echinacea for rats

Question
can I give my 5 week old baby rat (who only seems to sneeze when excited) echinacea? 1 drop once a day?

I am also attempting to potty train my 2 girls, and they seem to be getting the hang of it. How much success should I expect?

These are my first rats. I love them and have allot of Q.  Bella is quite skittish when I take her out of their cage (pees %26 poos at times). What can I do to make this time less stressful as I socialize them?  Also her sneezing concerns me; seems to be related to nerves... Her sister isn't nearly as concerned and more responsive to food. I take them out about 10min. 2x a day... too much not enough?
Help  :)

thanks! La

Answer
Please check out my website, sandyscrittercity.com for info on litter training made easy.  At this age, it depends on the rat, who are pretty young, but if they catch on already thats awesome.

As for the echinacea, save your money.  It has no antibiotic properties and wont do a thing for sneezing only prolonging their illness. It is said to help build the immune system but to be honest, they become resistant to it and it stops working unless its used properly which is one week on, two weeks off.   It wont prevent disease, however, such as mycoplasmosis, which, as a new rat owner,  you should learn about.  There is no way to prevent it totally, but there is a way to keep it from getting out of control, such as keeping their cage super clean, like your doing, and also having a good vet that knows how to treat rats with myco flare ups, which is for 30 days on baytril or zithromax.  Check out my website, sandyscrittercity.com for info on everything you ever needed to know about rats.  I have a page called GETTING STARTED which tells you how to build them a play area.  They are small at this age, and fast.  You need to be super careful so they dont get away.  Making a nice play area using cardboard tall enough they cant jump over (at least 3.5 to 4 feet tall) is a way to start. There are photos on my site. Also, check out my rats on my page called WATCH MY RATS GROW.  There is a photo of my play area when they were tiny complete with an old Fisher Price Little People farm barn they loved climbing in. I bought if for a few bucks at a flea market for my babies......who are now 10 months old and little cows if I may so so.  LOL

Shy rats?  Check out the page on how to train shy or biting rats.  Never force the rat to be held, no matter what some sites say. I am a highly trained rat care consultant and I have heard where some sites, esp a popular site that people go to alot, say to FORCE the rat to be held no matter how much it screams and freaks out.  Good way to break any trust they may have started to have with you huh?   Rats need to trust us first of all and also trust their surroundings.
Having their own play area and their own toys with YOU as the main toy, sitting calmly in the play area while they come out and explore at their own pace, is a start.  

Let me know what you think of my site and if you have more questions as as many as you want.