My female rat has a lump on the underside of her neck....?

it's probably a tumour, it's most common in females, contact this lady ratlady@ratfanclub.org her name is Debbie Ducommun and she is an expert, she helped me whenever i had a problem, she would give you the best advice, Good Luck

I cannot say for certain but it really does sound like a tumor. Even moreso because your rat is female. Mammary tissue in female rats run all along the underside of their bodies so they can develop a tumor practically anywhere. Mammary tumors are extremely common in female rats. Tumors usually appear as a nodule under the skin and do not seem to be painful or bothersome to the rat at first. However, tumors do appear all of a sudden and can grow extremly rapidly and need to be dealt with while they are still small and manageable. I'd take her to a vet and have the lump examined by a doctor who is experienced with rats. If it is a tumor it can be removed through surgery (make sure it is by an experienced vet) and the rat will recover. Untreated, a tumor will eventually become fatal. Sometimes the tumor will never come back. Other times the rat will continue to develop tumors. If tumors keep coming back, you may want to consider spaying her if she is still young, but make sure if you decide on that you find a surgeon who has experience successfully spaying female rats in the past. Unlike tumor removal, spaying is a much more risky surgery. Info on to spay or not to spay: http://www.rmca.org/Articles/spay2.htm

It could be an abcess or a tumour. I thought of my boys had a tumour in the same place as your girl. There were no visible wounds and it wasnt painful to touch. The vet couldnt do a biopsy because of his general bad health, but agreed it was most likely a tumour. A couple of months later, it had grown so much, it went under his jaw and into his throat. I prepared to let him go, then there was this vile smell from the cage and he had pus coming out of his ear! Turns out it was an abcess. Something must of caught in his mouth and caused it. Now, he's deaf in that ear and sometimes struggles to get around.

I would definately get your girl checked out by a vet and make sure they investigate fully. Even if its nothing serious serious, at least your mind will be at rest. I always say that it is better to feel a fool now, than to feel guilty later on.

Could be a tumor and you're best off getting her to a vet. Our pet rat had something similar that just got larger and larger. We had it removed successfully and she lived for another year or so, which was pretty good as she was around 2 when the lump developed.

My first male rat had a few of those. At first I thought they were tumors but they went away within 2weeks. Just bathe her with baby soap once a week and it should go away. If it doesn't it is probablly just a skin growth and it isn't anything really. But, if she does start acting weird, take her to the vet as it may be a tumor.

It sounds like a tumour (or a cyst) to me. These are really common in rats (two of three of my rats got tumours). I would get it checked out just in case it is aggressive, because they can spread throughout the body later on. You can get the tumours surgically removed and I did this for one of my rats (it can be quite expensive, however) and she lived til quite old. The sooner you get it checked out, then the more options you have if it is worse case scenario.

Good luck!

you should take her to the vet just in case. if you think its just a small bite, im sure it will go away soon.