Why is my rat acting this way?

Question

I just bought a female fancy rat, Ruby, about 2 and a half weeks ago. I bought her and another rat, Gemini. Both rats were having the sneezies, and we read online that sometimes when rats are getting used to their new home, they sneeze a lot, and that it was nothing to worry about. Over the past two weeks, they kept smeezing. There was even one incident where Ruby was breathing fast paced and with a squeek. Normally we have a fan on them, but another ONE time incident, when the fan was turned off, Ruby started having colvultions, until we put her in coldish water and dried her off with a towell to keep her cool. Since then, we've kept them in air condition, and everything's been okay except the sneezies. We also just recently bought another rat, who seems to have the sneezies as well, but we've seen nothing in Gemini and the new baby, Athena, as bad as we've seen with Ruby. Also, even though some symptoms have subsided, Ruby still sometimes acts a little weird. ((more details coming))

Answer 1

This sounds like something called Myco. Rats have a bacteria in their lungs called Mycoplasma and sometimes it can act up, causing a respiratory infection. You could have bought Gemini with the Myco infection and she could have passed it on to Ruby. Now all 3 may have it. It is chronic and very very contagious to other rats. Human, and all other animals except rats, cant catch it. a simple antibiotic can be given to treat the symptoms. You must get the antibiotic from your vet. i got it for my 2 rats and it was $95 for the exam and meds. most clinics ahould cost around the same. Good luck!