Unexpected Loss

Question
I came home from work today to find that my beloved blue Dumbo, Ben, had died unexpectedly. He shared an extremely large cage (for ferrets) with another unaltered male (not a littermate, but introduced when they were approx. 3-4 months old). They were both on a diet of Harlan Tekland lab blocks and SueBee's mix as a supplement. Sam is (& Ben was) a year and a half old. After initially quarantining Sam when he first came home, and introducing the 2 rats
into the same cage, Sam began sneezing about a month after for no apparent reason. Since then, I've taken each rat to the vet for respiratory concerns & was given Baytril. About 2 months ago, Ben was diagnosed with Pneumonia and given several injections and a full round of Baytril. It's become common to hear them sneezing periodically throughout the day, and I hadn't noticed any increase in the amount of sneezing going on. This morning, Ben was a little lethargic when I took him out of his cage briefly, but I figured that I just woke him up too early (they like to sleep in). When I found Ben, he was laying on his side, with no apparent tumors, open wounds, etc. The only thing I noticed was significant red crusting around his eyes and nose, but no other discharge. He also had a bluish tint to his feet and nose. Do you have any ideas as to what might have happened to Ben? I'm just devastated and concerned that Sam could have the same fate if I don't identify what happened to Ben. Aside from that, Sam is now alone in a gigantic cage without his lifelong companion. Sam is unaltered, and was always somewhat of the alpha rat, but also bonded with Ben once the initial bouts of fighting subsided. I'm concerned about introducing some new "friends" because of his prior respiratory problems, but I also don't want him to become lonely and depressed since I'm away at work for 10 hours a day. Do you have any suggestions? I'm just trying to make sense of the whole situation and figure out my next move. Thank you for any help you can give.


Answer
Hello Jennifer,
it sounds like Ben may have had a respiratory problem called mycoplasmosis. It's very common and very contagious amoung rats and mice. It's basically a respiratory disease that will occur constantly throughout the animals attitude. Here is more information abot the disease.
http://peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=18&cat=1804&articleid=2905

As far as having a new friend, Sam would probably give it to the new friend. I really do believe that both rats do have mycoplasmosis though. I am so sorry that Ben passed away.