Kink in the tail?

[nevadamoon]

One of my boys, an oldboy named Shamus has this kind of.. Kink in his tail? I'm not sure how to describe it.  It's been that way since I took him in, and I was just curious as to what kinds of things caused that.  It's like, this one part is kind of bigger (like it's swollen in that one part) but it's not actually swollen.  If you squeeze it, it doesn't really feel any different from the other parts of his tail.

Also, he was housed in a small aquarium for most of his life, if that changes/helps anything.

Here's a picture, but you have to kind of look close to see the area I'm talking about: 
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee299/ohmaibobby/Ratties/044-5.jpg

Right where it starts curving, you see the part that looks kind of bigger?  I'm sure it's some kind of old injury or something, but it just has me being curious.  (It's just the best I have of his back end.)

[Suebee]

I'd agree, it's likely an old injury. He probably got his tail caught in something when he was little.

[nevadamoon]

Would it have to be a serious injury to make it still show damage, or would it have been as a result of not being treated?  (How do you even TREAT a tail injury like that?)

I'm sure that's what happened, it just seems odd to me as from what I know of his first 2 years of life, he was in a tiny aquarium and didn't really get much/any exploring time, so I can't really figure out what could have caused such an injury.  Would a bite do that?  (Like, from another rat)  It doesn't seem to have any scarring, and he doesn't seem bothered by me handling it so I doubt it was that traumatic, it's just kind of interesting, I guess.

[Suebee]

I'm certainly no expert, but my guess is that he could have gotten it caught in something (between tank and lid?), or if he was mishandled (read: picked up by his tail), it could have been broken, and they never treated it (though as you said, how do you treat that?! LOL). Either situation could have resulted in a degloving, instead, which means the loss of the degloved section, every time, so I'd consider him a lucky little guy.

[nevadamoon]

Ooh, you know, it could be very possible he was handled by his tail.  He was in a situation where he was around a lot of children, and I know NOTHING about if the kids were allowed to handle him, or how he was handled, or anything.  So I wonder if that could be it...  (If that is, even more props for him letting me play with his tail! )

He wasn't in a great situation before, but I don't think he was outright neglected.  (Apart from 2 rats being housed in a 15 gallon tank. :S)  He's a friendly enough old guy, even if he's a bit worse for wear.   He has a hairless line over one eye that may be a scar?  I'm not sure. Looks like maybe he had a scratch on his face, as it's thin and short, and hair still hasn't grown back. (And I know he's not itching excessively) 

He's just a rugged old man, I guess.   

[Addicted2Rats]

It also looks like something could have gotten wrapped around the tail and wasn't noticed, and then possibly damaged that area.

Deb

[Kendra]

Does it appear to cause him any discomfort or balance issues?  If not, I wouldn't worry too much about it and chalk it up to a personal quirk.    We had a boy who had a kinked tail, too.  His name was Arden.

Here's Arden's kinked tail:



When he was older, our vet x-rayed him and we found that the bones in his tail at that point actually grew in a spiral.  The vet said she could not see any evidence of it ever having been broken, but that if it happened when he was a baby and healed well, there wouldn't really be much way to tell.  She tentatively called it a genetic spinal deformity due to other deformities he had.  His back knees were also hinged funny and as he grew older these large, knobby calcium deposits formed that made it difficult for him to walk. 

[nevadamoon]

Addicted2Rats-  Mhm, that could have happened to, I have NO idea.  I certainly don't see signs of anything, the skin really looks normal so whatever happened had to have been quite awhile ago.

Kendra
Kendra- He lets me press on it, and he seems fine balance wise (He likes to use the FN shelves as balance beams, though his hind legs get a bit weak.) and I'm not worried about it at all, just curious.

i can't really feel any bone in a weird place or anything.. We have a cat that had his tail stomped on by a horse, so it's kind of stubby.  If you feel his tail, you can feel where the bones are all kind of zig-zaggy and rigid.

[WS]

To me this looks a lot like ringtail, which is a condition which causes a concentric ring (or rings) around the tail. Compression can cause damage to the portion of tail below, causing a droop.
Some rats get this as babies and then heal with a crooked, bent or "lumpy" tail.

ringtail   (scroll down for older rat)

[nevadamoon]

I couldn't see any pictures of it on an older rat. But the ones on the young rat don't really look like his tail at all.  If it helped, I could probably grab him real quick and take a good picture of it.    It's just something funny I noticed about him and was curious over cause/etc.

[WS]

bottom of the page.  Under outcome -- photo 2.   If only one ring, healed over... it really does look like your little guy's tail in the pic you posted. Unless I was seeing it wrong.

I tried to bring up the rat guide for other pictures but I couldn't get the site to load. (It must be down for updates or something).

EDIT: OK... here we go the site is up now -- ringtail in adult

[nevadamoon]

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee299/ohmaibobby/Catchup/127.jpg

THe pictures I tried taking didn't come out well, but this is decent and from last week.  I guess it just looks kind of wider then ringtail, but who knows?     If I ever have to take Shamus to the vet (Well, shouldn't be if, but hopefully in a long, long time from now when I need to) I'll probably ask them, but as it seems so healed I doubt it's something worth a vet trip on it's own.

I'm also wondering if any kind of fighting-type wounds could cause it.  He has kind of a split/notch in his ear and the whole, scratch-scar over his eye that make me think he may have gotten into a pretty good row with another rat before.  (though, he's never shown any dominance or issues with any of ours, so who knows?  Maybe he was a crazy guy in his youth.    )

[WS]

still could be a ringtail constriction band healed over  --     It certainly could be a bite wound from his baby days as well.  Usually rat bite wounds on bigger rats heal a little differently -- sometimes bites from larger animals look like that too.  Rat to rat tail bites aren't too common for some reason. Even though it looks like a handy place to snap onto!

Thickened tissue in the tail is often scar tissue, while thinner, skinny patches can represent an area where the tissue died off or atrophied.  Some rats fracture their tails or dislocate the vertebrae  and may heal without bands or constrictions but rather with  a bend or bump in them.     Rats who have illness or  injuries that effect the back or spine can sometimes develop some neuropathy or changes in nerve conduction along the tail which can also make the tail bend funny or go crooked.

Gives him character!    He can talk about his battle wounds with the other rats 

  As long as it isn't an open wound or painful -it's NOT something you need to make a vet appointment for.