Please help! My rats are...?

Question

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My rats(two male blue fancy rats, 7 months old) are exhibiting signs of illness. But, this is not the first time. You see, we bought them at Petsmart(big mistake, I now know) and when we got them home they were sneezing. I thought it was the type of sneezing rats can have when they come in to a new environment, but soon I started to see a red, blood-like chemical around their noses, and one was growing very lethargic. So, we took them back to Petsmart; their warranty on new pets says that you can take them back to the store if they are sick within the 14 days that you bought them, and either get new rats, get your money back, or get them free treatment at Banfield veterinary clinic. We chose to get them treatment. So, just yesterday(about 2 and a half weeks from when we brought them back), the store called and said "They have taken their antibiotics and are fully healed." We thought great, so we went to pick them up. I didn't hear sneezing in their carrier on the way home, but now that they're back in out home, they are sneezing occasionally and have some(very little) red around their noses. Last night, i heard one sort of make a hiccuping sound in his sleep, but it stopped within 10 seconds, when he changed sleeping positions. Am I being paranoid? Could they be allergic to something in our house? What do I do, I don't want them to suffer!

Answer 1

I'm pretty sure I know what this is and in some cases it is a serious thing.

The Red you are seeing around the nose and in some cases the eyes is called porphyrin. It indicates the rat is under high levels of stress or in worse cases it is a sign of pain or illness. My rat had the same thing and I freaked because I thought it was blood. I took him to the vet and found out he had a respiratory infection due to the store not cleaning their cages on a daily bases. You can wipe away the red porphyrin with a warm wash cloth. But I would highly suggest seeing a vet asap. The only thing that is a pain with going to the vet, is that you have to find an exotic one who will render shots because most vets don't view rats as pets, just as food which is sad. I would not go back to the store. Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Well, you should have took them back to the place you got them from and they proberly would have checked them out for you for free. Dont know if your being paranoid get it checked out with the vet because it's better to be safe than sorry as the saying goes. lol. Hope this helps!!! x

Answer 3

well if this continues or gets worse i would take them back to the vet after asking petsmart what kind of medication they were on bc the vet would most likely really want to know that... some rats usually sneeze occasionaly just like many other animals do, but the red around their nose and eyes could aslo suggest them being stressed out (so if it gets worse i would take them to the vet, and otherwise i'd make their enviornment a little different to make them feel safer mayb...?)

steps that i would take is making sure that their bedding is ok for them and that their cage remains clean (remember that pine and cedar will irritate their repitory system so aspen is ok, but my favorite beddding is the carefresh because its not dusty, its kind of softish and it just seems like it'd be more comfortable to walk on, and its waaay easy to clean up 2) also, from my experience it helps that they are able to get off their bedding, weither it be from being on another cage level or being in a hammock or something like that

also, being in a wire cage vs being in a tank could also help since a wire cage gives them better ventalation which will be better on their respitory sysytem also (just make sure its not in a drafty area though of course)

another imprtant thing is hiding places, and other toys for them to keep them occupied and happy (and to chew on =D)

hopefully your rats will be ok and will clear up soon and wont need more medicine >.<

Answer 4

you should have asked what was wrong with your rats when you picked them up like did they have a infection or was it a really bad allergic reaction then you would have known what tro do if they got ill again