rat bites...WARNING graphic bloody pics

[Joanne]

I've been bitten by cats, dogs, hamsters, ferrets, horses (that really, really hurt!), a wild field mouse, a bull frog, and of course, a rat. My Jazzy was pregnant, and I had only had her for a week, and I kept trying to change her nest. She warned me first with a firm nip, but then when I didn't listen and came back a few minutes later, she truely bit me. My own fault. I still love cats, dogs, hamsters, ferrets, horses, mousies, frogs, and rats. It's just "Par for the course..." None of the animals was a mean and evil creature. It was lack of attention or doing stuff I shouldn't have done (for example, picking up a wild field mouse. What did I think he was going to do?!)

Keep your wound clean and let lots of air get to it without compromising hygiene. This will help it scab up and prevent proliferation of anaerobic bacteria. Watch for pus, increased swelling after a few days, heat and redness. Normal trauma - the swelling is worst two days afterwards, and then should start to decrease. Clear fluid oozing is normal, yellow/green pus is not. A fever is not normal.

 

[fenshae]

Oreo has made a dart for my eyes a couple of times.
My bed is like a sofa, pull-out sorta deal, and he was up on the "sofa" part, and i was laying down. I turned to see where he was, and (he was right next to my face) and made a snap at my eye.

I learned after they are intrigued by eyelashes?

Eyelashes....ahhh. Echo had an obsession with my eyelashes. She would climb up my face, pull my glasses down my nose, hold my eyelid down with her paws and groom my eyelashes. It was her favorite thing in the world and she was always very very gentle with me. Still, THE weirdest feeling ever.

 

[ryelle]

Ive had rats who lick to lick eyelids. I will only let certain rats near my face, and then it isnt for long lol. Patrick used to shove his head in peoples mouths >.<

 

[lilangel]

I got bit once and not as bad as i have seen in this topic now that i see, It was from Mozart a scared caged boy who seemed to have never had any interaction in the cage :roll: Was a breeder boy; But in time hubby got him out of his shell and he is now the sweetest boy ever but still has the "hum should i see them today" look but everytime he comes

 

[Bamboo]

Wow!! That's a bad one! I think everyone has already said it all, but I'll reiterate :wink: : put pressure on it to stop any bleeding and keep it clean! If you have any doubts (like you said you're feeling "sick") go to the doctor! If you don't like/trust your regular doctor is there a walk-in clinic that you could go to, or something like that?

I've been bitten by many of my animals, but never my rats (well, except for one grabby guy that I had a few years ago, but it was never serious and I started giving him his treats with a pair of hemostats lol) I always keep my tetanus shot up to date whenever I'm dealing with animals, and I always keep a complete first-aid kit handy. I'm pretty lucky because my grandmother and all my aunts are nurses and my mom is a paramedic, so they're always passing the newest info and techniques on to me lol.

 

[Dahr555]

Ouch, that is one bad bite. I got bitten by my late Donatello. He was the sweetest little guy in the world, I could have him on my lap, and he'd fall asleep. One day I was petting, him, and I'm guessing he started to have a seizure, and got really scared. I went to pick him up, and he bit my thumb pretty hard. I have a tiny mark there now. It wasn't very bad, but it hurt a lot!

 

[Rachael]

sometimes the smallest ones hurt sooo bad!!

debbie bit me tonight but it's not going to scar, just a scratch.

 

[Cigar]

I've only been severely injured by a rat's bite once and I wish now that I had taken pictures when it happened.

I startled Morris about 2 days before Lindy came to pick him up and he got me GOOD. Turns out he bit directly into the nerve canal in my right finger and it became severely infected. For the next 3 weeks I was in and out of emergency rooms (the first one gave me a bandaid lol), having emergency surgery on 2 separate occasions, or writhing in pain at home. The oral antibiotics weren't accomplishing anything; my hand was swollen at least 3 times larger than normal up to my wrist and it was spreading. During surgery they could never find the infection because it was so deep and they didn't want to snap more tendons/open the bite further to continue searching. I ended up on IV with 2 separate courses of antibiotics for 3 days in the end and to this day I still can't figure out why they didn't do it in the first place. :gaah:

My finger now functions like a little claw. :giggle: It's fully extendable but remains swollen at the site and is sore from time to time. This is, obviously, permanent. SO YOU GUYS NEED TO BE CAREFUL!! anic:

Oh.. hahah. Edited to add that I received multiple visits in my hospital room and phone calls for the following month from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. I stressed that he was a 100% domestic rat, living in a sanitary environment, who had been evaluated by a veterinarian but the man who was responsible for contacting me couldn't speak english very well and was bloody annoying. :wallbang:

 

[LA]

My philosophy is there are no bad rats there are just owner either not paying attention, not reading body language or doing something 'stupid'. I'm sure everyone will say 'it wasn't the rats fault'. It is good to have a thread like this to make everyone aware that bites do happen. More often in the troubled rats. This sort of thing needs to be discussed.

I had never been bitten until Melody. She had been neglected. She didn't trust humans and is blind. I stupidly put my baby finger between the bars. Luckily my nail was bitten by the long teeth and the fleshy part by the top teeth. I wasn't a bad bite but man did it hurt.

Here is the bite. She punctured my nail.

 

[MomRat]

OW! LA, I feel for you... that looks like what it feels like to run a sewing machine through your fingernail... no fun!

 

[henry's_mum]

OW! LA, I feel for you... that looks like what it feels like to run a sewing machine through your fingernail... no fun!

:laugh4:
i've done this about 4 times too!
can anyone say BLONDE????

 

[Rachael]

I've only been severely injured by a rat's bite once and I wish now that I had taken pictures when it happened.

