Ripped off toenail woes

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V

veggies

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Joined
Feb 23, 2013
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A months ago I had a fiasco at the vet and my rat Basil lost 3 of his toenails due to improper handling by the veterinarian, and was put on some Baytril to prevent infection. The nails all grew back normally.

Yesterday morning I notice one of the nails he had previously broken was gone, and his toe was looking red around where the nail would be. Not too puffy or any oozing though. There was also no blood in the cage, which is odd because I know rats bleed a lot from their toes. I put a very thin layer of antibiotic cream on the area and gave the cage a good cleaning. Today his toe is still red around the bed of the nail and maybe a little puffy at the base, but doesn't look too different from his healthy toes.

Anyway, I'm wondering if I should continue trying to clean it? He licks off the cream pretty soon after, but I was wondering if hydrogen peroxide might work better because he won't lick it off? Or is it better to just leave it alone and change the fleece liners every day until it heals?

He is acting normally and is putting weight on his foot, but sort of pulls his foot away when I try to put the cream on (it might be stinging him).
 
That's a little odd, that it would just fall off. But it sounds like it definitely wasn't ripped off.

Any pics?

I'd be inclined to leave it alone and just keep things very clean and keep an eye on it, although I'll let others weigh in.

I broke my big toe a while back and it resulted in the nail coming off. It grew back, a little funny looking. Not to long ago it recently fell off again, for no reason. Just healthy pink skin underneath. I have a friend with a similar story. So, maybe with your boy, it's just one of those weird things for which there isn't much of an explanation, nor a reason to worry.
 
I'd just leave it. Sometimes my boys lose nails randomly and unless it looks infected, they usually clear up in ~3 days without intervention from me. Stick with fleece or another clean bedding, and skip the H2O2 as you may cause painful chemical burns to the tender nail bed.
 
I think it actually did rip off, but since this is his 3rd time damaging that particular nail maybe the blood flow wasn't as strong. The first time he tore it but not completely (it bled a whole lot), then it fell off a bit later. The second time it was torn off completely at the vet's office, and it bled then too. This third time it is again completely torn off.

It looks pretty red right now because he's been chewing at it but they usually look like this for 4-5 days. How do I know if it's infected? They all have looked like this, sometimes they even get black at the nail bed, but have always looked better within a few days.

ekrcjt.jpg
 
The black at the nail bed is most likely dried blood. You'll know it is infected if it doesn't start to heal, if it smells, looks discolored, begins to drain or secrete pus...but reallly, it sounds like it is probably going to be okay. But if anything does change, let us know.
 
I too would leave it alone, and just focus on keeping the cage clean. The toe is a very accessible area. He will have no problem keeping it clean himself. Smell is the biggest indicator of infection in my world - it has a certain scent.
 
Awesome, I'll keep a close eye on it as always. Thanks for putting my mind at ease. :)
 
Yup, it looks ok- just watch out for infection like others have said.


I'll also piggyback onto the other post, and agree, no hydrogen peroxide! Doctor's don't even recommend it for people anymore, only as a cleaning(not antiseptic) solution.
 
My girl who pulled off a nail survived the ordeal just fine but I always had to keep more of an eye on that toe afterwards as it would grow back much thicker and curlier than usual and I had to trim it to keep it from snagging things. Keep that in mind when his grows back. Poor boy will be back to normal in no time though :)
 

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