Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a friend that has several rats, two had active myco, the rest seemed fine. He got five of them from me in the beginning of March. He just called to tell me that 3 of them died (this past weekend). I have other rats and have had no problems with them. They lived in the same cage as the ones he got from me, I still have one of the brothers of two that died. He was gone for the weekend and now that he is back, he called to ask if I gave him faulty rats (this has been nearly a month) or if there is something wrong with his raising of them. I don’t know what to tell him. I did not intentionally sell rats that were sickly, etc. I do have rats that are fine… We live in AZ and it has been warm, but not scorching.
He said that his family smokes in the room that the rats are kept in. I don’t think that is a problem. I don’t smoke, so I don’t know. He said that he has a swamp cooler in there, the humidity has ranged from 22-50%. He is not sure if they got too cold at night. I told him that I didn’t think that was it either. They occasionally burn incense in the room the rats are in. The one female (she had 2 5 week old babies) just died today. She did not previously have any known issues. He said she just laid over and kicked a couple of times today and she was dead. He thought she had blood on her paws, but he was a little vague. He has not introduced any new animals lately. The one that died today may have been a little wheezy yesterday and/or the day before. His mother sprayed “Bug-B-Gone” in the back yard this weekend, but not close to the room where the rats were. I didn’t know if perhaps some came in through the swamp cooler… He is feeding dog and rodent food.
Any ideas.
The two with myco, I recommended that he feed to his snakes, but he held on to them for breeding. I had them since January with no problems, they were born in December. I had other rats living with them and they are still alive and fine.
Thanks,
bb in AZ

>>I have a friend that has several rats, two had active myco, the rest seemed fine. He got five of them from me in the beginning of March. He just called to tell me that 3 of them died (this past weekend). I have other rats and have had no problems with them. They lived in the same cage as the ones he got from me, I still have one of the brothers of two that died. He was gone for the weekend and now that he is back, he called to ask if I gave him faulty rats (this has been nearly a month) or if there is something wrong with his raising of them. I don’t know what to tell him. I did not intentionally sell rats that were sickly, etc. I do have rats that are fine… We live in AZ and it has been warm, but not scorching.
>>He said that his family smokes in the room that the rats are kept in. I don’t think that is a problem. I don’t smoke, so I don’t know. He said that he has a swamp cooler in there, the humidity has ranged from 22-50%. He is not sure if they got too cold at night. I told him that I didn’t think that was it either. They occasionally burn incense in the room the rats are in. The one female (she had 2 5 week old babies) just died today. She did not previously have any known issues. He said she just laid over and kicked a couple of times today and she was dead. He thought she had blood on her paws, but he was a little vague. He has not introduced any new animals lately. The one that died today may have been a little wheezy yesterday and/or the day before. His mother sprayed “Bug-B-Gone” in the back yard this weekend, but not close to the room where the rats were. I didn’t know if perhaps some came in through the swamp cooler… He is feeding dog and rodent food.
>>Any ideas.
>>The two with myco, I recommended that he feed to his snakes, but he held on to them for breeding. I had them since January with no problems, they were born in December. I had other rats living with them and they are still alive and fine.
>>Thanks,
>>bb in AZ

I would bet that the smoking and the incense is contributing to flare ups. What is he bedding them on? I doubt it is the chill unless he has mildew or mold growing in the swamp cooler (even bet...they nearly killed me out west with it) He needs to get them into a healthier air. I wouldn't blame you at all.
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Sonya

Haven't we warned you about tampering with the structure of a chaotic system?
Mrs. Neutron

The thing about Myco is that most if not all rats have this in a non-virulent form. Basically they can have flare ups in their living conditinos are not good. So if some rats go to an environment where there are problems with te air, then it's just asking for them to get sick. The smoking, if the "whole family" smokes, that could be really bad. I REALLY doubt that anyone's mouse or rat could get too cold here in AZ unless he stores them in the freezer. Sounds like he just had adverse conditions that brought the dormant myco that all rats carry. He could get the best rats out there, but they would still get sick. Insence especially. It's like a human with asthma (I have it) who is only triggered by irritants in the air. If the air is bad, insense, cigarette smoke, then they'll have an asthma attack. But they do not have the resilience that humans have.

As the weather has been getting hotter here in Arizona, I have found that my rats are more sensitive and a few have started to wheeze. I've separated them from te rest. But I'm thinking that the main problem is working on improving te ventilation in my "mouse house". I haven't found any rats that start to wheeze and gurgle that actually improve to the dormant state of myco. Once sick, they die.
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~Sasheena