Deteriorating Ear

Question
Hi,

I have a baby female rat she may be 2 months old but that would be the oldest. I got her from a pet store. I have another rat but they aren't living in the same cage. I have a few questions for you.

1. The baby has been really hyper and bouncing around and running very fast, and I thought she was just having fun, but could that have actually been a sign of panic?

2. Like I said before she's normally a ball of energy and yesterday she just went limp, so I rushed her to the vet, he agreed that that was odd and she was breathing hard, but he didn't know what else to do, he gave her some medications just in case it was the onset of pneumonia, and told me to keep her hydrated. Do you have any idea what that could've been?

3. I woke up this morning and she is back to normal, except part of her ear is missing and what is left is a hard scab, it looks burnt even. I noticed her scratching it later on in the day. Also the other one has started to scab up just on the side. I have no idea what to do. I called the vet and he was at a loss. He said put some neosporin on it and hope for the best, do you have any idea what might be causing this? Or what I could do to treat it?

Answer
Ok, well, I'm going to take some guesses but don't hold me to it - I'm no vet and I haven't seen any of this.

1. Her jumping around could have been extreme panic but I'd guess its probably just her being a baby - unless she was acting freaked out, in which case, figure out whats scaring her and remove that factor. There is a difference between playing and freaked running, and its very, very noticable.

2. I have no idea what may have caused her to go limp. Honestly. I'm stumped. However it may tie into number 3...

3. If her ear looks "burnt", scabby and bubbly, it may be mange -- which is itchy -- which would cause her to scratch to the point of tearing her ear. If the other side is doing it, that could be it also. Mites will cause them to do the respiratory distress and behavior change also, and that's all mange is - a skin mite. I'd take her back to the vet and make them take a scraping off each ear to look for mange. OR, you can send me a picture (as clear as possible!) and I'll try to give you my best guess and tell you how to treat it without going to the vet first. My e-mail is Angelfinx@hotmail.com, title your e-mail "all experts" so I know who you are :)

Good luck!