Blind Rat?

How do you tell if a rat is blind? I'm not really sure, but I think Luffy might be.

When I try to offer him treats it's like he doesn't see my hand, and last night I was sticking my finger through the bar of the cage to try and get his attention and it seemed like he didn't see it. Then I made a sudden movement with it and he darted off. It didn't seem like he was blind in the beginning though, but maybe that's why he's the more skittish out of the two rats. Simon responds to the movement of my hand cause he usually thinks I'm holding a treat.

I did a test to see and held my fingers in front of his face, waved them around, and it still seems like he doesn't see it. If I have a treat, I wave that by his nose and then he comes after it. If I wave the treat back and forth, then he follows the movement of my hand but maybe that's just him smelling. He doesn't have any problem getting his way around the cage and he uses the litterbox I put in there just yesterday(YES). But, if he is blind I'd want to know so I can give him the right kind of attention and training.

I'm taking them to the vet next Friday for a check-up because of their Myco, so I'll be asking and see if the doctor can't figure it out either. But, what do you guys think?

Does Luffy have red eyes by chance?

No, he's got black ones.

Maybe he was just being shy or grumpy. I took them both out today and let them run around and they had a blast, play fighting, exploring, climbing. So maybe he just didn't want anything to do with me at the time.

I'll have to keep watching him. He might just have poorer eyesight that a normal rat, cause I know they have horrible eyesight as it is.

I know that rats in general have pretty horrid eyesight compared to humans, so if they are blind, it's not the worst ailment for them to have. They can tell apart textures with their whiskers, so that's how they can "see" around them. Don't underestimate the whiskers - they can tell apart things better than the human finger tip! (Source: http://ratbehavior.org/RatWhiskers.htm )

So if you're doing a "sight test," make sure you don't touch the whiskers because your rat will likely just feel your presence through them. I'm not sure on typical sight tests, but you could try a light/dark test somehow. Rats are comforted by darkness much like humans are comforted by light. (Think: afraid of the dark). Not sure how to test it, personally, but maybe shine a light on your rat in a dim lit room, and see if they run and hide from it? Of course, no majorly bright lights! Just a simple lamp or something. And try not to spook them with noise, I know the slightest noises can make a rat run.

There is also the possibility that your rat can detect lightness/darkness but cannot make out shapes and movement well. Seems like you've pretty much tested that, though! I would keep waving things in front of your potentially blind rat to see if they are phased. Also, try it with a non-blind rat. See if results vary.

Hope that helps. Just a disclaimer: I am not a rat expert. Just someone who likes to test things.

Yeah, I did a lot of reading after I had the hunch and him being blind probably wouldn't effect much. I would just have to make sure he knows I'm there so I don't startle him and focus on his sense of smell more than his sight.

I'm somewhat sure now that he's not after what you've told me. He's always inclined to go the the darker places of the cage/room which means the darkness does comfort him. Maybe, like you said, he just can't make out shapes and movement well. I'll observe and see what I find out, but from the time he spent outside of his cage it seemed to me like he's perfectly normal. That was the first time I've been able to get them to run around for so long. Before, they'd just pop out for a few minutes and go back home. This time they ran around for a little over two hours. It was great.

My little girl Juno lost her eyesight when she was a baby. She is now a year old and gets around just fine! And she's a nakie, so her whiskers are crap too!