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Water Water III

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Aug 7, 2001

(this is Part III of the article I began in June and continued last month.)

A few words about applying applying water externally. In general, avoid bathing your rats: they do a pretty good job of it themselves. With one glaring exception: the tail of the PEW male. 'Nuff said, right? Some people will tell you to just wipe it off but they lie: that tail gunk is TOUGH. You have to soak the tail: wet it with water and try to amuse the rat with knock knock jokes for about 5 mintues: most of the dirt should come off. If not, soap up with mild kitten soap. Even then, don't expect it to return to that pure baby pink tail he had when he was a pup.

If you have to give them a bath, remember, God is in the details. Do your prep. Assemble right next to the tub, a plastic cup, a spoon, the kitten soap, a towel. Run the tub water warm and gentle. Put warm water in the cup, add some soap and stir. Get the rat. Now work quickly and methodically: wet rat, pour soap, suds up, rinse rat, pop rat in towel. Don't bother washing his head. It feels natural to hold the rat in both hands while he's under the water but sometimes, the best thing is to hold them DOWN against the bottom of the tub: this will keep his feet down and the nails from raking your arms. But see what's best for each individual animal.

Skin and tails get dry if you wash them so don't do it often. And when you do bathe, follow it up by applying an edible animal moisturizer to the tail like Udderly Smooth lotion for cows. I first found this product very cheaply in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country but I have even seen it in New York City drug stores and they have a website. I love Corona Hoof Dressing and Bag Balm is also nice but they are really thick and hard to apply to sensitive skin so I only use them for cuts and scrapes (on me!) because they really stick on there and protect a wound.

Water fun! In the summer, set up a ratty swimming pool to keep your buds cool. Buy a plastic paint roller tray at the hardware store for a few bucks. This offers an above-ground pool with a shallow and a deep end! Fill halfway with water. On hot days, I even add some ice cubes to the water. I make a little staircase of two clean bricks to help them get in. I also like to put some clean bricks or rocks in the water for little islands to loll on. Use new bricks! Old mortar on used bricks is full of acid.

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