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One of my rats has some mystery sickness that I can't figure out. They were a bit sneezy when we got them and the breeder said that it should go away pretty soon on it's own, since it wasn't serious looking and they were still pretty active. Now both of them still sneeze pretty regularly. The thing is. I've had them for 5 weeks now and the sneezing hasn't gotten worse or better really, which makes me think that it can't be myco for sure. There are no vets nearby that know anything about rats either, so the best I can do is to get them to give me some antibiotic and I don't really want to do that if it's not absolutely needed. Any ideas what it could be?
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Dec 19, 2019 14:20
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 03:07 |
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Jack Trades posted:One of my rats has some mystery sickness that I can't figure out. How's the humidity in their room? You've had rats before, right? So I'm assuming you've got your bedding and hygiene routines sorted already. I've definitely had rats who've had ongoing myco nonsense for months/years.
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Dec 19, 2019 15:10
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Jaded Burnout posted:How's the humidity in their room? I'm pretty sure that their environment is as dust free as I can keep it and I've even started using shredded paper for bedding to avoid any dust related issues.
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Dec 19, 2019 15:18
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Jack Trades posted:Yeah I did have rats before. I just never seen them be so sneezy. Fair enough. Check out your humidity levels, anything under 50%RH I've found messes with the sinuses of my fellas, and the winter can be particularly bad for it.
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Dec 19, 2019 15:35
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Jaded Burnout posted:Fair enough. Check out your humidity levels, anything under 50%RH I've found messes with the sinuses of my fellas, and the winter can be particularly bad for it. You might be right. I didn't even think about low humidity but the room they were in was definitely too dry. I'll have to see if their condition changes but I hope that's all it was.
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Dec 21, 2019 18:13
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Jack Trades posted:You might be right. I didn't even think about low humidity but the room they were in was definitely too dry. I don't want to sub in for an actual exotic vet but if that doesn't work you can also nebulise them with saline/F10 solution which apparently helps their sinuses and kills bugs without antibiotics, respectively. If that doesn't work then Doxycycline orally, if that doesn't work then ciprofloxacin orally, if that doesn't work then combine all of the above. At least, that's the process we went through with some of my chronic myco boys. Have they been producing much porphyrin?
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Dec 22, 2019 00:14
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How old are they? I once had a couple of babies that were pretty much like you described, just constantly sneezing, and over the course of a 2-3 months as they grew to full size they seemed to also grow out of their allergies/illness/whatever (or maybe they just got used to the environment, not sure.)
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Dec 22, 2019 00:35
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Jaded Burnout posted:I don't want to sub in for an actual exotic vet but if that doesn't work you can also nebulise them with saline/F10 solution which apparently helps their sinuses and kills bugs without antibiotics, respectively. If that doesn't work then Doxycycline orally, if that doesn't work then ciprofloxacin orally, if that doesn't work then combine all of the above. At least, that's the process we went through with some of my chronic myco boys. I'll keep that in mind. Theu haven't been producing much porphyrin. Seems like they quickly wash it off because the only reason I know there's any porphyrin at all is some tiny red stains on the tissues I gave them to play with. Falstaff posted:How old are they? I once had a couple of babies that were pretty much like you described, just constantly sneezing, and over the course of a 2-3 months as they grew to full size they seemed to also grow out of their allergies/illness/whatever (or maybe they just got used to the environment, not sure.) 10-12 weeks or so.
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Dec 22, 2019 09:21
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Good news: rat is off antibiotics now Bad news: new growth in his armpit OK news: probably not a recurrence of his previous malignant tumour, probably a benign mammary thing Will monitor and intervene if necessary.
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Dec 23, 2019 12:12
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Jaded Burnout posted:Good news: rat is off antibiotics now That's just his bicep. He's been getting too strong because we've been praying for him too hard.
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Dec 23, 2019 21:04
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biker rats from mars
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Dec 23, 2019 21:08
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My rex is a god drat weirdo. Who eats cucumbers like that?! Why did you eat the "shell" and leave the insides? I gave him another piece of cucumber just to check and yet again he just chomped off the outside of it.
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Dec 27, 2019 16:35
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Had one of my boys lift his tail straight up and wiggle it. I have never seen a rat wag its tail before getting these two weirdos, especially in such a strange fashion. Anyone knows what rat's tail wagging is about? The internet gave an inconclusive answer.
