Red stuff is only symptom but....

Question
I took my rat for a vet visit last week and he got a clean bill of health. I arranged with the doctor, though, that if my little Demitrius (age about 3months, male) should start displaying symptoms of a respitory infection, all I would have to do is call and they would perscribe medicine. The vet warned, however, that I can only ask for it when i know Demitrius is ill, otherwise the meds could hurt him.
I took Demitrius for a 'ratty playdate' with his brothers at my friend's house and they were roughhousing A LOT. When I looked at him afterwards, he had red 'stuff' around his nose. I'm not sure if he got scratched a little or if its the infection, and im panicking!! He's not sneezing as much as usual, and his bedding is 'care-fresh', he seems to only sneeze around dust. He sounds uncongested and no wheezing when I listen to his chest, but I dont know if im being too calm, what should i do???!

Answer
Hi Gina
Good news!  little Demitrius is fine!  What you see around his nose is called porphyrin. It is a secretion from glands located behind the rats eyes. These glands are called harderian glands and they are used to produce porphyrin which keeps the rats third eyelid lubricated.

Some rats produce more porph than others and have small amounts around their nose especially when they first wake up from a long nap!

However, porphyrin production increases when the rat is stressed. Stress varies, from being mad, sad and depressed, scared or sick. If your rat is around new rats they can get stressed and secrete more porphyrin. When a rat is lonely from living alone, they can become depressed since rats are very social animals and they get stressed, and if they are sick they are stressed from not feeling well and secrete more porph than usual.

When little Demitirus went to play with the other rats, he was probably stressed. The roughhousing they were doing may have upset him since he is probably not used to it any more. This is why he had an increase in porphyrin.   Or perhaps he was sad after being with other rats and when he found himself alone, he stressed.  Does he live alone?

If he were sick, he would let you know by his behavior since of course he cant talk.  You will get to know his behavior the more time goes on. If he usually is full of energy and suddenly is withdrawn and lethargic,he may not feel well.  If he stops eating or picks and hardly eats and doesn't drink his water or if he turns down snacks he loves, he probably doesn't feel so hot either. Also, if he docent want to come out of his cage and play and it is something he normally loves to do, you have a rat that has a little problem. Sometimes they have porphyrin during this time and other times they may not.Again,it varies from rat to rat. I have a rat here that is over 2 years old and ALWAYS has red crusty eyes and nostrils when he wakes up from sleeping all day and he even sneezes more than any rat I have ever had and over the years I have had 40 plus rats.  He is not sick, that is just him...and normal for him.

Anyhow, as long as he is playing, eating and drinking and acting his usual cute self, I would not let the porph scare you. Again, a change in his daily routine may even stress him. For example, putting him in a small cage for safe keeping while you clean his regular cage. This may even stress him out.

I hope this helps you feel better but of course as I say to everyone:
Its your rat and nobody knows your own rat better than YOU, so if you think something is off, I would see the vet right away.  Make sure the vet you see is an exotic vet or at least one that has what is referred as "a special interest" in exotics which means they have continued education in exotic animal medicine and more experience than a regular vet with birds, reptiles and small mammals. I prefer exotic vets but they are difficult to find, less than 150 in the country and thats not very many!

Feel free to write any time!

Sandra