my rat has the sniffles!

[croc_hunter_penny]

there are 4 girls living together in one enclosure, and one of them has the sniffles! it started a few days ago. It started with a sneeze every now and again but not she is sneezing almost constantly and her nose feels wet.

what could have happened and what can I do to help her? she seems like she has a cold.

-penny

 

[Hetty]

I was thinking the same thing. I hear mine sneeze a bit, thought it could have been the wood shavings doing it :/

 

[cris]

I have had some of mine get a cold(or whatever) before i just wait for them to get over it, i have never had it become a problem before. If it turns out to be something worse and really starts to be bad, kill them or go to a vet. If you google and look at some rat sites you could probably find out more useful info.

 

[Chris1]

http://www.quite.co.uk/rats/#Sneezing/Wheezing/Noisy Breathing

dont know anythign about rats, but google gave me this,..

 

[Hetty]

http://www.quite.co.uk/rats/#Sneezing/Wheezing/Noisy Breathing

dont know anythign about rats, but google gave me this,..

eep! that doesn't look positive!

 

[croc_hunter_penny]

"A rat which shows a tendency to succumb to infection should never be bred from, as the tendency towards respiratory illness is partly hereditary. This means it is likely that offspring and resulting generations will have weakened immune systems. It is important to obtain rats from breeders who select for healthy animals; a persistent sneezer, or a rat which wheezes, should not be bred from."

Does this mean she can't be used as food?

 

[-Peter]

they probably have [SIZE=-1]Mycoplasma pulmonis[/SIZE]

 

[Mystery]

they probably have [SIZE=-1]Mycoplasma pulmonis[/SIZE]

I would say you are spot on Peter - horrible disease!!

 

[Adam]

Knock it on the head and freeze it for a few weeks then it should be ok to feed off.

 

[Hetty]

How do rats get that?

 

[-Peter]

someone posted this link once before

http://www.ratlovers.org/articles/Myco.html

 

[Mystery]

Keep an eye on your other rats - it is highly contagious, some can build up an immunity to it and will never get it, some can be carriers.

 

[Mystery]

How do rats get that?

Its an airborne virus - any rodent can catch it.

 

[Hetty]

Thanks Peter

So, if my rats are sneezing every now and then, do you think they could have it? they don't have any other symptoms.

 

[Hetty]

Its an airborne virus - any rodent can catch it.

Okay. Thanks for the info

 

[Mystery]

Thanks Peter

So, if my rats are sneezing every now and then, do you think they could have it? they don't have any other symptoms.

No, don't worry about sneezing occasionally - its when they keep sneezing and then they get sort of reddy fluid around their nose, its not blood just mucous, their breathing will become laboured they go off their food and normally die - some respond to antibiotics, my pet rat did.

 

[happy_life]

odie has a rat forum site that you could check out.

 

[Hetty]

No, don't worry about sneezing occasionally - its when they keep sneezing and then they get sort of reddy fluid around their nose, its not blood just mucous, their breathing will become laboured they go off their food and normally die - some respond to antibiotics, my pet rat did.

phew! It's also been jumper weather in Sydney, I was thinking they might have caught colds. I might have to keep them in the laundry.

 

[Mystery]

Yer - Odessa Rodents knows about it you could pm her.

 

[OdessaStud]

I hope for your sake and that of your ratties that they dont have myco, but you must understand that all rats carry it but only a few usually show symptoms.It is highly contagious and can be easily transmitted without symptons being obvious.Generally stress or a change in enviroment can trigger it as can draughts and cold.I have had more cases this year than in the 20years of breeding and it all started by me doing the right thing and taking in some rescue rats.As mystery said antibiotics can help and some do get better but i have taken the option of culling anything that even shows the slightest signs of myco the most obvious being a red discharge from the nose and weight loss.They are fine to use as feeders as myco is not transmitted to snakes ect.People can also catch myco in a type of flu form as they can also give it to the rats very nasty but unfortunatly a risk taken when breeding rodents.The offspring of parents or a parent who carries myco may or may not have clincial signs but will almost certainly be carriers, so best not to breed from them unless you intend to cull them as youngsters for feeders.It will generally take up to 6 weeks for the young to show symptons and by then half your coloney may become infected as well.Baytril and ,Amoxicillian are the two most common drugs used but will not remove the danger of passing it on to others.Some rodents will get a common cold and others will sneeze due to a dust build up in the cage or because of the substrate used.Here is a link to more information on the horrid myco and I hope I was of some help to you.please excuse my spelling
http://hometown.aol.com/MMCart3475/Myco.html
Cheers and good luck
Odie