female rat dragging leg

Question
We currently have 2 female rats from different litters and have had them for about a year. So my guess is they are a little older than that. Well recently my grey/white rat, the smaller of the two, was out of the cage and we noticed she was walking differently. She almost looked like a duck trying to swim with her rear legs pushing out to the sides and her back was arched. Each day has seemed to get gradually worse. She is now at the point where she is not using her back left leg at all, it just drags and her tail is limp. It just drags the floor when she walks and if you pick it up it just hits the floor. Then today I noticed she had the red crusty stuff around her nose and eyes. Then my other rat today came out of her bed and it looked like she was missing an eye but her eyelid was sealed shut. So I was able to get it open and everything seems ok.
I called the pet shop where we purchased them and they said to seperate them. That they have reached sexual maturity and they are fighting. They have their occasional fight but have never hurt each other. They are always cuddling in the bed and never leave each others side. So I am at a total loss. I can't figure out what is wrong with the ones leg. And why all of a sudden if happened? Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi Amy

First of all, if you separated them, put them together again right away. Being apart from each other will cause stress from depression since they are closely bonded. The pet store is totally full of BS! For starters, sexually maturity hit them at 6 months old and second, that only applies toward males that are badly bred and they hit puberty around 8 months old and when testosterone levels rise, they fight over who the alpha male is going to be. This doesn't happen with females.  I cant stand these pet stores that just talk for the sake of hearing themselves talk.
ARGH!

The red stuff is called PORPHYRIN and is produced by the harderian gland located behind the rats eyes.  It is made to lubricate the rats third eyelid but when the rat gets stressed from illness, they produce more than normal. Sometimes rats produce trace amounts which is normal depending on each rat, but in excessive amounts like both eyes and the nose, this means something is going on to make the rat stress, usually illness is the reason, or pain, or depression from loss of a cagemate etc...

The people at the pet store probably do not even know what porphyrin is and think that what your seeing is blood and that is why they think they were fighting, again, very bad advice on their part. They should have simply suggested a vet and not said another word since they have no idea what they are talking about.

Rats are prone to strokes but she is a bit young for it. There is a condition that causes nerve root compression that also causes the rat to lose use of her hind legs but again, this occurs in elderly rats usually closer to two years old. She is still pretty young for that, too.

She may have twisted her foot too or if she fell, she may have hurt her back. It sounds for sure like an injury and that she is in a decent amount of pain. Is there multiple levels in the cage that she may have taken a fall without you seeing? Even twisting her foot on a ladder will cause this too.

Do you have a vet that is certified in exotics and well versed on rat care?  If not, I can find one for you (all I need is a zip code) it wouldn't hurt to have the vet check on her and you can bring her cagemate along for the ride...the vet may take a peek at her too if she had her eye sealed shut from porphyrin.
Again, the discharge can happen just like when we sleep and we wake up to junk in our eyes, but if it never happened before and all of a sudden she has it, she may have poked it and caused some irritation to it to cause it to secrete in excessive amounts.

Let me ask....are they both eating and drinking ok? Is the rat that is limping acting OK or is she lethargic?

I would isolate her in a smaller cage (bring along her cagemate for company) so she cant climb up on anything and cause any injury to her leg until you can get in to the vet on Monday.

The vet needs to check her out to see if this is neurological, or an injury or possibly linked to an illness (but I kind of doubt it)
Are they congested or sneezing alot?

Sorry for all the questions I have to ask....it helps me better understand the situation since I cant examine them in person.

Hope to hear back from you soon


Sandra