porphyrin, random sneezing bouts, darting?

Question
I recently got a female albino pet rat whom I named Artemis and she's been exhibiting some worrisome symptoms lately. Judging by what I've read online, I'm guessing it's probably the early stages of Mycoplasmosis, but I wanted to make sure before buying any medication. I don't think my parents would be willing to take her to the vet for just a general checkup, but I'm planning on saving up money myself for things such as future vet bills, toys, cage expansion, etc. She has very sharp nails, so one of the first things I'm planning on getting is a Wodent Wheel with one of the Nail-o-matic things intended for Sugar gliders, since I'm pretty sure it'll work on rats too.

She's in a relatively small cage at the moment, but it's large enough for one rat and I'm planning on upgrading since I'm getting another one soon. I use old towels as bedding and washed them with hypo-allergenic detergent prior to putting them in the cage; they're changed every two days. She's being fed a  mix of a handful of Kaytee Fiesta Gourmet, with any corn kernels removed and Kaytee Lab Blocks. I'm not planning on keeping her on this diet though and once the Lab Blocks are gone, I'm getting Oxbow Regal Rat food.

Her symptoms include random short sneezing/coughing fits, I'm not sure which it is and a small amount of porphyrin from her eyes. I tried to check her nose, but she's too squirmy for me to see anything. She randomly chips her teeth while she's in her cage sometimes too, so I'm not sure whether or not it's a sign of stress, happiness or if she's just trying to trim down her teeth. In addition to that, she doesn't seem to like going out of her cage if I'm not there, even though I leave the cage door open so she can roam around my room. When I am around though, she likes to come to the cage door, come out, run around, dart back in and dart back to the door opening immediately again. She moves in extremely quick bursts, so I was wondering if that was normal? If she does have Mycoplasmosis, what medication should I give her and how much?

I also have another question that's not really related to Artemis's possible illness, but as for upgrading her cage, I was planning on using an old cabinet/bookshelf and using some galvanized wire hardware cloth. I realized too late that I was supposed to get powder-coated and my parents are unwilling to fork over extra money to get powder-coated; so I was wondering if the galvanized kind is okay to use if I plan on washing it with a vinegar-water solution and spraying it with cage deodorizer afterward? Artemis isn't much of a chewer in terms of on the bars of cage or wooden objects, although she does like nibbling on cloth and fingers; but she doesn't bite. I haven't actually gotten the cabinet/bookcase yet, so I don't know if it's laminated wood or not, but if it's not, would tiles work better in terms of easy-cleaning or would paint?

Answer
I would refrain from using any wood for your rats cage. It will absorb the urine and stink terribly in no time since wood is porous.  If its laminated, the rat may chew it and become sick from the chemicals in the laminate.   Same goes for the galvanized metal.  This also absorbs odors and no matter what you do, the smell is forever in the metal and wont go away. You can mask it for a short time using the cage deodorizers but my studies have taught me even using a deodorizer that is deemed safe for small mammals is still too much of an irritant for the rats delicate lung tissue. No deodorizers should be used at all.  I use peroxide and water in my  spray bottle.  This is not caustic to the rats and kills germs on contact.

As for the rat, I think her bursts you see are typical of a female rat full of energy. I do not really consider sneezing a real sign of illness esp if the rat does it when he or she is first adopted because they spend half their time sniffing everything and inhaling tiny dust particles that they sneeze. They sneeze during excitement as well, because their histamine levels rise so high.  Is she congested at all?

As for the teeth clicking, she is bruxing.  Normal bruxing is seen in a content rat, but sometimes a very sick rat will chatter their teeth and a very very mad rat will do the same. If she is sitting happily in her cage and starts to brux, she is just happy and content. Doing this is also a natural way for them to grind their teeth down so they do not grow too long. Eating also grinds them down as long as their teeth are aligned properly.

As for her diet, please check my website, sandsyscrittercity.com and read on how to make a nutritious homemade diet.  you can still use the regal rat though, but I would toss those seeds right away. They may even contain alfalfa, which rats cannot digest it.  The seed mixes are just bad news...too much protein and too much fat to be healthy for them to  eat.