my dumbo rat is sick

Question
im not sure what to do i have 5 male rats in a 3 story 7 platform cage ranging in ages from 2 yeasrs to 8 weeks. the youngest would be blaze who i just brought home yesterday. my second youngest is peewee or Mr. Pea's is a dumbo ear about 4 months old i put all 5 in the same cage today, cleaned and disinfected and rinsed/dried with pinesol. i hear alittle bit of a scuffle while i was making supper and came in to check all seemed normal wheezer and peas were by the door waiting to get patted when i noticed that peas was walking strange and his head was leaning to left when he stod still its not a constant lean it moves that way and then repeats. one eye had a small scratch on the edge by the look of things but its not red and i dont find his eyes bulge like some sites say. i was hoping it was an ear ifection but i am not sure. my only delema is that when i called all the vets in my area the nearest one to me is 3 1/2 hours away! and i live in a fairly large city. im not sure what to do i do not have a car and would have no way there. i dont want to have to put him down nor do i want to let him live and not be sure if he is suffering or infecting my other males. he was walking strange and staring at stuff like he was blind then walked and moved fine and a while later i seen him sway again please help me.........

Answer
Hi Sherry

Usually when you bring new rats to your home you should do proper quarantine for at least 3 weeks before letting the new rats with the existing rats. Aside from that, you should never put them together before letting them get to know each other through sent first, sight second and finally after a week of that, physical contact should be slowly introduced, usually while holding one and allowing them to smell each other.  Doing proper quarantine is done to help prevent spreading of disease from the infected rat to the existing rats and even if the new rats look perfect, you never know what they may be carrying and any moment they could show signs of illness. Most viruses of concern take a few weeks to show so a quarantine of 3 weeks is sufficient and 2 weeks is to incubate for parasites, both endo (internal parasites such as worms_ and ecto (external parasites,such as lice or mites)  The quarantine is done using a totally separate airspace and its not acceptable to be done in the same room. The rat owner should also exercise caution as well by disinfecting themselves, from their hands to changing clothes and even blowing their nose since many viruses can adhere to the mucus membranes, esp the lining of your nose.  The viruses of concern usually die off in 2 to 3 hours so it is advised that you keep clear of the rats for at least that long unless you go through the disinfecting as suggested.  You can read more about quarantine on my site, Sandyscrittercity.com under the quarantine page, but websites on rat care should all carry information on proper quarantine as well as how to introduce rats to each other.  Any website that lacks this information is not a very acceptable rat website, since this is very very important and is actually a strict requirement among good rat  breeders and also for any rat shows as well.
That said, I do doubt your dumbo caught anything from the newest rat since you just got him and it would be too soon.  
I do think your rat has an ear infection and this could be easily treated with antibiotics but he does need a vet.  Please let me know your location and I can find a vet closer to you that sees rats.   There is no need to put your little rat to sleep so don't worry about that.
Read up on ear infections, also on my website, Sandyscrittercity.com and look on the menu on the right side to find the link about ear infections.  let me know how it goes.