How do you mend a bleeding rat tail?

Answer 1

I had to take care of a bleeding rat tail a couple of times, so this is all just from my experience. Rat tail injuries tend to bleed a lot, so it can be scary, but the best thing to do is first to stay calm:

1. Remove the rat from its cage and place it in an smaller cage/open box/general safe place. Prepare for the rat to squirm and be uncooperative. Mine never sat still. You might give the rat a treat to nibble on while you work so it's a bit easier. My rat loved to eat little pieces of popsicle.
2. You can use an antiseptic spray (just make sure you clean it off after with water) or boil water, add a drop of tea tree oil, then apply the cooled mixture to the injury using a cotton ball or cotton Q-tip.
3. You can also lightly dust a layer of flour on the wound (regular baking flour works) after, just to stop the bleeding. The flour soaks up the blood and causes it to congeal. Plus, if they lick it off, it's not a big deal.
4. Remove all shavings and dust from the regular rat cage, clean the cage, and lay down a towel or paper towels, so as to prevent any dust and bacteria from getting in the open wound.
5. If the injury came from a fight with another rat, make sure you separate them for a while, enough time for the injury to heal, or permanently, if the fighting is constant and results in a lot of injuries.

It's much the same for other surface injuries, as well, like on their back on nose. Sometimes I would apply ice to the injury.

I had two rats, and one was extremely aggressive. He gave my older rat quite a few bleeding injuries before I separated them permanently in different cages, and these steps always worked.