baby rat not keeping balance/looks drunk??

Question
Hi Sandra,

We recently bought three rats for our daughter.  They've all
been in really great spirits ever since we got them (about 2
months ago), until last night - my daughter noticed that our
baby, Sprinkles, was walking "funny".  When we put her down
on the bed, she walks like she's had a stroke - it seems
like half of her body is limp and she just kind of fumbles
in circles.  I had her with me for a while last night and
she would drink water off of my fingers - and once she did
that she did seem to be a bit more active.  But, she still
cannot walk straight and looks just so sad!  We don't have
any exotic vets in the area, so I'm looking anywhere for
some help!!  Thanks so much for any information you can
offer!

Answer
Inner ear infection.  She needs treated by a vet that knows about rats. Where are you located? I can find someone to see her for you. The only treatment is antibiotics and something for inflammation. The reason she is off balance is the pressure on her vestibular cochlear nerve which is what controls equilibrium. When the ear is infected (middle ear) the pressure on the 8th cranial nerve will cause the rat to lose balance, walk in circles or even spin and even lean to one side (head tilt)

Keep her eating....feed her baby food from your fingers or from a flat dish. Add water to it or use stage 1 baby food which has alot of water in it.  She will not recover without proper treatment but with it she should be just fine.  

More info on my website:

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/offbalanceheadtilt.htm