Her tail had been injured a while ago.. and it was slightly black the end. ..but the vet just said i shud keep an eye on it and it shud be ok... It was like a slight grey as if it was healing...
Just got her out now.. and her tail is proper black at the end and hard and there is a chunk missing.. near end.. all red etc.
do rats bite their tails off if they Know that their tail is not normal or something
Im soo confused any help?

i will be taking her vets soon

If she's been nibbling it it's most likely causing her pain. A black section is necrosis (death) of the tissue. That's going to be very sore for the poor thing. It's not that she thinks she's not normal, it's that it hurts her.

Be prepared for the vet to tell you that part of the tail needs to be amputated. If the vet still says to do nothing then go and find yourself another vet. Hard, black tissue is a bad thing and will only spread if something isn't done about it. Your girlie could end up with blood poisoning if it's left long enough, which would kill her. You're doing the right thing bringing her to the vet. She's better off without the tail if it's hurting her anyway.

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Completley agree. Hope she gets better poor little miss. Keep us updated. x

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Mummy to Cody-Lee - 2 Year Old Patterdale X JRT

I too totally agree with stolen kiss, get her to a good vet ASAP and please let us know how she is

J x

Hey.. Update for my darling rat!

I took her to the vet and i got some more medicine.. This will clear up and prevent infection on her tail, and he said eventually the end of her tail will fall off. I have to keep her active most of the time to stop her from chewing it etc..and keep an eye on her and her tail. If it hasnt got any better in 10 days time they might cut the end of it off, but they really dont want it to go into that as that it might not heal nicely as she would probably pull the stitches out etc.

But other than that she is finneee.. eating drinking etc. and generally being a naughty little rat

Oh thats great to hear....glad she ok.....im sure ive heard of it before with rats biting at their tails.

I had a rat whose tail was missing a tip at the end,.....im sure it must have been poking thru the end of the bar and the cat got it....but after reading this post im beginning to wonder if it was him that took the end off....weird

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Well at least that is good news to a degree... great that your rat has such a loving owner... :-) Well done you.

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Mummy to Cody-Lee - 2 Year Old Patterdale X JRT

Glad she is going to get better. You did the right thing taking her to the vet.

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awwww glad all seems ok