Limping leg

[Emmabeeee1996]

I was petting my rat and the last couple times I pet him he falls asleep and is completely out of it, is that okay? He twitches his whiskers and does tiny squeaks. Anyways I was petting him and he was boggling and he fell asleep and let me rub his belly and I thought he was just relaxing but then he woke up and his little leg is kinda stuck up. I don’t see how I could have hurt him by petting him! Maybe he was already hurt? I also noticed he was gassy and doing little farts. I’m worried he’s had a heart attack or something but he’s eating, I put him on the ground to see if he’d use his foot and he did but in the cage he doesn’t use it, it’s only been a couple minutes. I’ll keep checking him through the night, hopefully he just hurt his little foot a bit. Is it bad to pet their tummies? I know guinea pigs should never go on their backs are rats like that?!

 

[Emmabeeee1996]

I think he’s just hurt his leg! Do I take him to the vet? He boggled for the first time last night and that’s why I started petting him and now he’s boggling today, prior to that I’ve never seen him boggle so I guess it’s out of pain, at least I know me rubbing his belly had nothing to do with it as he was boggling before that happened? He also has had seizures in the past so I was worried that when he falls asleep like that they are mini seizures but I think he was just enjoying it despite his injury. Here are pictures.

 

[lilspaz68]

Is that blood under his belly?

If its only the foot, he may have sprained it as rats are VERY prone to that. It looks like a very mild sprain, as there's no real swelling, it probably is just a bit uncomfortable and he's smart and not using it too much until it heals.

if your boy was fast asleep the twitching may have been dreaming. its adorable

Most rats won't relax enough to let you stroke their bellies so him boggling and letting you is wonderful. Stress boggling is super rare, there is stress bruxxing but its different than regular happy bruxxing.

 

[Emmabeeee1996]

No it’s not blood it’s a little hole he chewed in the hammock haha. Awww okay that makes me feel much better, I think he was just happy despite hurting his foot. He is using it a bit more but still tries not to use it, he’s still kinda gassy and I find him a bit more floppy than normal maybe he’s just a bit weak and not feeling the best because of his foot. I’ll make sure he’s getting to his food and water, hopefully the gas is just random and not a symptom of something else lol! Thanks so much for the reply I really appreciate it

 

[Emmabeeee1996]

Good news! He’s walking on it now and only keeps it up every once and awhile yaaay! And he wagged his tail for the first time just tonight, I’m so glad he’s finally starting to really be happy after his previous life

 

[lilspaz68]

good news

 

[Emmabeeee1996]

good news

Yaaay!