my hairless rat

Question
i need to know where i can get my hairless baby's nails cut, and what i can bathe him in he's long over due. i've had him since he was born and he has some minor birth defects. but other than that he's happy and healthy, but his skin is starting to stain because his love for sleeping on wet food pieces.  also what i can do for his dry skin, i'm scared to use anything he might lick or bite at, any suggestions.

Answer
Dear Sam,
thank you for your question.
You can cut the nails yourself with a nail clipper, just make surfe that you only clip the very tip. If you don't want to do it yourself or want to have it shown to you, a vet can do it. www.rmca.org/Vets has a list of vets that will treat rats. If you place a tile with the rough side up or a rough stone in the cage, maybed under the food dish, the nails will be kept short.

I wouldn't bathe him at all, it's a lot of stress for rodents and he may catch a cold. You can clean his skin by rubbing him down with a soft washcloth and lukewarm water. There's shampoo/soap for kittens, that would be safe to use, but wash him down with clear water after using it. Vaseline is safe and great for dry skin, you need only to use very little. Humilac is another product that works very well with dry skin, you can buy it from your vet. But many hairless rat owners recommend not using lotions at all, but giving the rat some olive oil (on bread for example) as a steady part of their diet. You need to experiment a bit to find out how much is needed, a teaspoon two times a weeks seems like a good starting point.

I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer