Gasping or gagging rat - distressed

Question
Hi Janell,
I currently have three rats, a blind black-eyed white and two much younger brown-hooded rats. The rats are kept in a large cage and usually fed on rat nuggets from pets at home (but for the last month have been fed on local hamster food - a substitute they're familiar with if i run out of the usual stuff). They were all bought in a petshop, which i swear i shall never do again. The pet shop knows nothing about rats and i was horrified when they passed me my two youngest by their tails. The problem is with one of the brown-hooded rats, Jasper.

Jasper seems to be gasping for breath, a wheezing sound coming from what appears to be his nose. With an occasional gaggin motion as if tryin to free something in his throat. He also appears to be opening his mouth to gasp... At this very moment i'm steaming the bathroom up to see if this will help but i'm scared and unsure what my actions should be... It's comin up for 10pm should i attempt to take him to an emergency vet? Or wait for morning? Is there anything else you can recommend?

Also can you please maybe recommend any vets for exotics in my area? Kirkintilloch, Glasgow, Scotland, UK. As i lost the brother of my older albino rat a few months ago, my poor Dave's heart was slamming and he seemed dehydrated despite my syringe feeding him water and milk... the vet to my horror just announced that it must be heart failure and i would have to put him to sleep... but her assertion was made a little false in my eyes by claiming he was bleeding from his eyes and mouth.... and i'm completely certain it was porphyrin...

Please help, my heart will break if i loose another one...

In need,
Melissa.

Answer
Check out this website for vet references: http://members.aol.com/ratrehome/rats/vets.htm

I'm in the states, so I'm totally and completely lost on where else to look for you. I REALLY feel for you. Jasper sounds as if he's in pretty nasty respiratory distress. One of two things. Either its a true respiratory distress due to an Upper Respiratory, or he's choking. If he's choking, he may have passed it by now on his own. If he's suffering a URI, it's either gotten worse, stayed the same, or I'm too late to help you :( Which I HOPE is not the case!!

Steam up the bathroom and try to keep him calm and secure feeling. Panic sets in and they flip out trying to breath, which only makes things worse. Get him to an exotics vet as SOON as you can find one. Call prior and ask if they have EXPERIENCE with rats, not simply if they see them. It's kind of a trick question and often they'll say they see rats (because they will! Money is money!) without knowing squat about what they're doing.

I hope Jasper feels better! Please keep me updated.