How to Skin a Rat Properly
Midventral Incision -
1. Lay it on its rat
2. Pin its paw to the tray if neccesary, but it sounds gross to me
3. Most lab specimens have a small opening in the neck area, where colored latex was injected into the arteries. Lift the Posterior (this is when those anatomical terms start coming in handy so click on the underlined word to get to its definition) edge of this opening, and using a blunt probe, gently separate the underside of the skin from the muslce below. While continuing to lift, use scissors to cut the freed skin along the ventral midline.
4. Continue the lift-separate-and-cut-method in a posterior direction.
5. Stop cutting just in front of the urogenital area.
6. Extend your cut forward to the point of the jaw as well.
*Be careful to cut only the loosened skin and not underlying muscle.
Lateral Incisions -
1. Make 4 lateral incisions.
2. Make the first one along the edge of the lower jaw to the cheek and then to the top of the skull, just behind the eye.
3. The Second and third cuts are down the inside of each leg to the paws; also make a circular incision around each leg at the wrists and ankles.
4. The last lateral cut is to be done from the front of the Urogenial area, around the rear margin of the hind legs, to the top of the base of the tail.
Removing the Skin -
1. Loosen all the skin on the ventral and lateral surfaces using a blunt probe.
2. Turn the rat over and remove the entire skin from the limbs and dorsal body. (It's easier to start at the rear and work your way forward, not that I would know)
Be aware of -
-brownish tissue that adheres to the skin. These are dermal muscles that allow the animal to move its skin
-the mammary glands may appear as a band of tissue running under the nipples; this tissie mau be greatly expanded to pregnant and lactating individuals.
-saving the skin to wrap your specimen between lab periods.