Grimy tails

Sun Feb 05, 2006 8:57 am

It wasn't until today I realized that the brownish colouring of my rats' tails wasn't actually "just the way rat tails are coloured" but in fact is because they are absolutely filthy! Their tails were already brown and grimy when I got them, so I didn't know.
I took a wash cloth with some kitten shampoo and tried as best as I could to clean them. I got a fair amount of it off and the surface of the tails look nice and pink. Now the problem is that there's some deep filth caked under the 'scales' of their tails. It's very obvious, quite smelly and I'm not sure if dirt is supposed to be under there. Could it cause infection? How do I get it out?
I tried brushing it out with an old soft toothbrush (base to tip so as to not cram the dirt in further) but it didn't do much.
I was thinking maybe soaking them in water for a few minutes to soften up the dirt, but I doubt they'd stay in water for longer than 3 seconds.

How do you guys clean tails? Do you leave the dirt under the 'scales'? If not, then how on earth do you get it out? Shocked

Sorry if this should go in that "BATHING RATS... OR NOT" sticky. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to post my own questions in there or if that topic was just for reference if I needed an answer for something.
Thanks!

Sun Feb 05, 2006 10:08 am

You can indeed post in the sticky threads - it saves the moderators moving useful posts later on. wink

I'd say, try to soak their tails if you can and give the tails a number of washes over a few days which should help. You say that it's smelly though - what does it smell of? I've never really noticed tails smelling particularly bad, and I would wonder if there is some kind of infection there that might be causing the smell and making the dirtiness worse..

If they will sit still on you long enough, you could simply cover the tails with a warm, damp cloth and let that soak the tails for a bit while you scritch them or bribe them with yoggies perhaps?

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sun Feb 05, 2006 10:26 am

Scritching and bribing, of course!
Their tails smell pretty strongly of urine (and now a hint of shampoo). It's possible that they drag their tail through their urine, I suppose, but all the floors are covered in fleece which is changed daily, so I wouldn't imagine it to be too easy to get into any urine puddles.
I'll see how it goes over the next few days of washing. Thanks a bunch for the info.

Sun Feb 05, 2006 9:39 pm

wow! I was just wondering this exact same thing today, and I was going to post also! Thanks for saving me the trouble wink

My ratties tails are filthy, too. I never knew how to clean them, or if I should even do that. You say the tails are actually PINK? lol

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Sun Feb 05, 2006 10:04 pm

One of my rats (Sunny) has a pink clean tail, but my other rat (Lola) seems to have a filthy tail, but whenever I give them a bath none of the dirty stuff comes off. Shrug

Maybe it is just a permanent discoloring, because her tail looked dirty when I got her like a year and a half ago.

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EMILY-------------------------------------------------

Rest in peace, Violet and Isadora. <3

Sun Feb 05, 2006 10:24 pm

Some tails are pink - some are dark where they're pigmented. If you have a dark coloured rat he may well have patches of pigmented skin (or even an entirely pigmented tail) - my Malachi was a black berks, and his tail was almost all black except the tip - which was pink. lurve

Tails are often dirty - rats can be notoriously bad about cleaning them - let me see if I can find the post I made on the subject....

http://www.ratpalace.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=21146&highlight=

There we go.

A soft toothbrush and some soap or pet shampoo and water - scrub gently, in one direction only (base of tail where it joins the body to the tip, never the other way in case you hurt the tail). If you can soak it, then that might help to remove old congealed crud. Sometimes, just giving a regular wipe from base to tip with a damp cloth or pet safe wipe can keep things clean without the need for bathing and bribery. Mr. Green

It is going to be down to the pee and poop - they do tend to end up dragging the tail through both pee and poop (which can form a horrible sticky gunk over time), and dirty tails are especially an issue if they're weak at the back end, old, infirm, otherwise unwell, have been kept in grotty conditions beforehand or have given birth recently... but even completely healthy rats will get a least some waste on the tail at some point, and are often too lazy or too easily distracted to clean it properly. Rolling Eyes

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~