How to Clean Your Pet Rat's Tail

Pet rats are usually very clean, sometimes taking hours out of each day to groom themselves. Their tails are another matter altogether though, because pet rats won't always clean their tails as much as they clean the rest of their bodies.

What does a dirty tail look like?

A clean rat tail will be flesh colored, lightly pink and have very little brown scab like material on it. There are small hairs on a pet rats tail and they should be there, so don't try to remove them.

A dirty tail, or tail that hasn't been cleaned in a while will look more brown in color and have scab like crust on it. It might even look like brown scales on the tail as the layers develop over top of one another.

How to clean a pet rats tail

Using a soft damp cloth, soft toothbrush and shampoo specifically made for small rodents can help keep the tail area clean.

If the tail is very dirty, that is if the tail has a lot of crud and crust on it, you are not likely to get your rat to let you clean it all off at one time before really making your little guy very mad or stressed out.

Start out slow, using the animal shampoo and warm water to loosen the dirt from the tail first. Then using a warm soft cloth or toothbrush, gently brush or rub from the back of the tail down to the tip. Be careful not to be rough as rat's tails are very sensitive and you can damage the skin and hairs on the tail.

Don't worry about cleaning the entire tail the first time, just do a little the first day and if your rat is getting mad, stressed or tries to get away from you, stop and try again the next day.

When I started doing it, I would just set the warm wet washcloth of my rat's tail while she was eating a treat in my lap. She would sniff the washcloth and then go back to eating. After a couple of minutes the crust softens up so it's easier to wipe off.

You should start cleaning your pet rat's tail soon after you bring your rat home, so he is used to the grooming and cleaning. If there isn't a lot of buildup on the tail, wiping it down with a damp cloth will be enough if done once a day.

Why do I need to keep my pet rats tail clean?

Rats tails are supposed to be clean and smooth, not covered in brown scales or crust. The crust or brown scales you see is often cause by shedding skin, feces, urine and dirt.

Rats drag their tails behind them and are incontinent, so they also drag their tails through their own urine as they pee while walking around. Dead skin, urine and feces can build up quickly on your rat's tail and start looking like a dark, brown crust.

Abscesses and sores can grow under the scales or crust and cause a pet rat to get sick or die from an infection that wouldn't have been there if the tail had been properly taken care of.