Rats need antibiotics.... but where?

[Akren_905]

Hello everyone, I unfortuantly have a problem with my rats. The youngest rats keeps sneezing, its not from there conditions or being new or the bedding. They r sneezing with a bit of wheezing. I tried to bring back sick rats to the local pet store (only one to sell feeders in the city) but they just offered me a less sick rat. They wont deal with this problem, or with their breeders so im done with them. Animals health to me seems more important them a dollar but w.e. So my rats are sickly I want to use them to breed i dont have the ability to just thump them like everyone is going to say because i have no other place to buy replacements, found 1 guy but his rats were in such discusting conditions and i would even bath them then feed them to my snakes that how gross they are.

So my rats sneeze on the glass tanks wall i can see that there is a pink hue to 1/3rd of the sneeze drolets. They dont have wet noses they dont have loose poos or buildup around there eyes and nose. So im thinking just an RI. Ive gone to shoppers asked a pharmasist about a low grade antibiotics. I got a huge shpeel on how they are perscription only she should call the cops because i wanted to buy them over the conter, blah blah blah. So where can i get some antibiotic for my rats with out having to spendlike 100 on a vet? What can i give my rats to make them better? Like advil cold and sinus? lol

[jasbus]

Most pet stores carry tetracycline. THat's about as good as you're gonna get without going to the vet.
Baytril injections or tabs are what you need, they wipe out infections fast. But, it's vet only...
You can get Tylan from most farm supply, but personally, I think Tylan is not good for smaller animals...
From your description, it sounds like RI, but if you keep them in tanks, it could get worse, no matter how clean you keep the cage. They really need good ventilation to remove the ammonia.

Good luck, hope you wipe it out...

Clean the water bottle daily, to help stop spread. Call a vet, maybe they'll work with you, and give you a good discount..

[Rhasputin]

Injectable batril is great. And cheap. If your vet will let you have some without an exam, it's even better.

It will give your rats a sore though. But it works great.

[Akren_905]

All my rats live in tanks with screen lids, i change the bedding every 2 days, water veeryday food every day. I have a fan going in the room for cirulation i thought that was a problem but it wasnt but its deffinatly helping out tho.

I havnt had it spread its just coming in on the new animals and making the healthish new ones they come with sick aswell. Ill call some local vets and see if im able to buy some baytril tabs. thanks.

[snakesRkewl]

Tanks are for fish
As long as you use tanks you will have issues, ammonia is heavier than air and sinks and stays put in glass tanks causing myco to flair up and URI issues like you're having now.

Rats in my collection that get sick are called food, it might sound cruel but I take no chances, there's just too much to lose.

[Redneck_Crow]

Some links that might help. First deals with sneezing/ bloody snot. (for lack of a better word) 2nd is a chart of antibiotics and how to use them in rats. 3rd is a source for Tylan. Or, you might want to go ahead and take the rats to the vet since you're planning on using them as breeding stock.

Good luck getting your rat colony healthy!

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/respir.htm

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/dchart.htm

http://www.google.com/products/catal...d=0CFkQ8wIwAg#

[jasbus]

If you keep alot of animals, rats, snakes, whatever, it's always a good idea to be good buddies with a vet.... Makes treatments alot cheaper. You may have to take an animal or two in for full price, but if you ask questions, and genuinely show that you want to help the animals, most of the time, you can work up a good relationship with your vet, to where you can just call and ask the questions, and then just pick up the meds you need...
I have two vets that I work with, both trust that I will bring the animal in if it gets out of my control for them to treat. They both have no problem with selling me whatever I need, generally with little or no questions asked.
I keep a vial of Baytril, Tylan, and sometimes Fortaz on hand at all times. If I need to, I can call one of my vets, for specifics on how much to dose, etc, but after you've been doing it a while, you just learn.

[meowmeowkazoo]

Feeding dark chocolate helps with respiratory issues in rats. I just buy a bag of dark chocolate chips and supplement with those.

Also keep in mind that you can use human medications on rats in most cases. Usually you'll want to find the children's variety (such as children's aspirin) and then use very small amounts. Often you can find what amount to give online.

[RichsBallPythons]

When i used Tylan i have spare water bottles where ill put 1cc in 8oz with a scoup of sugar. This keeps water tasting semi sweet and encourage them to drink it more. Which in turn gets more of the meds in them. This wont harm the other rats that arent showing any signs of myco or URI.

[extremeballs]

Are there different types of tylan? I just had my daughter pick some up for me from tsc and it says injection on it. Is this what I would want to put in their bottles? Or is there an oral version I should be looking for?