Sneezy Rat

Question
QUESTION: Hi,
I bought 2 young dumbo  rats from a pet shop just over a week ago.  It is the
first time I have owned rats and want to make sure I am looking after them
ok.  One of my rats is sneezing quite often- once every few minutes, he
seems ok other than this but I am worried he may have the first signs of a
respiritory illness. One of the rats in the cage in the pet shop was sneezing a
lot so I'm worried he may have caught something.  The pet shop assistant
said it was just an allergy to the bedding in the shop but I'm not sure about
this.  As he seems quite lively and happy other than this I'm not sure whether
to take him to the vet yet as I think it might stress him out and make matters
worse.  The other rat seems fine and I haven't noticed any sneezing.  They live
in a large Jenny cage with dust free bedding.  I live in an unheated house and
it does get pretty cold at night- do you think the rats could be too cold?  I'm
thinking of getting a heater & leaving it on low overnight.  Any advice you
could offer would be much appreciated!
Many thanks,
Suzy

ANSWER: So sorry for the delay. My computer just died on me, which is a bad bad thing to happen, esp when I am always trying to help on here!

Anyhow, you should keep a heater in the room. Ideally, rats should be kept at a steady temp of right around 72 degrees. What part of the country do you live in?  When the rat sneezes, is there red discharge at all from the nose or eyes or both?

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

QUESTION: Hi, thanks so much for replying!
I have not noticed any red discharge from the rat's nose.  Occassionally I see a bit of red around the rat's eye when he has just woken up but I think this is normal.
I live in London, I think the temperature inside my flat gets to as low as about 14*C at night.  I will put a heater in the room to try & improve matters although unfortunately I don't think I can keep it as high as 72*F.  I hope they will be alright! I put a lot of bedding in for them.  Also, I am feeding them veg everyday (esp peas), is this ok?  I also give them dry food.  Thanks very much for your advice!
All the best,
Suzy

Answer
Do you have hammocks for them?  Nice cozy fleece hammocks will also help. If you put blankets around the cage they will just pull them in.

Do you have a little heater that has a thermostat on it so it shuts off and on?   You can also set up some heat lamps...do you have those in the UK?  I am sure you do..you can buy one or two of these and shine it on part of the cage but not the entire cage. This way they can get to another side if they get too warm. keep the lamp about 12 inches from the cage or more.