My rat has an open wound.

[yah]

My male rat has a oval shaped wound about an inch from his penis, it seems to have happened last night since the blood has browned and dried on the fur around it. Last night my other male rat and him were playing around, and after a while I started to hear noises from their cage and went to check it out. The other rat had him on his back and was licking/nipping at his crotch, I stopped them. He didn't seem to have the wound at the time, could the rat have had bitten him later on?

Would it be safe to use neosporin on him?

Sorry if I'm using this forum the wrong way! I'm just unsure what to do.

 

[Luna&Ralph]

Try to wash out the wound with soap and water, and the you can put neosporin on it but you don’t have to. If you do, try to keep it away from the edges of the wound and only in the centre so it can heal from the inside out.

Has this happened with them before? Have they been together long? If they’ve been cagemates for a while and this is a first offender, it was probably an accident and won’t happen again. If this has happened before or they are new buddies, I would consider getting the offender neutered if it keeps happening.

I think that maybe they had been playing and it got a little rough, and then the biter licked the wound that he had caused because he felt bad. He could have also been licking to show his dominance and threw in a bite just as a warning.

 

[SQ]

Here is some information on wound care http://ratguide.com/health/trauma/wounds.php
ratguide.com is a vet approved medical site for rat owners

The use of ointment is not a good idea
Please see the link

 

[jorats]

Definitely do not use any ointments on it. It needs to heal from the inside out and not the outside in which would lock in any possible infection. Ointments speeds the healing of the skin. You don't want that skin closing before the wound is drained and cleaned out and started to heal as well.

 

[ratgamer16]

One or the other of them might try to lick the ointment off so see if can find antibiotic ointment for children or pets that won't be dangerous if ingested. Also make sure to clean it well first and if possible snip the hair out of the way so it doesn't get stuck in the scabs.

 

[lilspaz68]

Is the oval "wound" above and to the side of his penis? If so this might be a preputial gland abscess. Can u get a pic?