Bleeding foot?

Question
QUESTION: I just put one of my rats back only to see that the cage bedding was bloody. It turns out my rats foot is bleeding, not the nail but her foot. I stopped the bleeding, but any ideas on how she bled in the first place?

ANSWER:   It's actually pretty common for rats to get their foot caught in cage bars, their wheel, or anything else that may be in the cage.  Sometimes it's a sharp edge in the cage, sometimes it is just the way they happened to twist their foot and get stuck and they bite at their foot to get free.  I've had it happen to my rats several times, and in fact about two months ago one of my boys lost a toe by getting stuck in the bars and twisting about as the tried to get himself free.  If you mean to say that it happened when she was out of the cage, she may have cut herself on her own nail, or perhaps a zipper on your clothes.  The skin on their feet is very thin and can become cut pretty easily.  She also may have had a previous cut that came open when you took her out.

 If the bleeding is stopped and the foot isn't swollen it will likely be all right, just keep an eye on it.  If you think she may be in pain, the foot is swollen, or she is picking at the cut you can give her Ibuprofen at a dose of 0.03mg / g of the rat's weight (Motrin made for infants is great as it is at a higher concentration).  Rats usually heal quite quickly and it will most likely be just fine in a few days.  Keep the cage clean so that bacteria from urine or feces doesn't enter the wound and keep an eye on the wound to make sure it is healing properly and not becoming infected.

 Hope that helps, good luck with your rat!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Her toe is kinda swollen, any ideas on how to make it go down? Thank you so much for your help so far, I am new at taking care of rats.

Answer
 I'd recommend the Ibuprofen for swelling as mentioned previously, but you can try a cool compress if she will sit still.  If it's only slightly swollen it's probably all right, but when it gets really big or she is favoring it then some medicine is definitely in order.  If the swelling gets bad and doesn't go down with medicine after 48 hours you may want to consult a veterinarian.