Hoping your vet open soon and will get you in right away.  Also, you did find the other post about what to do with degloving right?  No questions?  I want to make sure we don't leave you needing answers or help.

The car is warming up now to take him to the vet's.

Good luck to you and Legolas, though you're probably already at the vet's!

Make sure you try and see where the injury happened. If there's a toy or something that caused it, you need to rearrange things/get rid of it so that it doesn't happen to anyone else. I'm so sorry you had to go through all this so soon!

Good luck at the vet!! I'm so sorry you have to experience this

Thanks for concern and well-wishes everyone. I left him off at the vet, who changed his mind from doing the surgery tomorrow to doing it at lunch-time (1:00).
I think I'm gonna end up having an anxiety attack over our finances though. Adding to our already strapped month, is this bill for $307.25 to amputate his tail, medicate, anesthesize, etc, etc. Man!
I really can't figure what caused it. I do have two patio bricks (brand new, just for them) under the bed, against the wall. I figure they can run over it and keep nails down some. I just don't see how that could have done it though. My husband said that he heard a scream from Legolas, then he and the alpha, Gollum, ran out from under the bed. Gollum does the power-grooming thing to the others, and a little bit of wrestling, but nothing that would be considered dangerous to the others. I would have separated him if it was that bad. They are all around 11- 12 weeks from the same litter. The vet said it's possible that Gollum's claw might have caught it just right and it peeled off, I don't know.

Oh, yay!  I'm so glad he came through the surgery.  It's a mystery how it happened, though.  Hopefully one of those freak things that will NOT be repeated.  Whew!

He's home! Seeming to do fine. He ate a little sweet potato, rice and barley with a little extra water mixed in to make sure he stays hydrated. I haven't seen/heard him drink from the water bottle since the "accident". Now I need to rig it from the little travel cage. Doc didn't put a dressing on the wound, which has me kind of concerned. They figured it wouldn't stay, and that it would heal better without...
Thanks everyone, for your concern.
  :cookie:for everyone!

Thanks, ratlets. I actually tried to wrap it last night to try and slow/stop the bleeding, but it just slips off the end of his tail. Okay, I'm probably being very dumb (I feel like it lately), but how would I do this so it stays on?

you could try and get some of that weird tape the Red Cross wraps your arm up with after you give half your body in blood.

(i have no idea if its fine for rats but its what i use for wounds) What about just the plain medical tape? Its usually white and is kinda like paper but with a sticky side. Usually found with the gauze in Wound care part of a pharmacy.  (at least in Aus it is)

The main reason I suggest covering it is to keep the wound from being dragged in pee!  Ya know?  Heh!

I know alot of people use fleece/fabric after surgeries to keep any litter from sticking to the surgery site.

One thing that can help with rats is called "vet wrap". They sell the same thing for humans but call it "cohesive bandage". Basically it sticks to itself but not to skin so it can be used to wrap around guaze and what not but if he's leaving it alone and since you're making sure the surface he is walking on is clean, don't bother. Plus rat skin heals freakishly fast.

I'm glad your baby is doing fine ... and don't pay attention to the people wo can't understand that you would spend x$ on a rat worth "so little" ... why I don't just get a new one instead. Whenever someone tells me that, I ask them why they bother to take their kids to the doctor, after all, it's free to make a new one ... so why bother? They usually get it