Can rat's have sensitive skin?

Two of my brother rat's out of 5 seem to have sensitive skin. If you scratch there backs to hard, or when I dry them with a towel after playing in the water, they squeak. Also when their brothers clean them, they let out big squeaks. Has anyone experienced this before? if so is there anything I can do?

I do have a vet appointment, but not until Friday

Any suggestions would help

 

[jorats]

Do the rats get bathed a lot or play in the water a lot?
This removes the essential oils produced by the rat. Too much and you will totally dry out their skin.

But squeaking could also be protesting and not pain.

 

I was giving them bath's often first ..because I never new any different. But now I don't and only 2 boys out of the 5 are like it. So maybe it is protest? if it is because their skin is dry, is there anythng I can do to help?

 

[ryelle]

if the skin was dry it would be very visible. There would be a lot of flakes of skin coming off the rat - almost like dandruff. I had a lot of problems with skin issues with Sid. They started off when he was really young and his fur started to get patchy really quick, he got scabs all over his body and he had parts of his fur that were just matted with dry flakes of skin. He would also get patches of skin around his neck and sholders that would go red raw. It wasn't a fun time

 

[jorats]

Ya, you'd see it if the skin was drying out. I bet they are just protesting.

 

[MomRat]

We have had some that squeak during baths, and some that suffer in silence. =) Squeaking when the others groom them can also just be a submission thing.

 

[ryelle]

also, i find rubbing them dry with a towel is too rough. You aren't supposed to towel dry a rat, they dry themselves off by grooming, you just need to keep them warm

 

They do have some flakes in their fur! and their tails are rathy scally. I used to have the heat in their roomreally warm, I turned it down a bit ..because I think it was drying out their skin and tails. My vet said to give them some olive oil on whole wheat bread to get some mositure into their skin, is there anything else I could do ?

 

[ryelle]

the bread soaked in olive oil is really effective you could add olive oil to baby foods and oatmeal aswell

 

I find it works well, How oftern should I give it, I only haven been giving it once every 2 weeks, So I do more? or less?

 

[Moon]

A little bit of oil daily will help their coats, and if you use something like flax seed oil, it's high in all the good omega fatty acids.

 

Do you think I should be using flax seed oil or olive oil?

 

[Moon]

Either one is a healthy addition to their diet, but I have read that flax seed oil has a more "ideal" combination of Omegas than other oils like safflower... that the ratios are just right. Salmon oil is supposed to be especially good in that way, better than Cod Liver Oil.

But, that's all Omega 3/6/9 stuff, and if all we're really concerned about is coat condition, olive oil that is cheap and already in your home is great. If you think you'd like to start taking the flax seed oil yourself, by all means buy yourself a bulk jar of capsules and share with the ratties

 

How would you give them capsules?

 

[Moon]

Prick them and squeeze the oil out on to whatever you're putting it in!