New baby rat makes a loud, snickering sound.?

Question

I already own two rats, but recently i brought a new baby to the home. My friend also bought a baby rat from the same cage, on the same day. I have my rat in her own little cage, because she is still very young, and too hyper for the older rats. Yesterday my friend brought his rat over, and he mentioned she had been making this weird snickering sneeze that can get very loud, and asked if we ever noticed that in our rats. I've never experienced that sound from my first two rats, or the new baby. The two baby rats played for part of the afternoon, and nothing seemed wrong. Later that night when my baby rat was alone in her cage, she started making the same noise. Now she does it all the time. Did she just learn a noise from the other rat? or could she have possibly caught something from my friends rat?

Answer 1

Rats sneeze like this when anxious or stressed. Bringing her friend back to play with and then taking her friend away again probably stressed her out a good bit. It isn't like when children have a "playdate", rats don't have quite the same mindset. They don't understand why their friend is being taken away.

Maybe it's not the best idea to put them back together again.

Answer 2

Sneezing can be due to a variety of reasons.  Rats can sneeze when they are stressed.  It should only last a day or two.  If your rat is sneezing a lot she probably has a respiratory infection of some sort.  Since your girl started doing it after it was in contact with the other one, I would guess that's probably it.

"Sneezing/Wheezing/Noisy Breathing: Often the sign of a respiratory infection. Virtually all pet rats are infected with an organism called mycoplasma which inhabits their respiratory system. Many rats carry mycoplasma without appearing to suffer any illness, while others are not able to carry the infection unharmed. These rats will usually start to sneeze as young adults; they then develop some damage to the respiratory tract (lungs, windpipe, etc.) which makes it easier for bacteria to enter and cause an infection. This is usually what has happened when a rat starts to wheeze, and if a great deal of damage is caused to the respiratory tract, the rat may develop emphysema, bronchitis, pneumonia and lung abscesses.

Although sneezing is not necessarily a sign of serious illness (most rats sneeze at some point in their lives), a rat that sneezes frequently and for an extended period should be observed for any other signs of illness. If your rat's breathing appears laboured, wheezy, or has a rattley sound, consult a vet immediately. When treated early, secondary respiratory infections can often be kept at bay with a strong course of antibiotics.

While sneezing or snuffling may be the result of the irritation of the respiratory tract from dust and phenol oils if the rat is kept on shavings, often a rat with noisy breathing is suffering from a secondary infection in the upper respiratory tract."

http://www.quite.co.uk/rats/#Sneezing/Wh...

Hope that helps!