I just gave my rat a bath

Question

He is fully dry but he might still have a bit of baby shampoo still in his fur from when i bathed him. Will this be okay if he licks himself?

Answer 1

I agree completely.It can be dangerous to bath a rat with normal household shampoo, so making sure the fur is thoroughly rinsed in the future is important.Certain shampoos can cause skin and respiratory irritations, so it would be safest to buy a shampoo that was made for the use of rats or rodents.

Answer 2

You have to be very careful when bathing rats / mice because whatever they can get onto their paws can go into their mouth..... It's good that you mentioned he is fully dry, however I think that you should rinse him more thoroughly in future to remove all the shampoo.  And instead of using baby shampoo buy a specialist shampoo for small animals, its fairly cheap and more safe for his fur/skin etc.

Hope this helps you!

Answer 3

Most petstores will carry bottles of pet shampoo specially made for rodents - please use this in future! It is much milder on their skin to avoid any allergic reactions or infections.

Just rinse him a bit better next time - and you could use a hair dryer on him if he isnt scared of the noise, some rats love this! =)