All four of my boys have filthy tails... I change their bedding weekly and pick out feces daily (trying to litter train them, but it is a slow process). I washed their tails today with some baby shampoo, but is this normal for younger male ratties? Their bodies are clean, but their tails are horrid!!

Rats groom in a certain pattern called the cephalocaudal grooming sequence

from http://www.ratbehavior.org/Glossary.htm#CCG

Cephalocaudal groom ("CCG"): Grooming sequence of face and body (common to all rodents). The rat starts by licking the paws, then rubs them over the head. This is followed by licking and rubbing the side of the body, the anogenital region, and the tail. The sequence may be anywhere from loosely organized to very stylized, performed in a similar or identical fashion each time. In rats, most sequences appear to be loosely organized. The grooming sequence may be interrupted at any point, and it seems that rats usually stop before grooming their tails.

Some rats will just start with their tails so they have a clean base then the rest is filthy LOL

With tail cleaning, I get dawn dishsoap and a soft old toothbrush, a towel and a long-sleeved shirt and an empty counter top.

Have everything ready to go before you get the rat. For a really filthy tail you might want to fill up your bathroom sink with 1-2" of warm water. Put the rat in the sink and try to keep them in there so that their tail soaks for a minute or so. There's 2 methods to keeping a rat in the sink. One is to hold the rat around the torso, and let them rest on you once they stop tryign to get away...or you can put your hands over their head so when they try to jump up out of the sink your hand is a roof preventing it. You have to figure out which one is least stressful for your rat. For moderately dirty tails I just use my fingers and the tap to get the tail wet. Then I take the dawn liquid dish soap and putting some on my fingertips, I rub it gently into the tail in a sideways downwards (to the tip) motion, working my way down the tail. At this point you are chasing your rat's tail (with rat attached) around the counter. Then you take the tooth brush (I usually dampen it) and in a down towards the tip motion and short strokes I brush the tail gently...more chasing of the tail LOL

Once this is done, you can rinse the tail and it should be a lot better. Filthy tails can cause skin issues, and infections on the tail, so its best to clean them if they get that bad.

If its only mildly dirty, use a baby wipe and wipe down the tail...this can take off the worst.

I took each of them up separately after filling the sink with tepid water and preparing a damp washcloth with baby shampoo and putting a towel down. I put each on the towel and gently held them there. I wet the tail, then wiped it down with an unsoaped corner of the washcloth (from root to tip), then with a well soaped corner, then rubbed gently around the tail all the way down until it was all nice and clean. Then I rinsed the tail with the warm water in the sink and patted dry. Uke was the hardest to do, the rest pretty much stayed still and didn't fuss too much.

Oh, my boys all go to get a basic exam from Dr. Bostick at St. Francis Animal Hospital on Monday... He charges $25 for the office visit and $20 per rat for the exam. After that, we can schedule the neutering for the three aggressive boys at $75 each. (Ouch, but reasonable, I guess).

I took each of them up separately after filling the sink with tepid water and preparing a damp washcloth with baby shampoo and putting a towel down. I put each on the towel and gently held them there. I wet the tail, then wiped it down with an unsoaped corner of the washcloth (from root to tip), then with a well soaped corner, then rubbed gently around the tail all the way down until it was all nice and clean. Then I rinsed the tail with the warm water in the sink and patted dry. Uke was the hardest to do, the rest pretty much stayed still and didn't fuss too much.

Oh, my boys all go to get a basic exam from Dr. Bostick at St. Francis Animal Hospital on Monday... He charges $25 for the office visit and $20 per rat for the exam. After that, we can schedule the neutering for the three aggressive boys at $75 each. (Ouch, but reasonable, I guess).


75!? Thats an amazing price!!! As long as this vet is reliable, and knows what they are doing; then you are getting a great deal.
And even those regular prices are very reasonable. Is this vet an exotic vet I hope? And one with a lot of experience with rats? You do not even want to know some of the horrors that happen the rats not properly neutered, internal bleeding, abscessing, and other things.

Wow, your vet is cheap. Lucky duck, especially if he knows his stuff!

Turns out, it is really $120... the $75 is JUST the neutering... as if you'd have it done sans anesthesia?! ($45 for the gas)