I have a baby hairless rat who is very sick.

Question
One week ago i went to my local pet store and bought a baby rat. shes probably about 4 weeks. she is hairless, albino, and she has Dumbo ears. when we brought her home she seemed fine but on the rid home we noticed she was sneezing alot, i worried that she might has a nasal infection. the sneezing has overall pretty much stopped but she is very skinny. i can count every rib bone. she also does not eat anything and hardly drinks only when i bring her the water botel. her skin is also peeling and sometimes she has reddish discharge around her eyes in the morning. im trying my best to keep her happy and healthy but it looks like nothings working. i give her fresh seeds and food every day. I give her lettuce bread berries egg cheese and even chicken and she refuses to eat any of it. the room where her cage is temperature, couldn't be more comfortable. i keep a towel over 3/4 of the cage because she is albino and i know she has she has sensitive eyes. even when i take out to play i give her the run of my room with the lights out at night so she can be as comfortable as possible but she just sickly walks around not enjoying it at all. the only thing we could think of that could be stressing her out is her little mouse companion but they have gotten along very well and all my other rats have lived with one mouse because i heard they get along well and enjoy each others company and they do. the mouse used to live with another rat so hes fine with rats but even with this we separated the mouse from the rat for three days and she only got worse! i dont know whats wrong i just want her to feel better!

please help!!!
it will be greatly appreciated!

Answer
What is the longest you have ever kept your mice and rats with each other?
Not sure where you heard they get along well but rats kill mice. Its just their natural instinct.  I have never heard of them getting along but I have heard that people let them live together and they seem fine and one day, sometimes months later, the mouse is killed by the rat.
If you google this and ask if mice and rats be together chances are you will find a big NO rather than a yes.  If you tell me that they have been together for years, that would be really cool that they beat the odds, but I wouldnt tempt fate too much. Being a rodent expert, I can almost promise you that this is not normal.  Its pretty amazing, but still, not normal.

Now on to the sick baby rat:
First of all, albino rats do not have sensitive eyes. They have very poor vision. Your not really protecting their eyes from harsh light because they cannot see it. They see shadows. All rats have bad eyes to be fair, and if they were human they would all be legally blind, but red or pink eyed rats vision is a bit worse than dark eyed rats. If the rat has sensitive eyes to light it is only due to illness. The red discharge you see is called PORPHYRIN and it is a mucus produced by a gland located behind the rats eyes. This gland produces more mucus when the rat is stressed due to illness.  You can read more about it and compare photos on my site at this URL:
http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/bloodynoseandeyes.htm

Being hairless, she lacks a thymus gland. THis means her immune system is not as strong as furred rats. She is way to young to be showing signs of illness and needs a vet right away.

Please refer to this URL to find a vet in your area.
http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/therightvetforyourrat.htm

CLick on the link to the AEMV.  Time is something that is against her due to her age for starters and the fact she is so thin and weak is just a bad sign. I would contact the person you got her from and also demand they pay half the vet bill since she is recently purchased.

Good luck!