New rats die within days of each other

About 2 weeks ago, I purchased 3 young male feeder rats. I named them Ben, Socrates, and Lester. They were extremely shy at first but seemed to be warming up to me. Last Tuesday night, Ben began breathing heavily and had a difficult time moving around. The next morning, I found him laying passed away outside of his hut. Last night, I noticed Socrates was very thin and was not eating or drinking. I attempted to give him water through an oral syringe and feed him yogurt, both of which he refused. Today, about an hour ago, he passed away in my arms. I worry for my remaining rat, Lester, and wonder if he will suffer the same fate as Ben and Socrates. All 3 rats had been sneezing since I got them, though they seemed to be healthy otherwise. Does anyone have any idea what could cause such sudden deaths in seemingly healthy rats?

If they came from a petstore chances are they are carrying a virus and will need antibiotics. Sendai and SDA are running rampant and there are some horrible breeders in Ohio that are filling the space up with infections. He needs baytril and doxy to be safe. Is he breathing hard or does he have any red staining on his body? Sneezing a lot?

He seems to be ok at the moment, though that could obviously change. He doesn't seem to be sneezing anymore than when I got him, though it is still quite frequent. I did not notice any red staining on his body or his deceased cagemates'. I would not be surprised if they acquired a virus from the pet store, as they were kept in horrid conditions before I got them.

I would definitely get him to a vet asap. And once you have him completely healthy, find him some buddies.

Rats become ill and die fast.
When you notice that your rat is not well, then the rat needs to see a good rat very immediately
and likely needs to be put on antibiotics

He likely needs baytril + azithromycin (10 mg/Ib), orally, twice a day for at least 4 to 6 weeks
My vet phones in a prescription for azithromycin to the pharmacy as it is a pediatric antibiotic used for babies and young children

Hope he is soon feeling much better,
and as Jorats said, once he is, he will need friends (you might consider rescues)

I got him an appointment at a vet tomorrow. He seems to be OK right now, other than sneezing and a cooing noise he makes.

Montosaurous said:

I got him an appointment at a vet tomorrow. He seems to be OK right now, other than sneezing and a cooing noise he makes.

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The cooing is a respiratory infection symptom as rats breathing should be silent.

I am sorry you are going through this, but glad you got him a vet appointment. They should give him a course of antibiotics for at least 2 weeks, hopefully 2 antibiotics (combos are MUCH more effective).

Ohio has gone through a LOT lately, having had a lot of infectious rat illnesses discovered at a rat meetup where breeders (both pet and feeder) were meeting up and buying each others rats. A lot of rats sickened and died from that meetup.

He was diagnosed with having mycoplasma by the vet and was put on doxycycline twice a day for two weeks.

Odd, advanced myco isn't typical in baby rats, and doxy is kinda strong for them, bad for their teeth/bones. They usually give amoxicillin or azithromycin for secondary infections to baby rats, and sometimes Baytril.
I really hope this little guy survives; what a tragedy, I'm so sorry to hear!! Please let us know how he does!

If he isn't improving within a couple of days then his meds need to be change, in my experience doxy by itself is not very effective.
You might check around for another rat vet as azithromycin is for babies

He is still making the cooing noise, though I have noticed that he quit sneezing and seems to be feeling better.

Update: Lester seems to have made a full recovery, and is almost done with his meds. I got him a buddy today. My new rat, Trevor, is sneezing quite a bit. I wonder if it is the same thing or just new home sneezing?

Montosaurous said:

Update: Lester seems to have made a full recovery, and is almost done with his meds. I got him a buddy today. My new rat, Trevor, is sneezing quite a bit. I wonder if it is the same thing or just new home sneezing?

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is it rapid, dry sneezes or congested sneezes, lots of porpyrin and lung noises?

They seem to be rapid and dry, though he sneezes a lot more when stressed.

Montosaurous said:

They seem to be rapid and dry, though he sneezes a lot more when stressed.

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Give it a few days just in case its just New Home Sneezies. Put his sides to your ear and listen to his lungs/breathing every day.

If my new rat does indeed have a respiratory infection, is it possible to prevent my current rat to get it? I moved the new one in as my current one is almost finished with its doxycycline and I completely disinfected the cage and cleaned up the room he was in. I still have a lot of doxycycline left, so I've been giving the new one some as a precautionary measure.

Montosaurous said:

If my new rat does indeed have a respiratory infection, is it possible to prevent my current rat to get it? I moved the new one in as my current one is almost finished with its doxycycline and I completely disinfected the cage and cleaned up the room he was in. I still have a lot of doxycycline left, so I've been giving the new one some as a precautionary measure.

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They have been in the same airspace so they are exposed. Most times respiratory issues are not contagious, so don't worry about that. I also wouldn't medicate any rat unless it truly was sick.