i'm inexperienced in everything except neuro and respiratory, but it sounds like an abcess.  i'd take him straight away to the vets.

Yep will all of the fighting and the extent of his wounds I am going to throw in the abscess vote as well.  Stick your nose up to it.  Does it smell like the most grotesq dying thing you have ever smelled.  If so then it is an abscess.   

Doesn't necessarily have to be a wound in that spot to abscess there.  That is just where the infection settled in his body.  It is very possibly it is closed up.  Most of the time you have to do warm compresses several times a day for a few days to get them to open up and then you spend several days expressing the most putrid puss out of the wound and working your butt off to keep the wound open and moist so that it heals from the inside out.

Leave him where he is as long as he is happy.  Get him in to the vet ASAP.  They may lance it open.  They may not.  Either way I am betting they will give you antibiotics for it.  Someone listed a link to the rat care guide on abscesses.  Read it.  It will tell you how to treat them and work with them.  But once the vet confirms it is an abscess then you really do need to get all of that puss out of the wound.  Don't rely solely on the Antibiotics.

Staci

You don't need to separate him from his cage-mate... abscesses are not contagious, and taking him away from his friend will just stress him out, which is the last thing you want to do to a sick rat...

As long as his cage-mate isn't beating him up or bothering the wound, it's probably best to leave them together.

The vet has him on antibxs and a warm compress to the site twice a day. He lets the antibxs just slide right back out of his mouth and trying to do the warm compress's looks like a scene from the gladiator, (with him winning).  I feel so incompetent!!!! There is not a dog out there that I can't handle and yet these tiny little creatures just seem to look at me like . I am taking him back tomorrow with my tail between my legs to the vet. Can't I give him injections? I'm a nurse it would be sooooo much easier.

OMG, that is a great idea!!!! Leaving to go get syrup from cupboard and grabbing the cheerios just in case. Keep your fingers crossed.

Being a rescue I medicate ALOT of rats and I also deal with ALOT of abscesses.

Trick to meds.  Syringe them into them.  Mix the meds ahead of time with Cherry Snow Cone Syrup or Hrsheys Chocoloate Syrup.  I have tried mixing my meds with every other kind of food under the sun but those are the two no fail things that my rats go ape nuts for and will actually beg for.  I have had other rat people try this who will also attest to this.

As for compressing the abscess it can definately be a trying task.  For face abscesses I find what works best is to take the rat to the living room so I can sit and watch a Movie while I am doing it.  I keep a warm pan of water next to me and large wash cloth.  I also have a very thick large bath towel.  I wrap said rat up like a burrito in the towel and then hold his with his back up to my chest (note between clevage).  I then press compress to face with one hand and scritch the other cheek with the other hand.  A firm grasp is needed and you may have to repeat this step several times.  When he tires of being forcefully held agains't the chest I then move to my leps and again burrito him in the towel and firmly hold him down in the crack of my lap.

For future reference if you ever have this happen again if the abscess is lower on the body like say the belly which they notoriously get after a fight then rather than forcing a compress agains't the belly it is easiest to just soak them in a tub of warm water or in the bathroom sink.

Also once the abscess starts to open up after compressing for a few days you will need to start to gently squeeze the puss out of the open wound.  You may have to express the puss several times throughout a weeks time span before it is all gone and cleared up. 

Just for reference here are pics from my most recent face abscess victim......

This pic was taken after I had gotten her and was just starting the compressing stage.  I believe I had compressed for a day or so.



This was taken a few days after working on the abscess.  The scab has come off.  Some puss has been expressed but it still needs work.



You can see some of the puss in this close up that still needs to come out.  Puss can come in all forms.  It can be a solid, a liquid, gravely, or hard like cartlige....



These pictures were taken after all of the puss had finally been removed and she can now begin the healing process from the inside out.





Hope this helps.

No offense, but could you give a warning before you show graphic bloody faced rat pictures?  I get a little squeamish sometimes!

It could be an abscess caused by disruption of a normal tissue barrier through penetrating trauma, bites, or established infections. Go see the vet.

rattie love -- if he still won't take his meds, give him several different spoonfuls of (unmedicated) treats all at once -- yogurt, applesauce, maple syrup, chocolate syrup, cheerios, syrup from canned fruit, etc. Leave them with him in his cage for a few hours while you play with his cagemate outside of the cage (so cagemate doesn't eat them). Come back later and see what he ate.

That way you can figure out what he'll be willing to eat without wasting any more meds on the taste tests (anything he won't eat unmedicated, he won't eat medicated).

Oh,what a horible and gross subject!I pray that your rat heals soon!You are sure doing everything to be a good rattie parent,though,so good job!Good luck to you!

Also,I sure hope I never have to deal with this,but if I do,I will now know exactly what to do.Goosemoosers are the most informed,inteligent and caring pet owners EVER!

I cannot thank everyone enough for all your replies. I tend to be a very protective mom when it comes to my animals and worry so much about them when something happens. My vet did not put him on Baytril so I will call this morning to see if we can change. I hope she does not want him to come in for another visit we have already had two in the week since this started, 1st visit was 159.00 and the 2nd was 65.00. If she does I will find the money some where, I mean my children don't have to eat everyday,lol.