Is my new pet rat sick?

Question

Well i bought my rat 2 weeks ago and the first week she was very normal and allways excited to see me and just now shes very sluggish dosent open her eyes all the way and hasent been eating. whats wrong?

:(

Answer 1

What's wrong is that you need a small animal vet pronto. Here's some recommended rat vet lists: http://www.petinfopackets.com/rats/rathe...

Your rat needs a small animal vet ASAP. If she makes it, she also needs a same s*x friend. Rats should never be kept alone, they are too social.

Answer 2

Does she have dried blood looking gunk around her nose, ears, or eyes? If so then look into Mycoplasma. One of my rats have that and she is in bad shape right now.

Answer 3

Take her to the vet; they will most likely give you some antibiotics to treat the infection. When your pet is sluggish and is not eating, the answer is always - yes, it's sick.

Answer 4

Lethargy (sluggish, not eating, not opening eyes) is a huge and often first sign that your rat is sick. You can also look at her nose, eyes, legs and feet, and coat for red stuff that appears to be blood. Its called Porphyrin and although it is not blood, it is only present when rats are either sick or stressed out.

If she has porphyrin, consider the type of bedding you are using. Are you using shavings or either cedar or pine? These are both extremely harmful for rats' tiny lungs. You want to use recycled paper products like Carefresh.

If she is losing weight rapidly, you could try to give her food with a syringe with no needle. Rats rarely will spit food out once its in their mouths so if she is severely underweight you can at least some good high calorie food in her....you can also do this with water in small amounts

Most importantly, she will most likely need antibiotics so try to get her to the vet ASAP.

Good luck and hang in there.

Answer 5

Like Bos chick said, does she have dried blood and etc around her nose eyes and stuff?

Did you only get one rat? Could she be depressed?

Did you get the right food, is she also pregnant maybe?

Did you really do your research..? Not trying to be mean..But yeah..