Rat tumor?

Question
I basically have the same problem that a girl Rachel had asked about. She had a rat with a growth and it turned out to be a mammary tumor I think. My rat B.J. is about 3 years old and has had this growth for about a month and a half now. My friend had him and said it started out real small, she left and went to Oklahoma for a couple weeks and when she got back it was about the size of a golf ball. She contacted me and I took him in about 2 weeks ago. Now the growth is quite a bit bigger and with it being a male I don't know how common a mammary tumor is. I have a link to a video but I will still upload some pictures as soon as I can. At this time I need to know if it's an abscess because I believe I can get it to rupture and be able to care for him, or if it's a tumor. This is the link to the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82qAJTY3INI

Answer
Its a mammary tumor. Its not as common for males to have them but they do occur. They are almost always benign which is good news.

It should be removed, but I am leary of his age. You would need a top notch surgeon that has tons of experience with small exotic companion mammals...one that wont rape the wallet, one that doesnt lie about his expertise...many of them claim they are experts, but have no formal education as far as exotic medicine is concerned.

What is your location? Just for grins I want to see who would be the best vet in your area should you decide to do the surgery. I would be leary at his age, but did get a message from a woman who just had her 4 year old go through surgery for a mammary tumor and it went perfect other than the fact the rat kept chewing his stitches!