hairless rat with porphyrin

Question
Hello,
I have 2 hairless rats, Bianca -9 months and Bailey -8 months, both female, my question is about Bianca, she has porphyrin staining from her left eye. She doesn't get it from her other eye or her nose. Bailey doesn't get any porphyrin staining at all. Bianca gets it after she's been sleeping, is there something wrong or is that the way she is? They both get the same food, which is a recipe that I found through this website, they both enjoy it and finish everything. Bianca is healthy otherwise, she eats, drinks, plays, sleeps, is well coordinated, responsive, no problems at all.
Any help with this matter is greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Jen

Answer

Bo Porphyrin isnt as scary as people think. Yes, huge amounts that are not normally seen, when accompanied by symptoms can indicate something is wrong, but every rat is different. I have had rats die without a drop of it and others ooze tons of it for no reason at all. One comes to mind right now is my boy, Bo. I put his picture up for you to see. Its not his eyes though, but his nose instead. I rescued him when he was around 6 months old and he always looked like he just drank some cherry koolaid. He is now 3.5 years old and still looks like he forgot to wipe his mouth after drinking the cheery koolaid.  LOL

Porphyrin is secreted by an excretory gland, the harderian gland. Its purpose is to keep the rats nictating membran lubricated (the third eyelid)
If the rat is stressed, the gland produces more, just like when people sweat, we perspire more.

If she has always had this, its just her, and as long as she is acting fine, again, its just the way she is just like you thought.

You can read a bit more about it on my website:

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