male rats sounds sick

[armison89]

my male rat started squeaking and snezzing alot yesterday ive had him for 3 months and ive heard him snezz b4 but not the squeaking. could somthing be wrong with him?

[tomfromtheshade]

I would smack him out and get a new one. Chances are that it is some sort of respiratory condition.

[susannwv]

What kind of bedding do you have them on? Alot of times it will be a RI due to the bedding if it is real dusty. I use Aspen bedding for my rats and mice and I rarely have a problem. Any time mine start that I use Tetracycline for birds. Its a powder you put in the water for a few days and it clears it right up. I also use it anytime I get a new one. It has always worked for me. Hope this helps.

[SnakeKB]

The rats i got from a breeder that uses pine bedding sneeze alot. They all act healthy besides that though. I switched them all to Aspen, it hasnt got rid of the sneezing in the adults i got but the babies that were born on aspen do no sneezing. Now i do use Pine with my soft fur rats and it hasnt had any effects on them that i can see. My aunt has been breeding rats and mice for 16 years and what she told me is a rats respiratory system is weaker than a mouse's respiratory system. Spite the name soft fur rat, they are actually mice.

[Shenzi Sixaxis]

If you want to try making the buck better, you can buy ratty medications here for that.

[onna_shinigami]

If you can check your local Tractor Supply or farm co-op and ask if they have Tylan or Tylosin. I finially found some info and for about every 8oz of water you add 6 drops and change every 3 days. If you're not squeamish you can do a small injection I probably did less than 0.03mL right above the shoulders. Did this for a friend of ours who had a rat with an RI next day was completely clear of any sniffles.

All the info I got was off of this site: http://ratguide.com/meds/antimicrobi...ts/tylosin.php

[snakesRkewl]

I would smack him out and get a new one. Chances are that it is some sort of respiratory condition.

X2
Rats sneeze because something is making them sneeze no different than a human sneezing.
It progresses from there to URI and then spreads to all your other rats.

When I've gotten sneezers I watched for red noses and if they sneeze and have a red nose they are fed immediately or put down if nobody will eat it.

[SnakeKB]

My aunt told me that the smell from Pine causes there lungs to fill up with fluid creating the sneezing and eventually weezing. Eventually choking to death. I believe this is true because back when i had my hamster, i used paper bedding for months with it. It was dusty but never created a problem with her. But then i ran out of the paper bedding and had pine bedding which i used for the soft fur rats, within 3 days with the pine bedding i found her laying in her cage weezing like hell to the point she could barely move. 6-12 hours later she died. A rats respiratory system isnt quite this delicate, but you can get the idea of what will happen over a lengthy period of time. The pine has to be an allergen to there respiratory system. Aspen bedding doesnt have this problem.