Feeder/pet/raspy breathing

[DooLittle]

So we got a rat for our bp, came home to find him in shed. Daughter wants to keep rat for a pet (she is pretty cute). But we were holding her and can hear a raspy sounding breathing, along with sneezing. Is this RI in a rat? Can it be fixed with out a trip to the vet? This was supposed to be a feeder, so I don't really want to dump a bunch of money in the vet. Nor do I want to feed it to my bp if its sick. Opinions???

[aldebono]

You can get the Tylan from Tractor Supply if you have on in your area or order it online. You will need a larger gauge needle and syringe. There are a few different strengths of tylan (50, 200 etc). I used the 50 and put 9cc in a gallon of water with sugar because it's bitter. Treat for 2 weeks, change water daily. Just be prepared that the rat still may not make it due to stress.

"I am dealing with our only pet rat who is sick and I found the dosing recommendations for Tylan as that is the easiest antibiotic to get. I will post the original and then the non medical terminology one.

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

http://ratguide.com/meds/antimicrobi...ts/tylosin.php

4.5 mg/lb , PO, SQ, IM , BID (as recommended on RMCA Drug Chart)
4.5 mg/lb , Oral, Subcutaneous, Intramuscular, Twice Daily

or

10 mg/kg , PO , SQ, IM, q24hrs
10mg/kg , Oral, Subcutaneous, Intramuscular, Once every 24 hours (Once daily)

or

Tylan injectable 4.5 mg/lb BID (can be mixed in liquid or food and given PO)
4.5 mg/lb Twice Daily

or

Tylan Soluble 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. in 1 c. drinking water mixed fresh every 3 days

or

1/64 tsp. in food BID
Twice daily

Safe for use in pregnant does and rats under 4 months.


If mixing in water change every three days and remove moist foods from diet to encourage drinking.

This site allows you to calculate the Tylan dose in the drop down toolbar menu.

http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rx/drugcalc.html

There is also conversions and terminology on that same page! So glad I found it."


http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ward-NEED-HELP


Took me a second to dig up this thread, but I hope it helps!

[DooLittle]

Thank you. I will check that out. She seems fine other than that, active, eats drinks. Thanks again!

[satomi325]

Yes that is RI. Feeding an RI rat won't hurt your snake either.
But if you're intent on treating it, you can go to any pet store and get Tetracycline from the fish section. It runs about $11-15 a box. The box should have several packets of Tetracycline powder.

The box I get has 10 packets of 500mg Tetracycline. 1 packet is good for 16qt water bottle. So you can just mixed up the powder in a human water bottle and syringe feed the rat. You can put it in a water dish for the rat as well.
The RI should clear up in 5-7 days, if you intend to keep her alive that long.

But again I'll mention that an RI Rat won't hurt your snake.

I've treated many pet rats this way successfully.

Edit: Also, the water should be changed every 24 hours and a new packet should be mixed.

[aldebono]

I believe Tetracycline is light sensitive so if putting it in a water bottle, be sure to cover it with something dark.