Green soft stools

Question
QUESTION: I got my GF two pet rats (I adopted them from the psychology depts "rat lab" at college).  We've had them about a month.  They eat well and are active if you get them out (however, recently they've discovered the joys of hooded sweatshirts and seem to prefer cuddling in there than running around when they are out of the cage).  Anyway, they are both females, and one of them seemed to have a slight cold about 2 weeks ago.  She was sneezing and had some porphyrin around her nose.  The sneezing has cleared up (although she does still sneeze occasionally when she is excited) but there is still a little bit of the discharge when she wakes up.  We noticed today that there was some spots of softer, green colored stool in the cage.  We don't know which rat it's from (obviously) but they both seem to be acting fine.  We've been giving them one Ritz cracker each night and I'm wondering if this could be causing it.  The vets around here don't know much about "exotic" pets, so I was wondering if you had any suggestions.

ANSWER: Hi Jonel

For starters, lets talk about the sneezing and the porphyrin discharge. Its pretty normal to have a little bit of discharge when they first wake up, but every rat is different. Eventually you will come to accept what is normal for one rat may not be normal for the other. The sneezing during excitement etc...is also common since histamine levels rise from emotions such as excitement or stress etc...and fall again, so the sneezing episodes subside. As long as she is eating and drinking and has her usual spunk, its pretty normal. The stool is probably from the diet, she may have eaten more of something in her food than normal. What kind of diet do you feed the girls, btw?  I see that exact same type of stool from time to time. It also depends on the absorption time and digestion and all that mumbo jumbo too, that can also make changes in the appearance of stools.  Again, as long as everyone is acting fine and nothing unusual is happening, its more than likely nothing to worry about at all and has alot to do with digestion or the lack of proper digestion and passing of the stools before they were...how shall I say this...."ready"!

As for the lack of vets in your area: Its such a shame there are so few Vets that care for rats available for people. I can help locate someone if you want. It wouldn't hurt to have someone on stand by for a true emergency situation. If you tell me where you live and what large cities are in your surrounding area, I can locate someone for you, even if you have to drive 30 minutes or so, its worth it.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the fast response.  Right now we are feeding the girls a "small animal mix" from the pet store.  I didn't realize how bad these were for them until today when I checked out your page.  We're going to go tomorrow morning to get the ingredients to make a homemade diet so that we don't have to worry about the mold and what-not in the corn.  As for cities, the girls will be staying primarily in Baltimore, MD.  They will only be in my little bit of nowhere for long breaks from school, so if you know of any vets near or in Baltimore, that would be very helpful.

Answer
The problem with the mixes are the rats tend to favor one or two things and they do not get a balanced diet and end up choosing the pieces that are less than adequate for them.
As for the corn, that about freaked me out a few years ago when I was shown studies about it and so I always make sure I tell all rat owners to avoid it at all costs. As for vets, there are several exotic specialists in the Baltimore area so your in luck. Here are some names for you: I am more familiar with the first two listed more than the last one but you can check if they are closer to you.

*******
Eastern Animal Hospital     
6404 Eastern Avenue
Baltimore MD 21224
410-633-8808
Website: www.easternanimalhospital.com

*********
Dr. Heather Bowles
Hunt Valley Animal Hospital    
11206 York Rd
Cockeysville MD 21030
Phone:    410 527 0800
Website: www.huntvalleyanimalhospital.com

********************

Pulaski Veterinary Clinic     
9707 Pulaski Hwy.
Baltimore MD 21220
410-686-6310

**I would double check to be sure they see rodents. Sometimes exotic vets don't always see rodents and only see reptiles and the exotic/avian see birds etc...so I would make sure they see rats if you end up going with them. They probably do, but...still, since I am not familiar with them I have to mention this.
***********