My male rat has a ripped off toenail...need advice please!
 

Hi there,

Hoping for some advice on what more I can do for my little guy.

He was making weird noises and curled in a ball earlier so I naturally checked on him. Once I got him outta his cage though he started screaming and wailing. I thought he was getting a respiratory infection. After I called a vet and asked what it should sound like turns out my vet is gone till Monday and I also noticed blood all over my arm after ending the call.

So far I had to remove the nail with tweezers, I applied bandaid brand antiseptic as it also has a pain relief/numbing. I've tried flour to clot the blood but it didn't help and so I resorted to pressure with Kleenex. It will stop for a while but it bleeds off and on still. I cleaned the cage so he would not have too much to get into the wound but I have to watch for fuzzy bits (that was **** to pull out) and I trimmed all his other nails to be safe. He squeaks randomly cause I know he's sore but I don't have acetaminophen....just naproxen and if he's still bleeding I don't know if that will make it worse. I really can't stand the thought of it getting infected as my bf doesn't agree with vet bills for rats (once I start working again in the next week or so that is DEFINITELY not going to last). Any advice on how I can make sure he doesn't get infected. Can I give him a bit of crushed naproxen? I hate seeing him in pain....I've been snuggling him all day to keep a close eye on it.

Any advice is appreciated!! :)