blind 9 week old pet rat

Question
my baby rat was born with no eyes. we just got him 2 days ago. we have 3 total. my new boy baby binky looks like his eyes bleed,but he has no eyes. how do i care for his eyes? and does the light hurt his eye spot? he got a bath today and loved it. but some little blood pieces come out around where his eyes should be. he also tries to open they and it look bad. please help. we are making a visit to dr.mickley in Allentown animal hospital on Thursday morning . please tell me what to do till then? thank you . Janice and mark also baby binky

Answer
Hi Janice

I just got your question now, today...so I am going to assume you are already on your way to the Vets.  The red I believe your seeing may be porphyrin discharge coming out rather than blood but its too hard to say.  The vet will be able to tell what is going on much better than I could of course since I cannot see the rat etc.. but if the little one is healthy, dont fret to much about her lack of eyesight. Rats do fine anyhow because they are born with pretty bad vision to start with, so being totally blind is not much of a huge problem anyhow.  I am happy you are taking such good care of the little rat. I would keep her in a single story cage, however, to avoid falls from ladders and ledges.