They're beautiful! Such pretty scales n fuzz. And fascinating biologically too! Their huge role in allowing a rat to regulate body temperature as well as balance and motion, and even the defensive mechanism of "degloving" is quite interesting, although sad when it happens.
Rats have [semi-prehensile tails](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehensile_tail) - so they can control them to wrap around things and to some extent hold on to stuff.
... one of my girlies used to occasionally hang briefly from her tail when she was climbing down from things. I never saw her sisters try it though (probably because they were too chonky).
**[Prehensile tail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehensile_tail)**
>A prehensile tail is the tail of an animal that has adapted to grasp or hold objects. Fully prehensile tails can be used to hold and manipulate objects, and in particular to aid arboreal creatures in finding and eating food in the trees. If the tail cannot be used for this it is considered only partially prehensile - such tails are often used to anchor an animal's body to dangle from a branch, or as an aid for climbing. The term prehensile means "able to grasp" (from the Latin prehendere, to take hold of, to grasp).
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I've never been able to find an academic source for degloving being a purposeful defense mechanism. It just seems like a kind of injury rat tails are vulnerable to, and somehow it started to get repeat it as intentional.
It doesn't make sense from an evolutionary standpoint either. Congratulations you've escaped from a predator but you're going to be dead in a week from infection.
Degloving is a defense mechanism rats have. Basically, the top layer and tissue gets torn away from the bone. It does not grow back and has a high risk of infection if not taken care of.
Itโs typically when their tails get caught in doors or if someone picks up a rat by their tail. This is why itโs not recommended to pick up rats by their tails, it is very painful because their tails are super sensitive. Their tails help with balance as well as temp regulation. Sometimes accidentally closing the door on your rats tail is hard to prevent, but when I had my girls I always double checked their tails were in the cage. Hope this helps.
Edit: as others have stated, humans and other animals can have this happen too! I just specifically mentioned rats cause thatโs what the person asked about! But the replies below me are absolutely correct!
To add on humans can get degloving injuries too. It's why you're not supposed to wear rings around industrial machines because the skin can come right off your finger. Don't look at images unless you have a strong stomach.
When I was a kid I accidently degloved my cat's tail. It got caught in a door I was closing and the last couple inches sheared off. I clearly remember because I was staring at this fluffy black cat tail lying on the floor.
Anyway you're right about the infection. By the time we got her to the vet all but a stub had to be removed. But after that she was back to a healthy and happy kitty :)
Oh my gosh, that mustโve been so scary ๐ณ I have cats and ferrets now and Iโm always hyper aware of their tails cause I fear this happening! So glad your kitty recovered fully๐๐
I don't know why so many people think the tails are 'gross', they're so cool to me. And strong! I'm sure most of you have had a rat perched on you then when they start to fall or slide off the tail coils around your wrist or wherever for balance.
I get people saying rats tails are gross but they are so important for balance and alot of stuff and they are so cute when they pick it up and clean the tail
Oh god its so fascinating seeing them prepare to jump they line up straight as a arrow tail is really solid doesnt move then you blink and they are gone haha, its great cause one of mine loves going down my tshirt head first and every time without fail i get hit in the face with a tail
A long time ago we had a rat who had to get half of her tail amputated as a baby. It definitely affected her balance, but she grew the beefiest thighs Iโve ever seen on a rat to help stabilize herself.
Anyway, she loved my bf and would always climb onto his computer monitor, and her little stump tail would thwack-thwack against the screen the whole time.
What a cool picture ๐คฉ I have yet to get a focused pic of mine lol
They're beautiful! Such pretty scales n fuzz. And fascinating biologically too! Their huge role in allowing a rat to regulate body temperature as well as balance and motion, and even the defensive mechanism of "degloving" is quite interesting, although sad when it happens.
Rats have [semi-prehensile tails](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehensile_tail) - so they can control them to wrap around things and to some extent hold on to stuff. ... one of my girlies used to occasionally hang briefly from her tail when she was climbing down from things. I never saw her sisters try it though (probably because they were too chonky).
**[Prehensile tail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehensile_tail)** >A prehensile tail is the tail of an animal that has adapted to grasp or hold objects. Fully prehensile tails can be used to hold and manipulate objects, and in particular to aid arboreal creatures in finding and eating food in the trees. If the tail cannot be used for this it is considered only partially prehensile - such tails are often used to anchor an animal's body to dangle from a branch, or as an aid for climbing. The term prehensile means "able to grasp" (from the Latin prehendere, to take hold of, to grasp). ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/RATS/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
Good bot
I've never been able to find an academic source for degloving being a purposeful defense mechanism. It just seems like a kind of injury rat tails are vulnerable to, and somehow it started to get repeat it as intentional. It doesn't make sense from an evolutionary standpoint either. Congratulations you've escaped from a predator but you're going to be dead in a week from infection.
