seizure disorder runt and mom -i found blood

Question
I got two female rats back in late January of 08 -both young. I was ignorant and the breeder was irresponsible and i soon had a litter from each girl. I was able to find safe homes for all of them but I kept two boys from the second litter and the mom and her runt from the first litter. All four have seen a vet before and aside from her seizures, the runt is perfectly healthy and of good weight. The mom is also okay but I'm concerned because I just noticed blood in patches on her tail. a couple months ago we caught a wild rat in the house who had been beating up all four of mine (bite a toe off one of the boys, scratched up all their faces, and thats when I first saw these two teeth marks on mom, they had gotten into fights through the cage bars). I figured the teeth marks were from the wild rat. The rats have all since recovered and seen the vet and are fine. Until now things have been fine. The runt still has violent seizures frequently and seizes every day/night. A few nights ago I thought she had died from impact when I found her upside down on the stairs. Mom was fine. the mom takes care of the runt and the runt is very docile when not seizing. I noticed the blood on the moms tail...nowhere else on her. and I've never seen any blood on the other and from the little I saw of her today, she seems to have no wounds. Could the mom have bitten herself from anxiety etc? the two have never been separated and although the runt's seizures can be violent (thrashing and sparatic), the mom has always kept her distance during them and lets it play out. Do you think the runt is the one who bite the mom? It really doesn't seem to be in her nature. I can tell the mom is stressed to a degree because her hair is thinning a bit due to over grooming. other than the old teeth marks I see no injury sight. the tail just seems to have blood all over it for no reason. Im worried maybe the runt was hurt during a seizure. I can't seem to get her calmly to the top of the tank/cage. but I guess my real concern is do rats ever self injure? I had a bird once that mutilated himself when his cagemate died.

Answer
Hi Becky, You say your rat is an excessive groomer it may be the mucus in her nose and mouth that is red and not blood. If it is blood it is highly possible that rat with seizures caused it. No matter how docile it is right before the seizure it can lash out because of the brain complications. I would keep and eye on them and see. I HIGHLY doubt the mother is biting herself. Rats would only do this if there is something wrong with that body part so if she is biting herself she needs to go back to the vet.    

Good luck!

Emily Harris