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Dec 30, 2019 13:35
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Rats usually wiggle their tail because they sense something that worries them. Could be another animal, a new object they're more curious than anxious about, or even a strange smell that strikes them as "off."
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Dec 30, 2019 16:21
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Oh, I see. There was a cat in the same room at the time so I guess it was that. I never knew what the tail wagging meant because I've never seen any of my rats it that before.
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Dec 30, 2019 16:29
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Our two and a half year old Katja may be heading toward that great cardboard box full of ripped up paper towels in the sky soon. In the last two weeks, she's begun constantly... hyperventilating? I think? Obviously breathing more heavily and quickly than normal, but not making any raspy troubled breathing sounds. She's noticeably lost weight in the last few days. She'll still gladly accept special treats, though. Chex mix, bits of cookies, mashed vegetables and chicken. What's most worrisome is that she appears confused. Lost. She hardly reacts to her sister or the young ones. She'll still cuddle up in bed with everybody, of course. She's survived two surgeries to remove tumors and had quite a tough time recovering after both. Vet appointment Friday. I'm worried the experience of going to the vet again will be traumatic enough to worsen her condition. Then again, maybe she just needs some probiotics. I wish rats lived longer. They have so much more character than people realize.
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Dec 31, 2019 06:25
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The ongoing bonding with my last rat is going well, I'm happy  Animal-Mother posted:What's most worrisome is that she appears confused. Lost. She hardly reacts to her sister or the young ones. I'm sorry to hear that  Has she been doing anything like walking in circles?
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Jan 2, 2020 23:10
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No, she doesn't really wander. She's wanted to spend a lot of time on my lap, something she didn't really do previously. We've been hand feeding her baby food and she's doing a little better today. She loves the mac and cheese flavor but declines the pea soup one.
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Jan 3, 2020 00:45
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Well that's a blessing at least. My lot couldn't resist carrot-based baby foods if that's on the menu for you.
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Jan 3, 2020 00:55
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My previous rats never liked carrots or anything with carrots in it. My current rats will flip their loving food bowl all over the place if you give them pear, because they're little shits.
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Jan 3, 2020 07:38
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My first hairless rat loved cantaloupe so much. I'd always say "Pipis loves her 'canterlope'!" and she would ravenously chow down on it. Made me really sad when the day I had her put to sleep, I gave her some, and she tried soo hard to eat it, but she was either in too much pain or her lack of appetite kicked in.. Oh well. She had probably 50x her body weight in cantaloupe in her lifetime. 
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Jan 3, 2020 08:04
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There are two hammocks in my cage. One is significantly larger than the other. For the first time ever, I caught all four of my girls deciding to cram into the tiny one.  
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Jan 5, 2020 06:41
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Oh, to have a glimpse of what goes on in their little ray brains. Adorable.
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Jan 5, 2020 10:06
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Ratty piles are the best.
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Jan 5, 2020 11:21
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Having rats has been good exposure therapy for one of the electricians. One of his big fears is unexpectedly finding rats while up in an attic somewhere, so it was nice for him to be able to see one in a controlled environment.
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Jan 5, 2020 11:57
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Jaded Burnout posted:Having rats has been good exposure therapy for one of the electricians. One of his big fears is unexpectedly finding rats while up in an attic somewhere, so it was nice for him to be able to see one in a controlled environment. My late grandmother had a deathly fear of rats. I'm pretty sure it was an out-and-out phobia, because if she even saw a wild rat or mouse she'd be beside herself - crying, hyperventilating, etc. I lived with my grandparents for a time in my early 20s, and brought with me my first heart rat, Sylph. At first the rule was I had to keep her out of sight. Over time, though, my grandmother would catch glimpses of her inside her cage, first from the other side of the room and later getting a bit closer. Once when she entered the room, Sylph got up on her hind legs and sniffed the air, and my grandmother asked me why she did that. "She was trying to figure out who you were," I told her. "Well," she said begrudgingly, "I suppose that's cute." Things came to a head when, one day, I went out and Sylph got out of her cage. Instead of her usual reaction, after an initial moment of panic, she went and got my smaller, spare cage, put it in the living room where Sylph was hiding, and called out, "Sylph! Play time is over!" Sylph immediately ran over and climbed into the cage, which my grandmother shut and put back in my room. From that point on, my grandmother no longer feared rats, wild or otherwise. So that's my story about my grandmother and my pet rat, please like and subscribe etc.
