Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a small breeding group of rats that I have been raising for feeding purposes. The group is split: half are dumbos and the others are black & whites. I’ve noticed that the dumbos seem to be prone to respiratory & eye problems. All of them sneeze, but the dumbos seem to do it more frequently. I’ve also noticed that there is redness around their nostrils, it almost looks like dried blood. I keep 1.1 or 1.2 in appropriate size tubs. I change their bedding twice a week (disinfect each time, including the water bottles). I use pine shaving for bedding. I feed them lab blocks & prem dog food. I keep them in a temp controlled room – daytime temps 75-78 with nigh time drop to 73.

Any suggestions as to what the problem is and how to fix it? I’ve been hesitant to take them to the vet, by the time you spend $$ on the visit and tests I could start over with new babies for the same cost. I would like to find what the problem is. If I can’t figure my problem out I will take a few to the vet.

Any advise would be appreciated.

>>I have a small breeding group of rats that I have been raising for feeding purposes. The group is split: half are dumbos and the others are black & whites. I’ve noticed that the dumbos seem to be prone to respiratory & eye problems. All of them sneeze, but the dumbos seem to do it more frequently. I’ve also noticed that there is redness around their nostrils, it almost looks like dried blood. I keep 1.1 or 1.2 in appropriate size tubs. I change their bedding twice a week (disinfect each time, including the water bottles). I use pine shaving for bedding. I feed them lab blocks & prem dog food. I keep them in a temp controlled room – daytime temps 75-78 with nigh time drop to 73.
>>
>>Any suggestions as to what the problem is and how to fix it? I’ve been hesitant to take them to the vet, by the time you spend $$ on the visit and tests I could start over with new babies for the same cost. I would like to find what the problem is. If I can’t figure my problem out I will take a few to the vet.
>>
>>Any advise would be appreciated.

How big and how well ventilated are the tubs? I find a key with rats in tubs is air flow. The red blood is normal for a stressed rattie and not really indicative of more than that. Though it looks awful.
Meds may help but since you are dealing with chronic mycoplasmosis with rats you really need to deal with the conditions causing it to flare up. If the rats have been there more than a month I would say it was conditions.....too much irritating cleaning or disinfectants, not enough airflow or overcrowding would be my first guesses.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

Thanks for the response.

My rats are in a well ventilated room and are housed in rat lab tubs (approx 20" x 10" and about 8 inches tall). I only keep pairs breeder pairs in them. I do keep 4-5 of the smalls when raising them up.

I think I just got a weak group of babies from the pet shop that I kept and raised up. My older adults are doing very well with no problems.

thx.

As most rats have been exposed to mycoplasmosis, the key is to find what is causing the stress that's causing the flair up. Besides the basics, sometimes odd ball things cause problems. That seems to be what is happening to your rats.

It really could be the disinfectant. If you have two small groups and you put them back in the same tubs, I don't think you gain anything from disinfecting. Try just rinsing the tubs out and drying them off with some paper towels. The rats will have the same bacteria and viruses anyway.

They could be playing with their water bottle. Is the bedding damp? I've seen groups of rats that thought that was great fun for some reason. Then they teach it to their offspring....

Are pine shavings dusty?

Are they getting too much protien? Usually this will cause skin dryness and scabs also.

Ventilation, as mentioned by Sonya, is critical. Good air movement but NO drafts.

Are they getting stressed by other pets? Cats, dogs, snakes? Are they in a place where people walk by all the time?

I don't think I would take them to the vet. It's probablly just a matter of finding those one or two little things and tuning your system a little tighter.

Good luck
Demak

its most likely the pine.

for pet rats you never use pine as a bedding, even aspen can bring problems. rats do best on carefresh or yesterdyas news imo.

There's nothing wrong with aspen. They might sneeze if it's dusty, but aspen is perfectly safe for rats, unlike pine and cedar which have the aromatic oils that cause respiratory problems.

Carefresh is more dusty than aspen. and is worthless for odor control.

yes, aspen is safe, but i find my pet rats sneeze more on any wood shaving bedding.

and it definetly does not hold odor better than carefresh for rats, in my experience