Sneezing and red liquid from vagina

Question
Hello,

Please help our little baby.  Our pet rat is almost 1 year old.  We have had her for 8 months.  She was purchased in a pet store and was about 3 months old.  Ever since we first brought her home, she sneezed.  I didn't think anything of it.  Last month, I noticed that there were brown spots on the wall by her wire cage.  The past couple of days I noticed red-brown liquid on her ramp.  I cleaned her cage, removed her wooden log-home, and gave her an empty tissue box for the night, along with new bedding.  We use Carefresh Pet Bedding.  Tonight, I looked in her white tissue box, and there were red-brown splatters everywhere on the inside of the box.  There is also a small amount of the liquid on her ramp, again.  Her white coat is streaked with the brown color and looks dull.  There is no blood around her vagina.  It looks clean.  She is eating, drinking, and playing normally.  She does not act sick at all, except for the constant sneezing.  
Can you please help us?
Thank you.

Answer
Hi Jennifer


What your seeing is called "porphyrin".
Porphyrin is a reddish brown discharge that is produced by a gland called the harderian gland. This gland is located behind the rats eyes and is thought to be produced in normal amounts to keep the rats third eyelid lubricated. However, it is found in normal trace amounts in the mucus membranes as well.  When your little light colored rat grooms herself and has some porphyrin discharge, she gets it on her little paws and wipes in on her fur during grooming. They also sneeze it out which is the spatters of brownish red you are seeing.  
I have 5 male rats and all of them have some traces of porphyrin on the white paper towels they make their nest with. Sometimes there are bigger spots of it than other days.
Rats sneeze when they are not sick but sneezing can be confusing because it can indicate the start of illness as well.  I have a rescue rat that has been a major sneezer since I brought him home in June and he has been checked out by the vet (even spent a week there when I went out of town and my vet "rat sat" my crew) antibiotics did nothing to stop the sneezing. Often some rats have higher histamine levels than other rats do and when they are overly excited, especially during playtime, they sneeze more than usual.  Sometimes rats will sleep long hours and upon waking up they have excessive porphyrin on their nose and spatters of it in their sleeping area.  It really depends on the rat what is normal and what is not normal.  If a rat that normally has just trace amounts of it starts to have it caked around the nose and the eyes, you know that rat is not well since the harderian gland produces excessive porphyrin discharge from stress due to illness or anxiety  from loss of a cage mate or a new home or new cage etc...

Usually we treat the rat for 14 days with antibiotics and see if that helps the sneezing episodes. If it doesn't, this can simply be chalked up to normal porphyrin production for the individual rat. Some people have rats that never had a drop of it and when they see it for the first time they freak out thinking it is blood, and take the rat to the vet, which is the right approach actually since this is not the norm for this particular rat.  If she *your rat* has been sneezing for this long without porphyrin discharge and now she has it, I would suggest seeing a vet that is experienced in caring for rats, an exotic vet is the best bet. If you need a vet please let me know and I will find one for you in your area that is best suited to see your rat and make sure she isn't coming down with something.  Often, mycoplasmosis can act up at this age and it is a slow moving bacteria that can come on slowly, starting with sneezing that turns into a respiratory infection. The rat may not act sick but the truth is, rats don't usually show signs of illness until they are really sick...chalk this up to natural instinct and being on the bottom of the food chain where in the wild the rat knows it is big on the predators list for dinner so to stay strong they don't show their illness until they cant take it any longer. Its best of course not to allow her to get to that point and nip it in the bud before it gets worse, if anything is wrong at all.
I don't want to say she is probably ok (she probably is) and have her end up sick so my advice is to get her looked at.  Better to be safe than sorry!!


Hope this helps!