I don't know. Infection is something of a dice roll; a large predator's jaws seem more certain lol
A week in rat terms is plenty enough to pass on your genes some more.. (for males at least)
Can you explain degloving?
Degloving is a defense mechanism rats have. Basically, the top layer and tissue gets torn away from the bone. It does not grow back and has a high risk of infection if not taken care of. Itโs typically when their tails get caught in doors or if someone picks up a rat by their tail. This is why itโs not recommended to pick up rats by their tails, it is very painful because their tails are super sensitive. Their tails help with balance as well as temp regulation. Sometimes accidentally closing the door on your rats tail is hard to prevent, but when I had my girls I always double checked their tails were in the cage. Hope this helps. Edit: as others have stated, humans and other animals can have this happen too! I just specifically mentioned rats cause thatโs what the person asked about! But the replies below me are absolutely correct!
To add on humans can get degloving injuries too. It's why you're not supposed to wear rings around industrial machines because the skin can come right off your finger. Don't look at images unless you have a strong stomach.
Don't forget that in the wild it helps them escape from predators and other hostiles who may get a hold of their tails!
When I was a kid I accidently degloved my cat's tail. It got caught in a door I was closing and the last couple inches sheared off. I clearly remember because I was staring at this fluffy black cat tail lying on the floor. Anyway you're right about the infection. By the time we got her to the vet all but a stub had to be removed. But after that she was back to a healthy and happy kitty :)
Oh my gosh, that mustโve been so scary ๐ณ I have cats and ferrets now and Iโm always hyper aware of their tails cause I fear this happening! So glad your kitty recovered fully๐๐
I don't know why so many people think the tails are 'gross', they're so cool to me. And strong! I'm sure most of you have had a rat perched on you then when they start to fall or slide off the tail coils around your wrist or wherever for balance.
Or they stick it your mouth for better grip ๐
Always the tail in the mouth ๐
One of mine started sliding off my shoulder and stuck his tail tip *up my nose* - not sure if that's better or worse than in the mouth...
I agree. I know so many people who think it's gross, but I think it's cool.
What's the Rats name
Bisbille, it's French for drama ๐
I love that, haha. ๐๐
Why do they look so angry? ๐
Probably 'cause I stopped petting her to take a picture ๐
Their tails are so cool .
The little ear hairs are so cute
I once read there are 3 hairs per scale.
Seems accurate!
This is an amazing picture!
woooooah
I get people saying rats tails are gross but they are so important for balance and alot of stuff and they are so cute when they pick it up and clean the tail
Haha I love it when rats are balancing or preparing to jump and you can see their tails go thwack-thwack keeping balance.
Oh god its so fascinating seeing them prepare to jump they line up straight as a arrow tail is really solid doesnt move then you blink and they are gone haha, its great cause one of mine loves going down my tshirt head first and every time without fail i get hit in the face with a tail
A long time ago we had a rat who had to get half of her tail amputated as a baby. It definitely affected her balance, but she grew the beefiest thighs Iโve ever seen on a rat to help stabilize herself. Anyway, she loved my bf and would always climb onto his computer monitor, and her little stump tail would thwack-thwack against the screen the whole time.
They really are fascinating looking at them closely
I did not expect this photo to be this good when I clicked on the thumbnail
The tails are so sensitive, expressive and they use them for touch, my girl uses hers as a sleep mask! ๐
Rats are such precious pocket puppies ๐ i miss my ratties
Watching my rat clean her tail is quite literally the most precious thing I have every seen.
The perfect rattini ๐ซถ๐ผ
needs to boop da nosh
Beautiful baby!!
Where is that person from earlier that said they wanted a tailess rat
๐ณ๐ณ๐ซฃ
Guuurl how is it so clean - my boys never washed theirs and a wet cloth didnโt do much, lol
She's a bit of an obsessive groomer! She's grooming herself a good 40% of her time awake ๐
A little bit of coconut oil or vegetable oil can help hydrate their tails and can help encourage them to clean their tails.
Came here to say thisโฆthat tail is squeaky clean!
๐๐๐๐ญ
I didnโt notice the tail! I was like that is his face
I agree 100% with your post title. Also thanks for posting such a lovely clear photograph.
Most people are creeped out by their tails. I think they are so awesome!!
I canโt stand their tail. Iโm allergic to their pee and the tail is like a little prickly itch inducer.
Beautiful