeous little girl rats (Katie Yvonne and Stella Anne) that have not been going to well with each other. Katie is about 3 months older than Stella and is a little bit bigger.

Last year in July Stella had a bit of an accident. She slipped off a coffee table and landed head first on the ground. She severely "twisted" her neck. Her neck was at 180 degrees. Now her neck is about 30 degrees, i don't think she will ever be the same.

About months ago Stella started getting scabs or scratches all over her back, i fugured it was Katie being a brat to her. Katie still does attacks Stella now. Should I separate them?

There is a mouse with them as well for extra company, so should i move Stella into a seperate cage or should i move Katie into a seperate cage?

thanks for your answers

PS. sorry it's so long

aquarist48

Sorry your buddies aren't getting along. I would move the one causing the aggression.

Fishies-for-me

I also would move th aggressor....good luck.

Fishstick

Hmmm I had a pet rat for three years named Pearl (sadly I had to put her down because she had a tumor) but she did get scabs on her neck and back from scratching herself too hard. I used a nail file and filed her nails down a little. I also gave her a bath just incase something was making her skin extra tichy and that seemed to work. I am not sure if that is the case with your girls. But I read your post and it sounded like what Peal would do (scratch to hard)

serissime

I'm just curious, did you ever take Stella to the vet?

Bad Wolf

yes, i took her to the vet, i got this medicine, anti inflammatory, i think it was called? it cost like $40 and it didn't do anything and the appointment alone was $30.

serissime

I meant when she got her neck injury. She could have neurological damage. I could see how an alpha cagemate would take advantage of that. I'm not sure why your vet prescribed an anti inflammatory. Have you tried using triple antibiotic cream/neosporin on the scratches? I would also follow Fishstick's advice and file BOTH of their nails down. You could give Stella a bath with oatmeal to make her less itchy in case that is causing the problem. I would move Katie at least temporarily to see if Stella gets any better.

Bad Wolf

thanx, the vet said it might not be a neck injury, but a internal ear problem, causing her to be unbalanced. could this be the case?

serissime

Definitely. Although, in horses, head tilting can be signs of neurological damage.

Here is an article talking about inner ear problems. The cause of this is probably trauma. When you took Stella in and the vet said it was probably her ear, did he do any diagnostic tests on her to see if anything deeper was going on? (Like an infection) I'm not saying she has an infection like the article talks about, but she probably did injure her inner ear and there could have been some damage from inflammation or trauma.

Have you filed her nails or given her an oatmeal bath? Here is an article relating to dermatitis in case her scratches are due to accidental self-injury. Again, this may not be the case, but it would help to file nails/give bath anyways. Here is a detailed article about bathing. This is another set of ideas on the scabs/scratches. Here is a guide to clipping nails, which should be done about once a week. Be careful not to cut into the quick, which will cause a lot of bleeding.

I hope I'm not giving you too much at once. Don't panic at all these conditions, but calmly assess what you think is going on. You can give your vet's practice a call and often times a vet tech can help you over the phone.

Bad Wolf

thanks for all that, i will read them soon.

i'm a little scared with the cutting the nails because i did read this article like 3 months ago or so and it said that if you do cut to close to the actual finger, it will injure the rat. but i'll have to give it a shot. her nails are really long. i am going to separate tonight. my mum doesn't agree on 2 cages, so i'll have to convice her.

thanks for mensioning that any way.

Also, i'm not sure if my mum will agree on the oat meal baths. but i'll try and convince her.

thanks.

serissime

are her nails white/pink or black? If they are light colored, you should be able to see the quick.

oatmeal bath is nothing special, when you bathe her in the sink, put some raw oatmeal. i'd just take a handful

Bad Wolf

thanks

Fishstick

I never actually cut my rats nails because I was scared of hurting her. I did use a file which seemed to work. Good luck with your rats.