Leg Injury

[Sithraviel]

I have two rats (one is a ship rat the other i just recently adopted.)

The larger rat "attacked" the little one and now he refuses to walk on on his back legs (he hops and shfflues and drags it but no walking) I can't afford to see a vet untill friday. I've tried calling the vets in my area but theve all said unless i have $ they wont help me. Theve all told me to call the SPCA Animal hospital.

I've tried calling them and either no one picks up or i get stuck in "press 1 for.. " land. There now closed and don't open till monday.

I know he need to ge see a vet.

I've isolated him in a seprate cage given him food, water and hidey places.

What else can I do?

 

[eagle]

Can you get a picture of the injury and post it Do you have any infant ibuprofen. How old is the rat that was bitten? Are you able to weigh him also?

 

[victoria]

Also, which rat is the larger one? How old is the rat you recently adopted?

 

[SQ]

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=25343

 

[Sithraviel]

Can you get a picture of the injury and post it Do you have any infant ibuprofen. How old is the rat that was bitten? Are you able to weigh him also?

I've got pictures uploading right now. I believe I can borrow something from my neighbor in order to get some. As far As I know we don't have any in the house.

He wasn't actually bitten. There wasn't any blood as far as i could tell.

I don't have a scale currently, I was planning on getting one this Friday and than this happened.

Also, which rat is the larger one? How old is the rat you recently adopted?

The new rat is larger. The shelter when I got him said he was about a year old but didn't know anything about him beyond "he's a male dumbo rat" He's at least double the size of the male I had before I got him.

He dosn't seem to even really notice it. He's perfectly happy to try to climb me, granted he cant do it as well three legged. I'm worried because he isn't using it at all.

http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=25343

Thanks for posting this! This is the little guy who was "attacked"

 

[Sithraviel]

Pictures up loaded, Sorry there not the best, but little mo wont stay still for pictures.

This is how he has been walking lately by dragging this one foot behind him;


DSC03364 by wolvenspine, on Flickr


DSC03360 by wolvenspine, on Flickr


DSC03359 by wolvenspine, on Flickr

But I did catch this while taking pictures. He started putting weight on it. Possibly a good sign?


DSC03361 by wolvenspine, on Flickr

 

[victoria]

It looks like a sprain which is a pretty common injury. It doesn't seem too swollen either. Where you introducing them when the injury happened or was it during a scuffle/fight in the cage?

 

[Sithraviel]

It looks like a sprain which is a pretty common injury. It doesn't seem too swollen either. Where you introducing them when the injury happened or was it during a scuffle/fight in the cage?

It was an In-cage fight. I was asleep when it happened.

My Mum broke it up, but she said the mo (the little black one) was on top of the other rat (Frank) grooming his head and Frank flipped out and tried to pin him down.

So I guess once mo is better it's going to be back to the beginning of intros?

 

[victoria]

How long have they been living together? If they generally get along well, a sprain is no reason to split them up. You may want to keep an eye on them the first few hours they are back together just to be safe.

If they're not getting along well, then you have to go back to intros when he gets better. Did you ever contact LMR about ship rats and Norway rats living together? Did they give you any advice?

 

[Dazzle87]

Sounds like it was an accident, I don't think I'd seperate.

To others: is it me or do the big eyes and ears scream dwarf?

 

[victoria]

Sounds like it was an accident, I don't think I'd seperate.

To others: is it me or do the big eyes and ears scream dwarf?

It's a ship rat (Rattus rattus), not a Norway rat.

 

[fenshae]

You can tell by the tail especially -- see how it's long and straight, not tapered down? Gosh he is SO cute. Hope he gets to feeling better.

 

[Sithraviel]

How long have they been living together? If they generally get along well, a sprain is no reason to split them up. You may want to keep an eye on them the first few hours they are back together just to be safe.

If they're not getting along well, then you have to go back to intros when he gets better. Did you ever contact LMR about ship rats and Norway rats living together? Did they give you any advice?

They hadn't been living together for very long maybe a week?

When I called my local vet they said to put him in a separate cage (granted they also said if I didn't bring him in NOW he was going to have to be put to sleep and I got off of the phone with them feeling like an absolutely horrible person for not being prepared for this)

I'm not entirely sure how well they were getting along to begin with (these are the first rats I've ever had!) they seemed to be fine with each other in the cage (Its a CN ) they had a small squabble over a hammock and mo seemed to rush at the other rat, sniff than run off (thats also what he did durring the intros as well) and the other rat just seemed puzzled at what was going on. At one point Frank (the bigger rat) did chase mo.

I did contact LMR the lady who replied to my email sent me a link to a webpage (this one; http://members.madasafish.com/~cj_white ... s/Menu.htm ) and I never heard from them again (and I did send a follow-up email because there so busy I didn't want to get lost in all of her other emails)

If all else really fails I can always purchase the add on for my cage and house them separately, Id rather purchase it so they have more space though!

 

[victoria]

A sprain is not something life threatening, although it can be quite painful for a few days. (If there's a lot of swelling, it can be dangerous but Mo's foot doesn't look very swollen.) A lot of vets don't know a lot about rat behaviour and tell you to separate on a whim but it's often not necessary and sometimes it can be harmful. If it was just a squabble I would put them back together. (The occasional squabble is perfectly normal.) I was being overly cautious in my last post because I don't know a lot about ship rats and was concerned about the size difference. Keep an eye on them and if something feels off, separate them then.

If you aren't sure about their behaviour you can always make some videos and get opinions from other members.

 

[fenshae]

I concur with Victoria -- the leg looks like it's in good shape, not swollen/discolored. Sprains are pretty common in cage fight situations, is my experience. Easy to get knocked into or off of something. Especially since this little guy doesn't have all the genetic conditioning that domestic rats do. From what I've read, roof rats fight a bit differently than norway rats so he might have a hard time adjusting to the cage atmosphere.

Boys will be boys, and they scuffle a lot. Expect them to play very rough when they get older. But this I'm guessing was more of an accident than aggression, seeing as it's a sprain and not a bleeding wound

Also, seems like it may be time to go vet searching. I hate vets who don't know what they're doing....

 

[Sithraviel]

Yesterday/Today little mo has started to put the leg down and attempt to walk on it! His toes are still together and he dose have a bit of a limp and is still dragging his foot every now and again.

Is this normal?

 

[lilspaz68]

sounds like he is on the mend. I agree with the others, he should be just fine.

How did he and his much bigger friend get along for that week? did they sleep together, groom each other etc? or was it all puffed fur and tension?

 

[Moon]

I don't think that Rattus Rattus and Rattus Norvegicus are always able to live together, are they?

 

[Sithraviel]

I don't think that Rattus Rattus and Rattus Norvegicus are always able to live together, are they?

I don't honestly know, I was passed a web page that is somewhat of a "so you have a ship rat" type of thing that says it is possible! (LMR gave it to me so I'm assuming its reputable)

At the moment I'm getting the add on for my CN (i have to have it shipped USPS and go across the border to pick it up) and just not joining the two cages together, I tried to re-introduce the two of them together and it did not go well at all. The cage mo is in right now is not adequate at all for him so if they do decided at some point to like each other than they will have a double to run around in. I'm just going to keep trying, untill someone says no dont stop! or it looks like there really is no hope at all that there going to get along.

Right now I really have no idea what to do, introducing these two isn't easy mo runs and climbs away and frank (the other rat) just sits there.