Eye with significant amount of porphyrin, slightly puffy lid

Question
Hello Sandra,
I wrote to you some time back with questions about my first two rats, and I really appreciated your answers.
I have two new boys now- brothers that are a year and a half old.
One of them had a sneezing fit the night before last that lasted for about an hour. Then he stopped, and has not sneezed significantly since. There have been a few odd sneezes, which aren't uncommon for him because he has a tendency to sneeze while cleaning himself. However, one of his eyes had a significant amount of porphyrin on the lower half of it starting yesterday, and the eyelid on that side seems a little puffy. [The older he got, his eyes seemed to look more puffy- I've always had a hunch he has some allergies.]
When he was sneezing, I listened to his chest and there was no wheezing or clicking. His sneezes were kind of wet, and I could feel a little moisture form his nose on my skin when holding him. I listened to his chest again last night and still didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. Today, he still isn't sneezing but his eye has the porphyrin in it still.
I think my vet is closed tomorrow, so I was wondering if there was a safe way to try to clean his eye or if that is even a good idea. Also wondering if this sounds like a cold, allergy or perhaps something a little more serious.
He is acting normal otherwise- appetite is fine and he is not sluggish. They've never seen a vet for anything before.
Thank you so much for your time in reading this and I look forward to any insight you can offer.


Answer
To be honest, it wouldn't hurt to do a round of baytril (30 full days# even though he sounds clear. If he usually doesn't have porph and has it now, something is up.  Rats do not suffer from the common cold #the 200 some viruses that cause the common cold are non pathogenic to rats!# and allergies that cause sneezing etc...are not common, although they can be allergic to certain foods, but the reaction is usually a skin reaction.  Since rats are born with mycoplasmosis pulmonis, it doesn't take much to stimulate this bacteria into causing a mild infection. Waiting to treat it can only lead to a more serious infection and finally, lung scarring and chronic respiratory disease, so I would get the medication while he is still feeling ok.

Be sure  your vet is very very educated in rat care and knows how to treat myco. If you have already gone to the vet and he was not put on baytril, please let me know what he is taking. Also, if your unsure of your vets credentials please go private and let me know who your seeing. I can help you #of course, it will be confidential!) be sure the vet is going to treat this the right way.  Today was a bad day for me with readers writing to me, very sad, because their vet was less than honest with the fact that she was not a real certified avian/exotic vet and her rat has now died because of this vets deception. I have had just about enough of these vets to last a life time.  Its vital your rat is treated properly to prevent a life time of lung disease.