I have an adult rat named Remy and last night, for the second time this year, the same toenail somehow tore out of his foot completely. I have read that it's a common thing for rats to lose their toenails on occasion, but twice in the same year on the same foot? I have also recently bought a second rat for Remy to snuggle and they are both in a relatively small cage (though from petsmart its rat specific, its not like its for hamsters) that I moved them in to yesterday... Could that have something to do with it? It has two levels, so if a fight broke out one could move to another level to get away. I really don't want to have to separate them.
And like it said in the title, could loss of toenails be a rat disorder? Am, I just worrying too much?

I've never heard of rats losing toenails. I'm not saying it doesn't happen but I have never heard of it. Over the years I have had many rats and never had this problem.

Is their bedding dry? Is the whole cage dry and clean?

Also, adding a rat after one has established themselves already is generally not a good idea. You could have nasty fighting between them and a second level will not provide a retreat for the victim as the other rat can easily follow and will often do so. If they are getting along currently, then you are lucky so far. It remains to be seen how long that will last.

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Originally Posted by odinn7

I've never heard of rats losing toenails. I'm not saying it doesn't happen but I have never heard of it. Over the years I have had many rats and never had this problem.

Is their bedding dry? Is the whole cage dry and clean?

Also, adding a rat after one has established themselves already is generally not a good idea. You could have nasty fighting between them and a second level will not provide a retreat for the victim as the other rat can easily follow and will often do so. If they are getting along currently, then you are lucky so far. It remains to be seen how long that will last.

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I do not use bedding, I use very very soft blankets. I just put them in a new cage yesterday, but the cage they were in before Remy had established before the new one, and he welcomed in the new rat very quickly. They love each other and are like brothers. And I agree, I had never heard of rats losing a toenail because I had some in the past and they never had that problem... I am real thankful at how lucky I am they are so nice to each other especially because Remy didn't have a companion rat for six months :o I guess remy is just a unique rat

Blankets for bedding is not a good idea. Cedar chips or something similar is best. The wood chips will help to take moisture away. Blankets will keep moisture on the surface. Not good at all. There could be some sort of foot disease going on here.

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Originally Posted by odinn7

Blankets for bedding is not a good idea. Cedar chips or something similar is best. The wood chips will help to take moisture away. Blankets will keep moisture on the surface. Not good at all. There could be some sort of foot disease going on here.

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I keep a towel underneath the blanket to soak up urine. I check every day and the blanket is always dry... Remy also seems to be allergic to everything but the blanket. And back when I had bedding in the cage is the first time it happened.

My bet is that the rat got it's toenail caught in the blanket, and that's why it ripped off. Blankets in the cage are a very bad idea.

There are many different forms of bedding, surely you haven't tried all of them to find a allergy free alternative. I would really urge you to find something other than a blanket, you'll end up with nothing but issues with this sort of bedding for your rats.

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Originally Posted by Alty

My bet is that the rat got it's toenail caught in the blanket, and that's why it ripped off. Blankets in the cage are a very bad idea.

There are many different forms of bedding, surely you haven't tried all of them to find a allergy free alternative. I would really urge you to find something other than a blanket, you'll end up with nothing but issues with this sort of bedding for your rats.

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I guess. I just found it easier to clean up the cage when I had the blanket. I found nail clippers online, I'm going to try keeping his nails short first and if that doesn't work ill find some bedding. I haven't tried ALL of the beddings, but the ones I have tried have made him real itchy and sneezy and sick, plus using the blanket was a way cheaper alternative. If this happens again I WILL buy bedding. Thank you for the advice :)

There are good quality bedding and not so good quality bedding. Make sure that it's treated for use with animals. If it's not treated properly, it gets very dusty, and can cause itching, sneezing, etc.

I buy pine bedding for my 4 rabbits, and one large bag costs me $10. I spot clean my bunny cages every day (remove urine and feces) and do a complete clean of all 4 cages every week, and one bag of bedding lasts me 2 months. I have one bunny that does have issues with certain types of bedding, but has never had problems with the pine.

Try small bags at first, until you find one that your rats can tolerate, then find a pet surplus store, they usually have better quality items for a lot cheaper than the big chain stores.

Good luck. :)