rat bite injury

[sillyduckz]

hi all! today my duck Pickles managed to get in a tussle with a rat. i'm not exactly sure what transpired, but i was alerted to a loud honk and found her standing near the entrance/exit of a small rat hole near her coop. judging by her injury, it seems she was likely poking around in there and got nipped. i've washed out the wound with diluted betadine and applied a thin layer of vaseline as an emollient, and i'll be heading out to grab some neosporin (which i would've preferred using initially but unfortunately just realized i had run out). how do i keep her wound clean in the following days with her rummaging around in muddy water? should i reapply the betadine and neosporin daily? thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

The betadine and neosporin would be okay to use especially with a puncture wound. I would let her be out and do what she normally does, but watch for swelling or an anscess. Did this just happen? Could it have been a snake?

 

[sillyduckz]

The betadine and neosporin would be okay to use especially with a puncture wound. I would let her be out and do what she normally does, but watch for swelling or an anscess. Did this just happen? Could it have been a snake?

thanks for the reply, this just happened an hour ago. i let her return to the coop for now and have been monitoring her since, and she seems completely fine behavior-wise. i can't say for sure whether or not it was a snake, but i have definitely seen a rat retreat to that hole she was near in the past. i've seen garter snakes before on the property but never near the coop. should i treat her water with ACV or anything special? thank you kindly for your time

 

[FrostRanger]

thanks for the reply, this just happened an hour ago. i let her return to the coop for now and have been monitoring her since, and she seems completely fine behavior-wise. i can't say for sure whether or not it was a snake, but i have definitely seen a rat retreat to that hole she was near in the past. i've seen garter snakes before on the property but never near the coop. should i treat her water with ACV or anything special? thank you kindly for your time

ACV wouldn't do anything, using the betadine and neosporin is enough, just keep an eye on it but she should be just fine

I would be more concerned about the presence of rats on the property and would look for ways to keep them away from your birds' food. Getting a few barn cats can also be helpful

 

[sillyduckz]

ACV wouldn't do anything, using the betadine and neosporin is enough, just keep an eye on it but she should be just fine

I would be more concerned about the presence of rats on the property and would look for ways to keep them away from your birds' food. Getting a few barn cats can also be helpful

thanks for the info, the rats have been a real pain and seem to linger no matter what. i've never had an incident like this before though, i'm hoping it was just a fluke i'm gonna see about setting up some larger scale traps at night!

 

[FrostRanger]

thanks for the info, the rats have been a real pain and seem to linger no matter what. i've never had an incident like this before though, i'm hoping it was just a fluke i'm gonna see about setting up some larger scale traps at night!

Just be mindful of the potential of catching something you don't intend to if you set traps, even though they can sometimes be annoying, you don't want to catch a squirrel or something by mistake

 

[sillyduckz]

it's the following morning, and the wound seems to be healing. i'm letting her return to her normal activities foraging and dabbling in the pool today; should i redress the wound with betadine and neosporin later this evening? i assume reapplying neosporin midday would be a waste since she'll likely wash it off within minutes. thank you all for the help