sneezing rats

Question
Hello,I currently have bought two rats,the woman said they were twelve weeks old,they were based on sawdust in the shop so I bought sawdust for them,but they kept sneezing so I cleaned it all out and now they are on cardboard with edible bedding,but one of my rats,bobby,is constantly sneezing and making noised,abit like a squeaking noise,but lower and more of a grunt,me other rat joey has a constant moist nose,I just wanted to see if this is normal or not,I've read a lot online and it says to take them to the vets over certain sounds but I cannot really identify those noises,I have only had them for three days,the sneezing got a lot better asoon as I took the sawdust out as it was wood shaving so it was very toxic(I think)but bobby does still sneeze a lot,joey hardly ever sneezes,I could do with a experts help and that is why am here,they are also on dried food,it doesn't have a make,it was just sold at the pet shop under 'rat food' so I bought it,do you have any advice for me on what I should do?they are both males,thankyou

Answer
Dear Elise,

Both rats should go to the vet. A healthy rat neither sneezes nor makes constant noises of any kind. Because rats are prey animals in the wild, they do not show any signs of illness until it is serious, so it must always be attended to with antibiotics. There is no such thing as "just a cold" with rats.


Regular dog and cat vets do not know rats. You need a vet who specializes in "exotics" or "pocket pets."

These links may help you to find a vet-- although they may be outdated:

http://www.ratfanclub.org/vetrefw.html

http://ratfanclub.org/vetref.html

Otherwise just call the vets in your area and ask if they do exotics, or rats in particular.

This can help:

http://ratfanclub.org/vetgood.html


Best of luck and health to the little guys.

squeaks,

Natasha