Reptile & Amphibian Forums

That keep a number of snakes large enough to eventually lead to breeding your own rodents (rats, mice etc.)
I am curious as to whether or not there has ever been any published studies linking rat breeders or multiple-rat hobbyists with any type of respiratory issues?

I ask out of concern for my families health because I have been breeding my own rats in house; 10-15 colonies of 1.4 for a half dozen years now and even though I provide ample space for them (over 100 sq. inches per) a hardwood chip (beta) and clean every four-five days, (NEVER an ammonia smell) I am concerned that the fine dust particles and/or rat/mouse dander and/or bacteria might be doing some harm to my insides.

Particularly curious to hear from those that breed rodents on a commercial scale.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
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www.strictlyballs.ca

I was wondering about this recently and I found a couple of articles on household dust and their correlation with respiratory issues. Here is one of them:
Elliott, L. et al. 2007. Dust Weight and Asthma Prevalence in the National Survey of Lead and Allergens in Housing (NSLAH). Environmental Health Perspectives, 115: 215-220.

Basically states that if you live in a dusty environment, you are more likely to end up with respiratory problems.

The solution? Don't live in a dusty environment You don't have to get rid of your rats if you are concerned, just mediate the dust problem:
Choose low-dust bedding types like cypress mulch or chipped aspen instead of shredded
Wet mop and wet dust your rat room occasionally to reduce dust build-up.
Run a allergen reducing device.
Outfit your central heating/cooling system with a Hepa filter. This one is expensive, but works great. It reduces dusty everywhere else too, so it makes household cleaning a breeze!
Wear a mask and coat when cleaning tubs. Doesn't have to be medical grade, just enough to reduce the dust breathed in. Reduces the smell too.
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Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.0 Woma (hidden gene?), 0.1 Yellowbelly
2.0 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

I've known a number of breeders that have developed breathing issues after raising rats for several years. I don't breed them myself I'd rather just pull em out of the freezer.
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Tosha
JET Pythons
The Blog
nihil facimus sed id bene facimus

My wife developed an alergy to normal rats a few years ago. We had pet rats before the snakes. For the first 6 months, she was fine around them. Then she started noticing red lumps in the shape of rat feet on her skin where they walked on her. Then she started sneezing and having breathing problems. I was the only one who could handle them. They eventually died and we never got more.
Then last year, we went into a pet store when they were cleaning the rats and just being in there with the rat dust in the air for a few minutes, her throat swelled up to the point that she couldn't breathe. I had to rush her to the E.R. where they had to give her antihistamines to get her throat to open.
This is why I have ASFs. She's fine with them.

That's what is it. Not related to the fact of breeding multiple ones. The allergies just developed. Like mine with rabbits when I was a kid. or like my allergies with cougars, how would I know I had them if I haven't been in contact ?
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love this world, don't hate it.

anytime you immerse yourself in anything like a large number of rodents you are opening yourself up to the sudden onset of allergies and/or ashma. You are taking irritants and exposing yourself to massive loads of things you would not normally come into contact with at those levels, dander, amonia, feces, etc..

I've also wondered this often. I work for a large scale snake breeder and on certain days I am in the rat room all day (7-8 hours straight) and the next morning I feel like I smoked a carton of menthol cigarettes the night before. I don't think it's healthy at all. After a couple days the nasty feeling goes away but I wonder if breathing the "rat air" does damage to the respiratory system? Doesn't seem like it could be good that's for sure.

You can also reduce irritants by keeping rodents in a area that is seperated from any living space and keep it well ventilated. Using a good dust mask like an N95 would also be highly recommended.

We have switched our rats to Pine Pellets!!! Give it a try $6 a bag and you don't need much as it expands...

Caveat: if by "pine pellets" you mean extruded pine dust pressed into rabbit-poop-shaped pellets, they are absolutely TERRIBLE as a bedding for rodents. I used them (Woody something or Stall something.....) for a couple of months prior to settling on beta chip:
One: they're pine.
Two: they're dust! pressed into pellets. As soon as they hit moisture, their pellet shape is out the window and you have a bin full of wet dust bedding. Not the best bedding if you're trying to avoid......dust!
3. They are VERY heavy.
4. They absorb odour about as well as a concrete brick.
5. They need to cleaned twice as often as any chipped or shaved bedding.
6. Did I mention it's made of dust!
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www.strictlyballs.ca

I would say if your worried about allergens and asthma i would get some type of breathing respirator the type they use for spray painting that have the filters on them. cuz im almost at that point and im allergic to rats too im dealing with frozen now but when the babies hatch ill have to do something.

I work with quite a few rodents as well as feeder insects housed on the same pine shaving bedding. It triggers severe allergies in me and on dry days, asthma issues as well.

I keep a couple rodents as pets at home, and eliminated the respiratory issues by using carefresh ultra.

~jen
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"We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words."
- Anna Sewell (1820-1878)