Sneezing rat girls, but no discharge, could this be excitement?

Question
QUESTION: Hello;
My name is Amy and last night I purchased two little dumbo girl rats from a pet store last night. The pet store came with a health guaruntee for two weeks on each of the girls,kept them on carefresh, and let me hold them. They were very very well socialized, not afraid or skittish at all, one actually started bruxing and drifting off while I was speaking with the manager. I paid for the same sex pair and went home after the manager reminded me to get all my supplies. They are 5 weeks old.

I get home and the girls are fine, I give them both a treat and let them calm down a bit (which they didn't really seem to need) and the next morning during playtime they started sneezing! They both seemed to only do it when very excited, and there is no discharge or red cape, they sleep, eat, and play vivaciously but it has me a bit worried. The sneezing is often accompanied by bruxing, a sort of head shaking or ear vibrating, and little jumps. I gave them both a bit of garlic, and im watching them carefully, but these are the most well-socialized ratlets i've ever come across, It really just seems like they are very happy. Could you tell me if this is something like the histamine topic you mentioned?

They are on a balanced diet within the proper protein and fat pecent range.

They are on carefresh bedding.

Their breathing is not wheezy, laboured, or to be honest even making any noise.

Hope all the information helps

ANSWER: Hi Amie

Ear vibrating huh?  Your little darlings are in heat!  Ya know, of all the experience I have with rats, this is the ONE THING I have yet to witness:  The mating call of a female by vibrating their ears! I hear its adorable!!

It sounds like everything is in check, so I am also leaning toward this being from excitement and also inhaling so many new things that may cause a bit of irritation to their nasal passages.  Some experts will agree with me about this while a few others (mostly "old school" type experts) insist a sneezing rat is NOT a healthy rat, but these are the same experts that swear bumblefoot is caused by wire cages and that every time a rat has porphyrin discharge that means they are sick!  So I guess that means my 3 years and 8 month old buck that has had a porphyrin stained nose most of his life is sickly even though he is pushing 4 yrs old, and my rat with bumblefoot must be an oddity since he never stepped foot in a wire cage, his floors are all plastic.
So let that help you decide who may have a better point, the fact that histamine levels rise during excitement and subside when the stimuli is removed can indeed cause sneezing, and of course every living thing with a respiratory tract is going to sneeze on a daily basis!

Sounds like you found yourself a pair of happy little girls and I do think they are just fine, but as always, when in doubt....seek advice of a qualified exotic vet that knows more than me. ;)


Oh.....I almost forgot to add that some rat owners say that when they used carefresh, their rats sneezed like crazy as they found it to be dusty...I myself dont care for it and use only aspen in the litter pan and on the floor I use newspaper with soy based ink and on top of the paper I have plastic needlepoint canvas with the itty bitty holes in it for liquid to escape and be absorbed into the newspaper.  I litter box trained all of my rats so the only place there is litter is in the litter pan.   If you want to just try another litter, it may be worth a shot too.

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

QUESTION: Thanks for the advice, I was thinking about maybe trying that out with the girls. The two male rats I have (I wanted both sexes and top-eared and dumbo eared rats, so ta-da, two seperate same sex cages.) are 6 months old, and have been on carefreh their entire lives without sneezing, but I noticed it too (the dust) with the blue carefresh I bought for this cage cleaning cycle. The particles were smaller and wispier almost, much messier, which might indicate dustier. I think I shall also have a go at litter training, my boys have litter trained themselves and only pee in one spot in their cage. which just so happens to be a wire grid platform. So it goes everywhere. Do you have any tips on litter training? Also, are there any tricks or little mannerisms that you found made healthier, happier rats? I taught the boys (and the girls picked up quick) to come out on the cage door when I open it so I can just pick them up and theres no chasing around a cage or pulling a rat off wires. Im looking for more tricks like that. I wouldnt believe a woman of your experience with rats hasnt found some cool ways to teach them to do neat things :P I've been doing the whole rat thing for 6 years (had two same sex female pairs who died two years ago.) off and on and my my my the things ive seen them do...

Answer
What I do to keep the cleaning so much easier is for starters, I bought this huge cage, the ferret nation, which can only be used with adult rats and wouldnt you know it, they come out with a CRITTER NATION recently that baby rats can even be in safely. Its as large as a refrigerator.  So easy to clean!   

In a regular cage though with the wire floors where the urine just runs all over and gets all nasty, I first line it with a thick layer of newspapers. Not the colored ads etc...only black and white since the ink is mostly soy based ink totally safe. On top of the paper I have down plastic needle point canvas. They have the tiny holes in it so the urine goes through the holes and the paper absorbs it. Easy as heck to keep clean.

As for their play time, I have the room lined with tall cardboard that blocks areas I dont want them to go like between large pieces of furniture or between my hermit crab tanks etc...and for the ferret nation, I made a ramp so my boy can climb down himself since it sits so high off the ground.

To be honest, my rats never did "tricks" and stuff. People ask me that alot.  They do know alot of commands, come when I call them, know certain things like "up" and they will stand at my feet and reach up like a tiny child wanting picked up etc... they bat around a ping pong ball a little bit, but mostly they just roam around the floor and sit all over my lap.  Right now I have just three special needs senior boys. You can see their photos on my website on the page about ME and MY RATS.  
http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/aboutmeandmyratstoo.htm