albino rat has orange skin and more

Question
Sir Edgar is 1 yr. old.  He began wheezing a couple of weeks ago.  He has patchy hair loss, lack of appetite, and his skin is orange.  It's not yellow like jaundice, but very orange.  His bedding is packaged newspaper with lavender flower pressed in.  Any idea what might be wrong?  There is not a small animal/ exotic vet in our area.

Answer
The hair loss and lack of appetite may be entirely unrelated to the orange skin. It's actually pretty common for male rats to occasionally get a build up of buck grease, which is orange. A soft bristled toothbrush and a bit of gentle soap will help break that up and remove it. Hair loss can occur from too much buck grease, but I wouldn't rule out any other possibilities yet. have you noticed any scratching or other unusual activity?