Rats, Disease

Question
When i woke up this morning and went to feed my pet rats i noticed that one of them had a gigantic lump on her side( around the size of her head). it had appeared quickly because i had been playing with her last night and it had not been there. it is on her shoulder and is under the skin(not a strange colour).uld you please tell me what you think it is ASAP!!!!! If you do thank you so much...
If you don't now could you tell me what i could do to find out.


Answer
Hi Ellen!

Chances are, its an abscess, which is very common to occur in rats. Rats, just like humans, carry normal bacteria flora on their skin and if they get scratched or cut or even bit, sometimes the bacteria gets trapped and a pocket of pus forms, making an abscess. Sometimes it comes to a head and will burst on its own or with the help of the rat, but other times it may need help from either his keeper or the vet.
Its pretty simple but requires a strong stomach, I wont lie.
You should wear plastic gloves during this process to prevent the rat from further infection and also, again, beware that this may have an offensive odor and is not for someone with a weak stomach.
Apply a warm compress to the are several times a day for as long as the rat will tolerate it, that is.  If you see PUS Coming to this surface, continue applying gentle pressure and it will end up bursting. Once all of the contents comes out, you will want to irrigate it with a bulbed syringe using saline solution followed by either washing the area with diluted diluted chlorhexadrine or diluted betadune, NEVER use peroxide as this damages the delicate skin on the rat. Last, apply neosporin ointment into the "hole" that may be left once all the contents has been expelled.

It may fill up again or it may close up and go away. Usually they disappear once they drain with the fur growing back and you would never know anything ever was there.
If it continues to get bigger after another week or so and never comes to a head, she will need to be checked out by a vet, but because it appeared basically over the course of a 24 hour period, I am 99 percent positive it is an abscess.