young rat left on his own

Question
QUESTION: hello. I'm after some general advice!
I bought two male dumbo rats from a pet shop about two months ago. When I got them I found out from the vet that they had mites and respiratory problems. The one larger rat recovered quite well after a course of baytril but the other smaller one had no luck at all and then developed head tilt and recently I made the hard decision to stop filling him full of steroids + meds and forcing him to eat from a syringe etc and agreed with the vet to put him down as he had lost so much weight and I felt he was suffering too much.

Now the other one is on his own and I have noticed in the last few days that he has started 'clicking' for around a minute after he as been lying still for a while.

1) I am unsure whether to jump on him with mediciation (the vet gave me a weeks supply of baytril in case of flare up) or see if it settles down as I guess he is pretty stressed with everything that has gone on. I know that using baytril in young rats isnt that great and he has been on it for about two-three weeks only quite recently.

2) Despite me spending loads of time with him, I know he preferred his buddy, and I dont know whether it is a good idea to get another rat for him (he is now about three months old) as I dont know how healthy he is with his clicking etc. and also there is no saying they would get on?

Any advice?
Cheers
james


ANSWER: Watch him for a few days and see if he's getting any worse or if it is just monkey sounds because of stress. Sometimes it'll settle before it even really flares up, so I'd be hesitant to dive on the meds just yet. But if he gets drastically work, of course start him. If there's no change in four days or so, go ahead and start him on a low dose so that you can bump it up if it gets worse.

As far as getting a buddy; yes, I would. Put the new rat through complete proper quarantine (separate air space for two weeks), and then introduce them slowly in neutral territory. As long as you get a rat his age or younger, you'll be Okay. They may argue for a bit the first couple days but then they'll settle in and probably be the best of buddies.


Good luck, and I'm very sorry for your loss!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thanks for your helpful response.
Just to clarify soemthing:
Am I right in thinking that just because my 'lonely' rat now has the same thing that killed his brother, there is no saying he will develop symptoms as severe?
I am concerned that a new rat might pick up whatever killed the previous one and also become sick...or do they ALL carry the myco disease?

Answer
Every single rat has myco. Any breeder who tells you their rats are myco free is a liar. The only way a rat is mycoplasmosis free is if they're born in a laboratory under cesearan (c-section) conditions. But myco is like tuberculosis - it can come on and kill quickly, or it can be maintained through medications and you can keep the lung scarring at a reasonable and manageable level. I had a rescue with myco live to be two and a half years old; I've had rescue babies just weaned develop myco flares and die within 6 weeks. So really, it depends on how healthy your individual is and how diligent you are about treating them as they begin to flare up.

I hope that helps some.