gash! What to do??

[ChrisK]

Day three intros between Petit Chef and Skittles didn't go well. They rumbled and we quickly grabbed them and separated them, but I found poor Skittles had a gash on her back. It's red and open-looking, but blood is not coming out of it, 'though it looks as if it bled. I wiped/patted it with a wet towel to try to clean it + the fur covering it.

Is it best to just leave the gash to heal on its own? Or should I be putting something else on it? I am concerned she might be able to reach/groom/ingest anything I put on it... but don't want it to get infected.

Think we'll take a break from intros for a few days, at least until the gash is healing nicely..

argghhhh

 

[henry's_mum]

I would leave it, but keep an eye on it.
I've had this happen while doing intros in the past and rats heal suprisingly fast!
Keep it clean, and her cage, and let them rest from any intros for a bit.

 

[victoria]

If she's in pain I would give her some Metacam but otherwise just keep it clean and an eye on it. You can use saline or an antiseptic on it a couple of times a day to kill any buggies. :hugs: to you and Skittles.

Edit: Lynds beat me to it.

 

[Joanne]

Sometimes I will cut back the hair around the wound to help keep it clean.

 

[lilspaz68]

Those I usually leave alone...its more of a slice through the skin, and the skin tension opens it right up. Dr Munn assured me there aren't as many blood vessels or nerves there so its probably not bothering her much at all.

 

[jorats]

Gashes are common during intros and not really indicative that things will go badly from here. Keep doing your intros. How old is Petit Chef, I forgot.

 

[ChrisK]

Gashes are common during intros and not really indicative that things will go badly from here. Keep doing your intros. How old is Petit Chef, I forgot.

By best estimate, Petit Chef is one year old.

 

[jorats]

If he's 12 months and up, he'll get over this phase of the intro. If he's closer to 8 months, it might be trickier.

 

[smmmiley]

His previous owners had him for a year... that was in December.

 

[ChrisK]

Ahhh... thanks Smmmiley and Jorats. So he's about a year and 5 months now.

We've proceeded with mini-intros this weekend, and will take more time for it again tonight. It's really been amazing getting to know this little guy. He's a major sweetheart of a boy. Tons of get up and go, very friendly with people, and he's really excelling at his big brother role with Trust.

I put a hammock in the cage the other day and Petit Chef and Trust spend all sorts of time snuggling together in it. It's very sweet.

But with Skittles, Petit Chef is showing somewhat more aggressive tendencies. It's challenging to not be overprotective of Skittles during intros. She's an older girl and has a few tumors that are beginning to get in her way somewhat. So I do want to protect her, but still let the two of them figure each other out.

We've been doing mini-intros with them and Skittles the last two days. By that I mean we let Trust and Skittles out together for a while. Then we put Petit Chef and Skittles out for a while. That way Skittles meets only one at a time. It changes the dynamic some. Tonight we'll have them all out together again.

Thanks for the support and info!

 

[smmmiley]

Oops! Did I say, December... hehe... It was in March... here's my original post with pics. of Petit Chef. He is a sweetie! We would've had him neutered ourselves if Rk hadn't contacted us. We 'swapped' Petit Chef for Honey. lol


viewtopic.php?f=54&t=23953

I've dealt with a fair amount of cuts/gashes. I like to cut the hair shorter around the bigger cuts so I can better keep an eye on it, and clean it, if needed. It depends where the gash is though. A gash over Elliott's eye healed really well; the other girls helped her clean it up, and now you can't tell anything ever happened. However, with our older girl, Ginger... she's going to lose her eye. She's super skittish and hard to hold still so I let her be... I should've kept on top of it better... it abscessed into her eye socket, pushing her eyeball down... still giving her antibiotics daily waiting for all this to heal up. She's still so kissy/licky through it all... such a trooper. Sweet Gingey.

Intros. are tough... and so different with the ages, etc... Keep it up! Things will come around, and if they don't, Skittles is having time with rats again, and she LOVES you for it!!! :heart:

 

[jorats]

You're doing great!

 

[RKbusy]

I should have been paying attention to this thread >.<

Oh NO oh no! Poor Skittles. Gah. I really hope Petit Chef gets over this soon.

 

[ChrisK]

We had all three of them out last night at the same time and all went well... but... we had a short intro. I hope that tonight and tomorrow morning we'll have longer intros.

In the meantime, I'm finding that introducing Trust and Skittles continues going easily. So, I think we're okay so far. It's just a slow process.

Skittles' gash is still healing and looks fine. And there have been no further gashes since the first one (fingers crossed)

 

[jorats]

I'm betting that gash happened because Skittles got too worried when Petit Chef wanted to dominate her which is very normal for him to do...nothing intentional.