[onisteverina]

So.. I feel horrible about this.. but one of my rats is not very friendly.. doesn't like being touched or held really besides a little side scratch every once in a while. Today he was on a position where I decided to just run my palm down his back.. which I normally don't do because he doesn't really like any attempt/motion to pick him up and I felt a rather large lump.. or course I then just grabbed him and took him out of the cage wrapped in a towel. The lumps is maybe a little smaller than the size of a nickel and is rased.. but freely moveable and not attached to anything under the skin.. it has the appearance of a huge blackhead (gross.. sorry) and is firm.. not compressible at all..and has some dark material dried up at the center (which reminds me of a blackhead)... I'm thinking that maybe this was an abscess that dried up and is all hard now? I tried warm compressing it this evening but I don't think it is going to do much.. any suggestions on what to do? Will these guys just eventually pop out and go away? Any idea what it could be? I was really suprised that something so big could be hidden my his hair.. but it isn't noticeable at all under his coat.

 

[kksrats]

Sounds like an abscess. You can try holding a warm compress on it a few times a day if he'll let you, but considering your description of his personality, you may want to just take him to the vet to have it lanced. You'll still have to keep it clean after that, but it speeds the process along a bit. The black area of the skin is necrotic tissue so the sooner the abscess can be resolved the better.

 

[onisteverina]

Soo.. ive kind of messed with it.. and it is definitely dried material that is filling the "mass"... im thinking a sebaceous cyst that has gone crazy?... oyyyy.. so many issues with my pets lately