I startled Morris about 2 days before Lindy came to pick him up and he got me GOOD. Turns out he bit directly into the nerve canal in my right finger and it became severely infected. For the next 3 weeks I was in and out of emergency rooms (the first one gave me a bandaid lol), having emergency surgery on 2 separate occasions, or writhing in pain at home. The oral antibiotics weren't accomplishing anything; my hand was swollen at least 3 times larger than normal up to my wrist and it was spreading. During surgery they could never find the infection because it was so deep and they didn't want to snap more tendons/open the bite further to continue searching. I ended up on IV with 2 separate courses of antibiotics for 3 days in the end and to this day I still can't figure out why they didn't do it in the first place. :gaah:

My finger now functions like a little claw. :giggle: It's fully extendable but remains swollen at the site and is sore from time to time. This is, obviously, permanent. SO YOU GUYS NEED TO BE CAREFUL!! anic:

Oh.. hahah. Edited to add that I received multiple visits in my hospital room and phone calls for the following month from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. I stressed that he was a 100% domestic rat, living in a sanitary environment, who had been evaluated by a veterinarian but the man who was responsible for contacting me couldn't speak english very well and was bloody annoying. :wallbang:

omg ow

mine's looking better still not great, was yours anything like mine? (link in page1)

 

[jennifervb]

The only boy ever to bite me was Albert.... on two occasions to be exact.

The first time was after a fight with Roquefort on my bedroom floor. Albert was so angry that he parked himself on my foot and drove his incisors into my big toe. I'm still trying to figure out how the fountain of blood did not make it onto my off-white carpet, but that little rat man was banned to his cage for the rest of the day. Needless to say, he was mortified and gazed at me, with a depressed little face, from underneath his fleece mountain. I gave him some treats and told him he was ok, but he didn't come back out.

He needed the down time. :roll:

The second time Albert bit me was because I was an idiot and tried to pick him up after another territorial face off with Roquefort on my bed.

The puncture wound went through the center of my middle finger and actually bruised my finger on the other side.

I had to have a tetanus shot and the doctor told me that it would get better and then worse again as the damaged tissue rose to the top.

It took that bite over 6 months to heal completely and it took 4 days for the swelling to go down. (try explaining that to your rat unfriendly colleagues!!!)

After their respective neuters.... Albert and Roquefort were able to share a home with the resident males... nevermind the $530 it cost me to have both boys neutered ($265 per rat) and the copays and costs for my medical treatment and medications... so... about $800 later.... my boys were good to go and happy little cohorts in a colony.

No wonder I'm broke! :laugh4:

I tried telling this scenario to my mortgage lender when I was having trouble making my payments.... I think the loan officer is probably still in a state of neverending shock. I just love doing that to them. "OMG.... you have..... :shock: :shock: :shock: .... RATS???

They cost HOW MUCH to neuter????????????? :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: ....... :thud:

:laugh4: :bunnydance: :laugh4: :bunnydance: :laugh4: :bunnydance:

 

[Cigar]

Hm, doesn't look similar. I had alot of exposed fatty tissue and the wound was really gaping.

Can you clean up the clotted blood at all to see the bite better? Soak your hand in warm salt water, it'll draw infection out and soften the area up. Peroxide is good for breaking down scabs and I'd recommend using it after a long soak to keep the wound open. Don't apply polysporin or anything that will promote surface healing, you don't want to trap the infection. Holding your hand upright will be less painful.

I'd say it'd be worth an emergency room visit for a course of AB's if you run a constant fever, get shakey, or anything like that.

 

[Cait]

I've been bitten only a handful of times, but my most memorable was my first, by Mr. Norrin. He meant it by golly. It bled for what felt like forever, and swelled like you wouldn't believe... He got a nerve and I still have little feeling in that finger. It's only now normal looking, and that was almost 2 years ago! It's still a bump/cyst deal where his bottom teeth went through my finger.

Day it happened

The next day

 

[Rachael]

Hm, doesn't look similar. I had alot of exposed fatty tissue and the wound was really gaping.

Can you clean up the clotted blood at all to see the bite better? Soak your hand in warm salt water, it'll draw infection out and soften the area up. Peroxide is good for breaking down scabs and I'd recommend using it after a long soak to keep the wound open. Don't apply polysporin or anything that will promote surface healing, you don't want to trap the infection. Holding your hand upright will be less painful.

I'd say it'd be worth an emergency room visit for a course of AB's if you run a constant fever, get shakey, or anything like that.

ah okay

it's not 'really gaping' yours, sounds a lot worse. :emb:

 

[Cigar]

How does it look today? Is there any discoloration? My hand turned every color in the rainbow hahah. Have you been soaking it? Like I said, if you're running a fever, feeling nauseous, have the shakes, etc. don't hesitate to get help. They should (IMO) prescribe something strong like oral zithromax - having a zithro IV is the worst. It feels like liquid fire in your veins and makes you toss your cookies.

 

[Rachael]

Hm... my hand shook a bit yesterday for a little while and when my brother was up he oted I was shaking (tho i didn't realise that...). Sometimes i feel sickish, and just a bit unwell. Usually wake up with a sore head. It's not that discoloured, but it's purple/red

 

[Cigar]

Hm... my hand shook a bit yesterday for a little while and when my brother was up he oted I was shaking (tho i didn't realise that...). Sometimes i feel sickish, and just a bit unwell. Usually wake up with a sore head. It's not that discoloured, but it's purple/red

It sounds like you do need medical attention. Letting it run its course would be a big mistake.

 

[fenshae]

I agree with cigar. :nod: