Rats dying

Hi I just picked up a 1.4 group of rats with a litter from a friend of mine. Two days ago one pregnant female died after having one pink (which was eaten by the other rats). Then today when I got home I was checking everything and noticed one was breathing abnormal. It was the mother of the litter. I picked her up to examine her and it was like she had a something similar to "spider wobble". She then died in my hand about 20 seconds later and became stiff as a board. I had another female from a different rack die as well yesterday. They are eating mazuri and are housed in large racks. Any idea what is going on? And will the other females take over the pups? Thank you.

Sounds interesting....I'd suggest performing a necropsy (yourself if you know what you're looking for or having a vet do one), as those are pretty weird symptoms.

Your water system is working OK??
And how tall are your cages, and what is your airflow like??

The other females will only take over the pups if thu are currently lactating. If they aren't they still could, but I wouldn't count on it

I honestly wouldnt know what to look for. Im just using water bottles that are checked daily for now so they all have constant water. The others aren't lactating right now so I don't know what to do. I'm using kiln dried pine, I forgot to mention that. It was so weird how she just died instantly and then became so stiff.

She was also bleeding from the nose

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Originally Posted by mattj8501

She was also bleeding from the nose

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Were any of them breathing hard, sneezing or wheezing?

She was breathing hard. Like gasping for air. I just found the other two.

You guys think it a URI? I changed bedding and water and I might be picking up a nursing female from a local breeder. Should I separate the nursing mom and the litter from the other pair?

I would for sure separate the new mom, at least until you get this figured out

I hope it doesn't wipe out my whole colony. I'm gonna get a fan to help circulate the air tonight. The cage was pretty clean before I cleaned it and I don't think they were too crowded.

How long have you had the colony? Hopefully you can catch it in time. This might be worth taking a gander at: http://ratguide.com/health/bacteria/...oplasmosis.php