about my rat

Question
About a week ago i got two male rats. And i have noticed that one of them has been sneezing alot and i have notice one or two time he had a bloodie nose. i thought maybe it was there bedding so i changed it. I was using pine bedding that my mom had told me was ok. She said she has used it for her rats ever  since she was little and never had a problem. so what do u think

Answer
Dear Cassie,
thank you for your question.
Pine bedding is not suitable for any rodent (or any other animal) because of the resin and oils it contains, many rodents react allergic to it and it can cause respiratory infections. The normal wood shavings are too dusty for rats. Corb cob or hemp bedding are suitable for them as well as shredded newspaper (the ink is not toxic).

You should see a vet with the rats to make sure that the sneezing is really caused by the bedding, almost all rats carry mycoplasmosis viruses that can cause chronic respiratory diseases and they are prone to such disease anyway. With healthy rats, the virus is not a problem, but in times of stress or if the rat is otherwise weakened, the disease will break out. Sneezing is a first sign. www.rmca.org/Vets has a list of good rat vets.

Their bloody noses are probably not bloody, but coloured by a secretion from a gland that is normally colourless, but can turn red when the rats is stressed or sick.

I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer