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maychorianI guess I should elaborate on what I meant when I said I got a strip of skin torn off my hand yesterday...
There it is. "Strip of skin" probably sounds more melodramatic and serious than it actually is. I was trying to introduce my two pets rats, Leo and Sebastian, and it didn't go down real well. They were getting aggressive, staring at each other, shaking their tails, very tense. So I was ridiculously stupid and stuck my hand in there to grab Leo out and try again another time, and of course Leo bit me. I'm sure he didn't mean to--rats are practically blind and I was an idiot to move so quickly when he was obviously scared and raring for a fight.
I've gotten nips from my rats before, but those were playful or just out of startlement. This was an actual aggressive bite, and those are bad. Rats can separate their two bottom teeth to get a better grip when they're biting, so the wound is uneven and jagged. I held very still until Leo let go, then calmly picked him up, returned him to his own cage, and went to the bathroom to try to clean up. There was quite a bit of blood and the wound was very painful, but it seems to be healing with plenty of Neosporin and care. Still looks kinda gross, though, what with the missing epidermis and all. Next time I'll be more careful, that you can rely on.
There it is. "Strip of skin" probably sounds more melodramatic and serious than it actually is. I was trying to introduce my two pets rats, Leo and Sebastian, and it didn't go down real well. They were getting aggressive, staring at each other, shaking their tails, very tense. So I was ridiculously stupid and stuck my hand in there to grab Leo out and try again another time, and of course Leo bit me. I'm sure he didn't mean to--rats are practically blind and I was an idiot to move so quickly when he was obviously scared and raring for a fight.
I've gotten nips from my rats before, but those were playful or just out of startlement. This was an actual aggressive bite, and those are bad. Rats can separate their two bottom teeth to get a better grip when they're biting, so the wound is uneven and jagged. I held very still until Leo let go, then calmly picked him up, returned him to his own cage, and went to the bathroom to try to clean up. There was quite a bit of blood and the wound was very painful, but it seems to be healing with plenty of Neosporin and care. Still looks kinda gross, though, what with the missing epidermis and all. Next time I'll be more careful, that you can rely on.
