porphyrin discharge

Question
Just recently I bought two hooded female rats from a Petco in my area. I have a black and white(Miki) and a Fawn and white(Asha). I do not know their ages since Petco sells them in sizes. The other day I noticed that the fur in front of Asha's left eye was darker than the rest of her body, so I decided to wash both her and Miki. Today I looked in on them after work and noticed that the color was back but it was a brighter red. Before reading on this site I guessed that Miki had scratched her, but to my new knowledge it must be porphyrin discharge. However Asha is still active and eats normally. Should I be worried for the health of my girls?

Answer
Hi Amethyst

Sounds just like you suggested, porphyrin discharge. They can even get it on their little front paws while grooming (dont you just love their cute little "star" hands? LOL!") and they smear it on the rest of their body before it dries.  Once it dries, if the rat is lighter in color, you will notice a rusty or reddish color to their fur.  

If you just bought the girls, chances are they may be a bit stressed which will indeed cause extra porphyrin to be produced.  If she is eating and acting ok, has good air circulation in her cage and your not using pine, cedar or corn cob litter: air fresheners in the room: exposed to cigarette smoke, no powders are used around her, which all of the above can contribute to lung disease, you can be sure that the porphyrin discharge is probably due to her new surroundings and she may be a bit nervous.  No sneezing? No audible congestion in her nose or chest and no odd noises coming from her other than normal bruxing?  
I think its a safe bet to say she is fine.  Give her a few days to settle in and calm down and  let me know how things are going in another week or so.