hairless rattie

Question
QUESTION: I have a 5 month old hairless dumbo albino. He and his brother are the loves of my life. They are also my first. I spend lots of time with them in the evenings. the brother has black eyes and some color on his head and can see just fine, but i suspect the albino is somewhat blind. Lately when he gets tired, he runs ALOT and will not let me pick him up or even touch him, it makes him jump and run more. Any advice? It really worries me. I love the boys and what to do the best thing for them. Plez help.

ANSWER: Hi

Being that your new to rats, I will tell you something that may surprise you.  Both of your rats are legally blind if they were humans, that is.  Check out my website and go to the GENERAL HEALTH CARE page. Scroll all the way down to the part about rats vision and see an example of how their vision is if we were seeing through their eyes.

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


Red eyed rats have worse vision than the dark eyed rats, but dont worry at all, they do not even notice they cant see since they were never born with good vision anyhow.  Rats depend on their whiskers to judge width and depth too and also depend on their keen sense of smell and hearing and also go on vibration.  Also check out the page about the rats head swaying and also see the videos too so when your rat starts to sway his head you will know why and wont worry!
Hope this helps!

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

QUESTION: Thank you so much for the insight, but I'm still not sure why he runs so much in circles and every now and then he won't let me touch him or pick him up. If I move to touch him he jump in the air and acts like he has no idea where he is or who I or his brother are. What is that? I am sooo worried.

Answer
How long has he been running in circles?  Does he do this all the time or certain times?  Rats also startle easily and if he cant see well, he may get spooked by something that may have approached him when he didnt expect it.  I am more curious about how often he runs in circles. Small circles or big circles?  Does he have a place to hide and sleep?