so what do i do?

Question
I recently rescued a baby blue rat from my local reptile store and have noticed her sneezing so much at times it makes her nose bleed now it obvious its some sort of respiratory infection. Now my question is is it contagious to my other rat? and what kind of antibiotics should i be using?

Answer
Hi Dollie


For starters, your ratties nose isnt bleeding. What your seeing is called porphyrin. This is a red to reddish brown mucus that is produced by a gland located behind the rats eyes called the harderian gland.
You may notice it may stain around her nose and sometimes it can get so heavy it stains around their eyes too. Many rat owners panic thinking their rat is bleeding from the eyes and nose. You can see photos and find more info about it here on my site:

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

When the harderian gland starts to produce excessive porphyrin this means that the rat is really stressed out. Sometimes it is from irritation from the bedding too which causes allergies. Avoid pine and cedar bedding since it contains dangerous phenol oils that can cause this type of allergy and also serious lung damage.

Is your rat eating and drinking ok otherwise?  
She should be on antibiotics that kills the mycoplasma bacteria since this is the most common type of organism that causes respiratory infections in rats. Rats are born with mycoplasmosis bacteria from the mother since it is found in the uterus. It can lay dormant and never cause problems or it can start causing problems early in life that is triggered by factors such as stress which can weaken the immune system, poor husbandry such as allowing the cage to get dirty to the point too much ammonia is build up from the urine. This causes serious respiratory problems like pine and cedar bedding does. Exposure to heavy dust, animal fur and dander from other animals, air fresheners or any sprays used near them such as hair spray (if the rat lives in a bedroom where the person uses alot of hair spray) burning candles or incense, cigarette smoke: anything that can be inhaled by the rat can cause irritation and trigger mycoplasmosis.  Even a poor diet can trigger mycoplasmosis. It is only catchy to other rats if the other rats are in poor health due to unhealthy conditions in their environment as stated above. The myco organism does not contain a cell wall. This means that normal antibiotics fight bacteria by  destroying the cell wall  but will be worthless with myco since it lacks the cell wall. Certain  types of antibiotics that can destroy the cell are baytril, zithromax, doxycycline. These medications all require a prescription from a vet. Also they must be given for  30 days or the rat will relapse and the second attack can be more dangerous than the first, causing damage to the lungs and leaving them scarred etc...

My next question is:  Do you have a vet that knows how to treat rats ?