I never set out to get a hairless rat. I have always said I prefer my pets furry. I had, however been looking for some Dumbo rats. When two young Dumbos were dumped at my local pet store by an owner who couldn’t keep them, I had a look. One was a lovely furry girl. I’m hopeless with color names, but she is kind of a pale tan with black eyes. 
But her pal was a hairless. Pinky, when I first met her, had a small bite wound on her back, just above the base of the tail. After several weeks of having Neosporin rubbed on regularly by pet store employees, her entire backside was chewed raw. And I was ready to buy at least the furry rat. But I felt sorry for poor naked Pinky and didn’t want to leave her alone. While I suspected the original bite wound was from her cagemate, I thought if I put them in a large enough cage with plenty of food, they might get along better.
When I first brought them home, Pinky lookd like one of those starving orphans rom a poor country, big head, body that looks like a skeletonwith skin stretched over it. She ate like two rats. No wonder their bowl was always empty at the store. The scuffles between Pinky and her cagemate, who I named Fuzz, got to a point I finally put them in seperate cages. Pinky’s “wound” almost healed, then all by herself she chewed it up again. I’ve been using a mild herbal soothing cream on it. It is almst healed again. I suspect I shuld keep it moisterized until the scar tissue stops bothering her. I wonder if hairless rats just have more skin problems.
You can kind of see her wound
Okay. It’s been nearly three months since Pinky came home to live with me. While I still think I prefer furry animals, she’s such a little character, I’ve grown to love her. She climbs up my leg to sit in my lap. But not for long before she’s up my shirt to my shoulder, tickling my neck and ear with her curly whiskers. Her wound almost heals, then she picks at it again. I’m wondering if she’ll always have some skin problems. But it’s better and we’re working on it. And it certainly doesn’t seem to bother her much.
Stumble It!
I thought I would further update my adventure. Pinky has begun to groom me and cuddle. I’m finally accepted as a family member. She really is a dear little gremlin.
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Thanks for mentioning that. As a matter of fact, I have been using calendula gel on Pinky. The wound is still taking forever to heal, but is progressing steadily. I’ve tried a little on a burn I got cooking, too. Feels good, smells nice, seems to help. Pinky isn’t picking at the scab like she used to.
Hi thank you for the suggestion, I will mention it to the person with the hairless rat.
When one of my hammies was severely wounded, I used Calendula gel. It seemed to soothe right away and he didn’t lick it off. I wonder if you might try that. It’s made from the Calendula flower and can be found in a health food store.
Hairless rats usually eat more b/c they have such a high metabolism. I had two hairless boys, and while one had always had skin/eye problems, the younger was always pretty low maintenance. Their personalities were so different from the other that I still can’t help but to smile.
They are both very lucky to have you. I admire people who get past the stereotypes that many animals have. Rats are very smart and loving creatures… it’s just a shame that their life expectancy isn’t very long
http://www.furrycritters.co.uk – now in my rss reader)))
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I love hairless, I’m glad that Pinky found you, and that she’s doing ok with you. That’s really good news.