Somethings wrong with Speedy....

[ZEKESMOM]

For the last week I have noticed that Snow has been "picking" on Speedy more than usual and everynight when I bring them out for play time that Speedy's fur has "chew marks" on the back of her neck...no broken skin just messy fur. The last two days this has grown to include "messy fur" all over her back.
She does not have runny stool, but last night when I went to get them out Speedy looked and acted like a 90 year old rat! No way near her usual self. Speedy got her name for her speedy pshyco ways and now she is very limp, listless and not moving around very well. She also is really not showing any interest in food. When she does finally make her way to the bottom of the cage she just nudges the food around and then just slowly makes her way back to her hammock. She has been in the hammock almost continuously curled up on her self since yesterday. Now 2 nights ago I had her and Snow out for play time and she was fine....running all over my bed, and back and forth from my computer desk to my bed. I don't understand this.
I have moved Snow out of the cage last night as I thought she was just being beat on to much but after a night of rest she seems no better!
I can not make it to a vet today as we are having a huge birthday party with lots of guests in just a few hours. I am at a loss? This is NOT my Speedy.
Any one have any ideas? Please, any ?

[recycling goddess]

the messy fur situation can be from grooming. i know one of my retired mamas gets bald from over grooming by her two roommates.

the listlessness... i'm not sure what they would be.

do you see a lot of dominant behaviour between the two rats?

[ZEKESMOM]

the messy fur situation can be from grooming. i know one of my retired mamas gets bald from over grooming by her two roommates.

the listlessness... i'm not sure what they would be.

do you see a lot of dominant behaviour between the two rats?

Yes I see dominant behavior from Snow...very very dominant.
Know I am niticing that Speedy is breathing rather hard and labored!

[recycling goddess]

i would keep them separated and hopefully she'll come back to herself. the fact that she doesn't have runny stools is a good thing.

becky, jo, april... any of them may have more info for you. i'm sorry i'm not being much help.

no chance speedy is in labour?

[ZEKESMOM]

i would keep them separated and hopefully she'll come back to herself. the fact that she doesn't have runny stools is a good thing.

becky, jo, april... any of them may have more info for you. i'm sorry i'm not being much help.

no chance speedy is in labour?

No, no chance she is in labor,,have had her for 5 mths and has only been house with Snow.
Don't apologize,,,I appreciate any help at this point!

[recycling goddess]

okay well at least we know it isn't labour.

have you tried giving her a yummy treat... like some break soaked in olive oil. hard for any rattie to refuse that and it's soooooo good for them.

and hopefully one of the more 'enlightened in these matters' members will chime in!

perhaps pm them so they notice this thread

[SatanicIntention]

My girls pick on each other all the time, it's really no big deal. It would probably be helpful to get a third girl so the aggression is spaced out a bit between all of them.

As for her labored breathing, I would think she's getting a respiratory infection. Are her eyes and nose porphy(red stained)? If she's thin, get her separated and if you have some canned, high quality cat food or something, give her that. Ensure works well too, just anything without lactose. Canned tuna is good for protein.

Do you regularly bring in unquarantined rats to feed Zeke? If so, that may be the source of her problems as those rats bring in god knows what, and it takes about a week for the symptoms to manifest themselves.

If you have a 10-gallon with a lid, and a water bottle that hangs on the side, put her in that. Add a heating pad(on low) under about 1/3 of it in case she's cold. Taking her into a hot steamy bathroom would help break up the crap in her lungs and let her breathe better.

I have 22 rats, hence why I feed mice from my own breeding group. Nothing icky comes in that the rats are susceptible to(mice are quarantined anyway, regardless). Pet store rats can carry alot of things such as Streptococcus(about 7 of my rats died in about a week's time following an outbreak of strep-based pneumonia), internal/external parasites, and other bad bacteria that our pet rats haven't built up an immunity to.

If you MUST feed rats to Zeke and have pet rats at the same time, keep them at a totally different end of the house. After you bring the rat-to-feed home and it is fed off(you go NOWHERE near your rats), you need to sterilize your shoes, wash your clothes and take a shower.

Blowing your nose is especially important. This is the only way I know of to prevent unwanted illnesses coming into a healthy house of rats. I practice this everytime I go to a pet store(as even those Strep carrying baby rats came from Petsmart...).

Keep her warm, hydrated and eating(meat babyfoods, ensure, sugar water) until you can get her to the vet on Monday.

[ZEKESMOM]

My girls pick on each other all the time, it's really no big deal. It would probably be helpful to get a third girl so the aggression is spaced out a bit between all of them.

As for her labored breathing, I would think she's getting a respiratory infection. Are her eyes and nose porphy(red stained)? If she's thin, get her separated and if you have some canned, high quality cat food or something, give her that. Ensure works well too, just anything without lactose. Canned tuna is good for protein.

Do you regularly bring in unquarantined rats to feed Zeke? If so, that may be the source of her problems as those rats bring in god knows what, and it takes about a week for the symptoms to manifest themselves.

If you have a 10-gallon with a lid, and a water bottle that hangs on the side, put her in that. Add a heating pad(on low) under about 1/3 of it in case she's cold. Taking her into a hot steamy bathroom would help break up the crap in her lungs and let her breathe better.

I have 22 rats, hence why I feed mice from my own breeding group. Nothing icky comes in that the rats are susceptible to(mice are quarantined anyway, regardless). Pet store rats can carry alot of things such as Streptococcus(about 7 of my rats died in about a week's time following an outbreak of strep-based pneumonia), internal/external parasites, and other bad bacteria that our pet rats haven't built up an immunity to.

If you MUST feed rats to Zeke and have pet rats at the same time, keep them at a totally different end of the house. After you bring the rat-to-feed home and it is fed off(you go NOWHERE near your rats), you need to sterilize your shoes, wash your clothes and take a shower.

Blowing your nose is especially important. This is the only way I know of to prevent unwanted illnesses coming into a healthy house of rats. I practice this everytime I go to a pet store(as even those Strep carrying baby rats came from Petsmart...).

Keep her warm, hydrated and eating(meat babyfoods, ensure, sugar water) until you can get her to the vet on Monday.

Thank you for all the help.....
I do bring rats into the house to feed Zeke but they are lucky if they are here for an hour and I keep them in the paper bag on his tank until it goes into the tank. I will remember to wash well after handling the bag before handling my girls...and blowing my nose.
I have the girls seperated in two different cages and will continue this until Speedy is recovered.

[SatanicIntention]

Yeah, it's just very important to be diligent when you're trying to keep your current rats healthy.

You can always keep a spray bottle of properly diluted chlorhexidine(Valley Vet.com has the best prices on the gallon of concentrate), and you can spray yourself and your shoes(especially the bottoms). I always spray my face too, just in case.

Ask the vet for a combo of Baytril and Doxycycline. That should cure pretty much any respiratory problem she has. I'd keep her on it for 10-14 days, twice a day. Just ask the vet for it and he should comply

[recycling goddess]

of course if her breathing improves when her stress level reduces (by being alone) then personally i would hold off any medications.