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Jan 5, 2020 15:15
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I have numerous friends and family members that upon hearing that I had rats for the first time went "eww, I don't wanna see or touch them they're disgusting!" and then over time they either went to loving them or at the very least changing their opinion to "they're very cute but I don't like their tail." Which seems to be a very common opinion, I've noticed.
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Jan 5, 2020 15:32
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Jack Trades posted:"they're very cute but I don't like their tail." Which seems to be a very common opinion, I've noticed. That's my mother's stance, yes.
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Jan 5, 2020 16:29
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My wife started off as "no rats," moved to "we can get rats but they have to be out of the way and they're your responsibility" then after we got them, to "the girls are so loving cute and I'm glad we got rats." I'm still doing most of the work with them but oh, the look on her face when she's holding one Also I heard rats like bandaids but I didn't realize how much until one of them tried to pull my finger off. So now I'm sitting here with them having to hide my thumb and handle them.
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Jan 6, 2020 06:42
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ThreeStep posted:Also I heard rats like bandaids but I didn't realize how much until one of them tried to pull my finger off. So now I'm sitting here with them having to hide my thumb and handle them. Yeah what's up with that? My rats always try to eat my Band-Aids
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Jan 6, 2020 06:57
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Same, even with UK branded ones.
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Jan 6, 2020 14:38
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 My phone camera is lovely but my black boy started growing these white hairs and it looks very interesting. Apparently it's a rare fur coloring that I've never heard of before. Apparently it's called "silvered" black. According to a breeder friend of mine. EDIT: Basically I got a rat shiny. 
Jack Trades fucked around with this message at 13:38 on Jan 7, 2020 |
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Jan 7, 2020 13:31
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One of my rats won't stop sneezing and I'm completely out of ideas. They've had 2 weeks of antibiotics. I'm bedding with shredded paper and I'm cleaning all the flat surfaces daily. I'm running a humidifier all the time keeping humidity at 50%. He doesn't seem lethargic, he doesn't have porphyrine stains on him (only a little bit on the paper towels I let them play with) and he eats pretty well but he's sneezing all the time and it sounds pretty bad occasionally, I'm completely out of ideas now. I feel so bad for him. They've both been sneezy since I've got them but the other one has been fine for a long time now.
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Jan 10, 2020 10:57
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Has your vet tested him for myco? If you hold your ear against his lungs, do you hear a kind of "clicking" in his breathing?
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Jan 10, 2020 14:45
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Falstaff posted:Has your vet tested him for myco? If you hold your ear against his lungs, do you hear a kind of "clicking" in his breathing? I can't hear him making any sounds when breathing and the only vet I have available here doesn't know anything about rats. I just asked them to prescribe me some appropriate antibiotics. I'm going to remove everything that isn't made out of plastic from their cage for the weekend, in case it some sort of allergy, because I'm all out of ideas.
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Jan 10, 2020 15:12
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What's the cage smell like? Any ammonia?
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Jan 10, 2020 16:31
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Jaded Burnout posted:What's the cage smell like? Any ammonia? Nope, absolutely not. That's one of the first things I've looked for and I'm wiping every flat surface with a wet cloth almost every day just in case.
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Jan 10, 2020 17:23
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Jan 10, 2020 17:42
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one of my older rats has green discharge from her urethra, I assume it's a uti. she's slightly less active than usual but still eating and drinking well, but I can tell she's in pain. I can't contact the vet until monday, though since I need to pick up pain meds for the other rat, I'll be going early this week anyway. I started her on amoxicillin and gave her some metacam as well, for now.  I've successfully treated a uti in the other older rat so fingers crossed. never seen discharge like this, though. any thoughts? she has a history of pyometra but had a full ovariohysterectomy done, so idk what else it could be, unless her bladder is full of tumors or something too. I think she may be having hind leg degeneration like her sister, as I've noticed she walks a bit funny and her back legs are quivering a lot. a uti would just make that so much worse. this loving sucks.
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Jan 12, 2020 05:57
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That would be a new one to me, so I don't have any advice to give. Hope she starts feeling better soon.
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Jan 12, 2020 17:12
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