Is this normal? Tail came off..

:So i was feeding one of my girls today. Im upping the size of her food to a x-small rat because she has out grown the mice. Well i was holding it by the tail because the past few attempts the rats have just ran into her hide and sat on top of her, which ends up scaring her and we have to wait another 5 days and by then they are to big for her. So she seemed to be interested and i think the rat saw her and started to freak out and in one fast motion it jerked and ripped the last 1/8 inch of its tail off and left it in my had. Well it started to bleed and of-course it ran into the hide and sat on her and we are back at where we started.
I was worried that it might be in pain so i dropped it in with one of my males that i knew never turns down a meal, and he took it the second it hit the ground.
But this kind of caught me off guard for a second. Has this happen to anyone else?:confused:

Yes it happens which is why it's not recommended to handle rats by the end of their tail try to place your finger as close to the base as possible so it will not happen anymore.

It happens sometimes. It's called degloving when referring to an injury. You probably did the best thing for the rat by feeding it off right away. They probably wouldn't die from it but is most likely painful.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Yes it happens which is why it's not recommended to handle rats by the end of their tail try to place your finger as close to the base as possible so it will not happen anymore.

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Lightning fast!! :rofl:

Yep, degloving. Very painful. Happens to baby /younger rats more often than older adult rats.

yeah.. so sad. Where I get my rats they're handled frequently so I just pick them up bare handed and drop them in the tank. If your rats are tempermental I suggest picking up a pair of heavy duty gardening gloves. I wear them when Im handling my ASFs and they bite at almost every opportunity - The leather on the gloves stops the bites, and i've never been nipped. I pick the ASF's up by their tails and they jerk around like they're having a rodent seizure but their tails have never broken.

I know with mice you can euthanize them by yanking on their tails and it breaks something in their spinal column that kills them instantly - normal rats tails detatch and bleed..

I bought my gardening gloves at the dollar store - costs a dollar.

Cheers.

I had that happen the other day, but in a bit different set of events. My male decided he was too full last week for a meal, so I decided that my snapping turtle wouldn't mind serving a quick death and enjoying a snack. Well I was holding the rat by the tail, and the snapper struck so hard that it degloved out of my hand. At least the rat didn't have to suffer long.

ive heard of this happening but i have never had it happen myself. my rats are used to human interaction so they are not that bad at being handled. i just grab the big ones around the waist and toss them in. the little flighty ones by the base of the tail or by the waist.
adam jeffery

you can't grab them by the very tip of the tail you need to grab further up. I've seen it happen when my son was handling a rat but it has never happened with me.