Very young baby just died, another baby sneezing

Question
Hi, i'm Callie from Arcadia, WI, probably the most drunken town in the north of the US, and therefore very rat unfriendly. I am one of two in the entire county to own a rat, and have owned quite a few over the past year. But recently, I had aquired a baby boy, really young,but the Petco employee said they were all six weeks, and healthy. Most of the babies were very tiny compared to the baby girls in the cage above them, and they all looked like they were fighting for dominence. One in particular caught my eye. He was one of the smallest babies, and just like the others, had a few battle wounds, the most recognizable one being a giant bite on his back foot. The poor little guy looked like he had gotten the worst of the blows, and my maternal instincts were burning to take them all away adn to a sanctuary of some kind, but all I could save was little Roscoe, the tiny one with the bad foot, which later we realized was slightly bigger than his other back foot after it had completely healed. (I would like to know of that too.) Because he was so young and tiny, he was quick to see me as mommy and is one of the few rats that actually showed affection for me in curling up in my arms and falling asleep. I had put him in with my hairless male, who was older but a sweetheart to all other rats, an annoyance to my girls of course (don't worry their not together, but he will be a daddy soon, planned)and treated little Roscoe like a little brother. Roscoe played inside and outside his cage, and was not interested in my girls at all, which was why i doubted his six weeks of age. Even his boy parts werent' that big, and we all who own rats know how big a male rats privates can be. I had him for two weeks, adn felt very proud that i had saved him from a feeding frenzy with a python (i know snakes have to eat too, but not little roscoe) He'd run in his wheel and chase palone, my hairless, and he'd play tag with my hand, but i noticed that he hadn't gained any weight. He'd been eating just liek a healthy little baby boy does but his bones were easy to feel and his back bone was protuding, but his belly was plump. And every once ina  while he'd breath, not really hard, more like heaving, but not trying to get a breath out, i'm not quite sure how to explain it. It wasn't so much as breathing, just pumping his body, especially if i held him on his back. He'd fall asleep like that sometimes if he wasn't "pumping". (I havea  teddy bear Hamster who will sleep on his back in my hand as well.) One night i go to sleep and he's running in his wheel in his cage in my room. He was so happy go lucky. But then in the morning, i found him belly up, literally. What happened to my poor little roscoe. I had bought a few other rats from Petco in the past, though i do prefer the other stores that sell them only as pets, but this had never happened to them. I was thinking it was a bad batch of babies. Can you tell me what happened to my Roscoe?

Also, i have aquired a slightly older than a baby Dumbo rat named Fancy for his one red eye and one brown eye, but he is not constantly sneezing, but his nose whisltes when he breaths. He hasn't sneezed though in ten minutes, no wait never mind he just did, and when he does, snot goes everywhere half the time. Can you tell me about Fancy as well? Him and my hairless, palone, are also brother like to one another. My palone really is a sweetie when it comes to smaller boys, so there are no serious quarrels going on. But yes, Fancy does seem a little stuffed up at times, and runny other times. I also understand that red around the nose is found in this, but i don't know what to do. Please help.

Answer





Bless your heart for saving Roscoe and I am so sorry you lost him. I about cried when I was reading this.

I feel that he had more than likely, a heart condition he was born with. Failure to gain weight along with the plump belly is a definite sign of heart problems. His foot was probably swollen from lack of proper circulation and poor oxygen flow which made it appear bigger than the other one. Did you ever notice if his extremities were blue at all?
I feel so bad the little guy passed away but at least he found love with you.
Sounds like Fancy is what is referred to as an "odd eye" rat, when they have two different color of eyes.
I am sure you know by now that rats are born with mycoplasmosis which is responsible for respiratory infection as well as urinary tract infection, inner ear infection and even infection of the uterus. Often, Pet store rats, especially feeders, are not bred for health nor temperment and they end up sickly and skittish from day one.

Its pretty tricky to be able to purchase a healthy rat unless the pet store uses a decent breeder rather than some breeder mill that pumps out rats left and right and doesnt take the time to know their health history nor to socialize them which should start soon as they are born.
Because of this, you should always quarantine new rats from the existing rats in a different airspace for at least 3 full weeks before allowing them access to each other. Not only that, but you yourself can act as a vehicle carrying the virus around on your body up to 3 hours. Check out my website and the page about quarantine for more info, especially about the dangers of SDA and Sendai viruses that are common among pet store rats as well.

Also, that stinks there are no vets in your area. I looked up exotic vets in WI and there are only 11 and they are all 3 and 4 hours fro you.   Tomorrow I will look really good, so hang in there...