new rats sneezing...

Question
Hi on sunday i bought 2 baby dunbow rats which when i got them home i realised both have wheezy breathing and are sneezing, with a slight mucus coming out of there nose when they sneeze and there eyes look watery. I called the shop when I got them home and told them, they said keep an eye on them and if symptoms persist bring them in to be checked by the vet and get antibiotics, after reading someone else's question I picked up on something called myco! I don't no anything about this and was concerned to hear it is airborne and can affect other rats as i already have 2 perfectly healthy fancy rats and would hate for them to catch anythig off the babys! At the moment im keeping them seporate. Is there any advise you can give me please? Many thanks Lou x

Answer
Hi Louisa

For starters, your new rats should always be kept in a separate airspace for 3 weeks for new rat quarantine anyhow, so keeping them apart is exactly what you should do, sick or not sick.

About mycoplasmosis:  This is a bacteria that all rats are born with,no matter where they come from: Pet stores, hobby breeders, all rats are born with this pathogen. There is no cure. However, prevention is key. For starters, the rats should be kept in cages and not enclosed aquariums since build up of ammonia from their urine can trigger mycoplasmosis to develop into respiratory infection. Also, using the proper litter is very important. Pine and cedar are hazards to use in rat cages or any small animal cages for that matter due to the toxic phenol oils that can cause serious health problems with rats, from aggravating mycoplasmosis and causing respiratory problems and also causing liver problems when rats get older.

What type of litter do you use? Even if your using the proper litter, it also depends on what the pet store used. Sometimes people buy rats that were kept on pine or cedar and when they bring them home, they start to literally go through a sort of "detox" where they sneeze alot and even get a bit wheezy because they are opening up to clean fresh air and not breathing in the toxic phenol oils.
Also with myco, maintaining a healthy diet and keeping the rats immune system strong will also prevent some outbreaks of myco.
However,mycoplasma does not just cause respiratory problems.
It also can cause urinary tract infections, uterine infections in females, ear infections too.
The proper treatment for myco bacteria is to use an antibiotic that works on bacteria that lacks a cell wall since myco does not have a cell wall. This means that few antibiotics work and the vet MUST be experienced with rats and their ailments in order to know this about myco. In older rats, baytril and doxycycline are used to treat it for 21 to 30 days. In younger rats, zithromax and doxycyline are warranted, again, for 21 to 30  days.  The reason treatment needs to be extended than the usual 7 to 10 days with many ailments is due to relapse.  Often a vet that is not properly educated with rat disease will not give the medication for the proper duration and in a few months the rat has a relapse. The bad thing is, often the second attack of myco is worse than the first, especially if it is respiratory related.  This is when lung scarring can occur and after that,chronic lung problems begin, leaving the rat with symptoms of asthma or emphysema.  This is why it is vital to have an exotic vet that knows about rat care and even if the vet is not an exotic vet, at least one that has plenty of experience under his belt. Sometimes people live in areas where nobody knows about rats but some vets are willing to take outside advice, perhaps doing a phone consult with another vet or a rat consultant, like myself.

Anyhow, the red discharge you see from your rats is called porphyrin and is produced by the harderian gland that is located behind your  rats eyes. This substance is produced to lubricate the rats third eyelid but when the rat is stressed due to illness or other factors, they produce excessive amounts, which in turn, both the eyes and the nose will have this discharge.  Some rats produce excessive amounts even when they are not sick (like some of my rats do) and some rats that are near death produce none, so it varies and is not really an accurate diagnostic aid UNLESS the rat keeper is aware of when her rat has this discharge and when the amounts are overly abundant.  
With your rats sneezing and wheezing, I would of course assume the excessive porph is a warning sign that tells you that your baby rats are ill and in need of treatment.
Again, regardless of what the pet store says, I would take them to a vet that knows what he or she is doing with rats. Many pet stores will just put any old antibiotic down a rats throat not really using the correct type of drug and not using it for the proper duration. There are some that do it right and others that do it by normal protocol.  
My vet is actually an exotic vet that also has a contract with a local pet store and when these pets are sick they are brought in and kept in a special area in quarantine while being treated, which is great, but this is not the norm for most pet stores. Often they are simply put in the back room and given medication by employees that barely know how to measure medication properly.
Anyhow, if your totally attached to these rats, I would research exactly what  the pet store plans to do with them and find out if you can be the one to take them to the vet instead (using their vet of course since its up to them to pay the bill)  If they decline, something is rotten in Denmark.  If it were me, I would insist they are checked out by the proper type of Vet and given the proper medications     that I listed above before you even return home with them.
I am sure by now your attached to the poor things and it concerns me if they are returned for good what will really happen to them...if they will be treated medically or used as snake food.

Anyhow, check out my site for more info on mycoplasmosis and also proper quarantine.  Be sure to wash up very well after going around your new rats and in fact even after being in the pet store, I always suggest to people to wash up well, blow nose to rid the mucus membranes of any airborne pathogens that you may have inhaled and carried back home to your existing rats and also remove shoes since these germs can survive without a host for up to 3 hours.
The URL to my site is:
http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/

Just to ease your mind since many folks also ask me this question: People cannot catch anything rats have, such as the myco bacteria.  It is species specific and in this case myco attacks rodents, from rats to mice to hamsters too but we cannot get it. We also cannot give our rats anything that our body hosts naturally but we CAN be a temporary host to some viruses that pet stores have that are airborne such as SDA which I discuss on the quarantine site which is why I suggest we do a clean up of our own after being around any other strange rats.
Since I work with rats daily I am always in the shower afterwards, and I change clothing etc...and still stay away from my rats for 3 hours just to be safe. Of course I only do this if I worked with sick rats, not if I was with rats that have tumors etc...

Anyhow, if you plan on taking your new baby rats to a vet on your own and need help finding one, let me know. Also, if you can get the name of the vet the petstore says that they use, I can do a check to see if this particular vet is a vet that is up to par on rat care before you agree to letting them take the babies back. Call me paranoid, I just don't trust places like this...I have seen some pretty bad stuff and  have heard alot of lies and excuses from places like this so its good to be aware of this too.

Hope this helps and good luck!!