Balloon ASF Weaner

So I was checking on all my rats and I checked this one tub and there was an asf rat that looked SUPER FAT. It was to the point where the rat looked as if she could not see. I took her out and noticed it wasn't fat, it was air!

She was a balloon!!! Under her skin was tons of air and she felt like a fuzzy balloon.

I figured it was a genetic defect so I was going to cull her but then I thought, what if I pop her and deflate her...?

I wondered what would happen, would she bleed out, would she suddenly die?

So I took a very sharp box cutter and poked her in the back of the neck and she suddenly deflated. Her skin was saggy but there was no blood and she didn't instantly die.

I put her in a tub by herself and I watched her over the next 2 weeks. She was fine. Over the course of a few hours her skin looked normal and she's still here with us.

Weirdest thing I have ever seen.

Here are photos before I deflated her.


Any clue what causes this?

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/6017/asfballoon1.jpg

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http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/4193/asfballoon2.jpg

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http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/5427/asfballoon3.jpg

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Holy smokes!! That is the weirdest thing I have ever seen!!

that is ridiculous! I would..call a veterinary clinic that specializes in small mammals if you can, even if just to talk to a vet about what could have happened.

That is incredible. Thank you so much for sharing. I'm glad she's feeling better though, she must be a lot more comfortable now.

That's not a bad idea! I'm going to shoot one of the local vets an email and see what they have to say.

Wow that's freaky!! Iv been breeding for a while and have never came across anything like that.. Defently post anything u find out..

That is the weirdest thing I've ever heard of! I'm glad she's ok...poor little thing! I hope you're able to talk with someone who might have an explanation...I'm awfully curious!

btw...in that first picture, the swelling around her shoulders, neck and head/face makes it look like a teeny tiny pig in the palm of your hand! :O

Wow. :o

holy crap! That's funny, weird, and perplexing!

Kinda looks like a pneumothorax. I only know of this in humans but I'm sure it could happen to an animal. But to explain this is non medical terms lol it's when air escapes from the lungs. But the air usually stays in the thoracic cavity. To be under the skin it's subcutaneous emphysema . Which could be caused by a small hole in the trachea that slowly leaked air. But I don't know for sure i just know how it happens in people. Keep us updated . That's just crazy!

Buoyant.

Wow thats crazy! Have you heard anything back from the vet?

No, they never emailed me back :( I'm going to see if I can find out elsewhere

Just wanted to let you know that I had one like yours a few months ago. I put it in my feeder tub, and never saw it again. It could of been popped? It could of also died and been eaten. It did fine with mom and sibs. Looked funny though.

That is so bizarre, I cracked up at the poor thing because, like Judy said, it totally looked like a tiny pot bellied pig! Glad its ok though :).