My rat started to secrete porphoryin randomly?

Question

I noticed a couple of days ago and today it's dried around her eye and is kind of gooped up in the corner.

She's a peach-fuzz hairless. I got her at twelve weeks so she's about.. 22 weeks. She's still pretty tiny, about the length of my palm.

I've never had a rat randomly start to secrete it. The only rat I've had with this came to me like that.

Is it a bad sign or is she in the clear? I seem to have bad luck keeping hairless rats, so I'm trying to be extra cautious with Peach.

Answer 1

Hairless rats frequently have skin and eye problems, so don't be surprised if a majority of the hairless rats you keep end up with issues.

Normally, poryphyrin is present if the rat is suffering from irritation in the respiratory tract, such as a respiratory infection, reaction to dusty bedding, or simply stress.

But it's weird that she is only having discharge from one eye. That could be from debris in her eye, an ingrown/abnormal eyelash, blocked tear duct, or maybe she just poked it.

Watch it for signs of infection, such as more discharge, swelling, redness, obsessive scratching/rubbing, etc. And also watch for more signs of general illness like sneezing/wheezing, weakness, weight loss, etc. If she seems to get worse at all, you need to get her to the vet.

In the mean time, you can just clean the discharge from her eye with warm water and a soft towl or cotton swab.

Good luck!

Answer 2

u have a pet rat? cool.