Ocasional Sneezing

So I googled it and it said rats don’t sneeze often and that I should be concerned if my rats do. I’ve noticed my rats (mostly alley) sneeze when they’re waking up. (I’ve also heard them sneeze occasionally before). How concerning is sneezing in rats? Alley already has a check up scheduled because she was living in my dorm for a few months with me (which i later found out had mold so bad it made me sick). But how concerning is sneezing in the other rats if it’s occasional?

If I remember correctly, you just brought home new rats. Rats, just like people, can get sick if they're stressed, especially when brought to new environments. Whenever I bring home rats, they typically have "new home sneezes" which should clear up pretty quickly. If sneezing goes on longer than about a week or two, I get concerned. If you see prophyrin or puffy fur, then your rat is most definitely sick. Since you're already taking Alley to a vet, talk to this vet about her sneezes, mention the new rats, and how they're doing.

You should also listen to Alley's lungs. We call it "rat phoning" because you quite literally bring the rat up to your ear and listen to their breathing. Depending on your rat (some may not tolerate this), press their side up to your ear. Usually, I try to put my ear right into their little armpit and listen. This is best done when the rat is calm. Pressing their chest right up to your ear, where the sternum is pressed against you, will only let you hear their heart.
If they sound watery, congested, or their breathing just seems off, it's time to be concerned.

Also, occasional is quite vague. Do you mean once a day, once every other day, how often would you say it is? Because rats, like people, sometimes just sneeze because their noses got tickled or their whiskers did. If anything, it never hurts to talk to your vet about it, especially since you're bringing Alley in anyways.

ViciousCurse said:

If I remember correctly, you just brought home new rats. Rats, just like people, can get sick if they're stressed, especially when brought to new environments. Whenever I bring home rats, they typically have "new home sneezes" which should clear up pretty quickly. If sneezing goes on longer than about a week or two, I get concerned. If you see prophyrin or puffy fur, then your rat is most definitely sick. Since you're already taking Alley to a vet, talk to this vet about her sneezes, mention the new rats, and how they're doing.

You should also listen to Alley's lungs. We call it "rat phoning" because you quite literally bring the rat up to your ear and listen to their breathing. Depending on your rat (some may not tolerate this), press their side up to your ear. Usually, I try to put my ear right into their little armpit and listen. This is best done when the rat is calm. Pressing their chest right up to your ear, where the sternum is pressed against you, will only let you hear their heart.
If they sound watery, congested, or their breathing just seems off, it's time to be concerned.

Also, occasional is quite vague. Do you mean once a day, once every other day, how often would you say it is? Because rats, like people, sometimes just sneeze because their noses got tickled or their whiskers did. If anything, it never hurts to talk to your vet about it, especially since you're bringing Alley in anyways.

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I’ve only noticed the new babies sneeze a few times. It’s almost always when I wake them up. (they have a little hide on top of the cage that they’re put in when i’m cleaning) I haven’t noticed any excessive prophyrin and the girls don’t seem sick. The babies are very energetic and one’s always on the wheel. I did some rat phoning and all their lungs sound the same. By occasional sneezing I’d say they don’t sneeze more than twice a day and it’s not every day. I’m just overly worried because Alley lived in that mold infested building with me for months. I got so sick living in it, i’m surprised my rats were fine.

New home sneezes maybe? Rats sneeze to clear their airways occasionally, but frequent, wet sounding sneezes along with hunched posture with piloerection/rough coat, avoidance, sucking in of the cheeks/decreased definition of the whisker pad, excessive porphyrin production (around the nose and eyes) and eye squinting are some of the symptoms that a rat is sick. If your ratties have wet, frequent sneezing along with any of the symptoms above, that is a good indication that you're dealing with a respiratory infection, which will require a round of antibiotics.

PiddlePod said:

New home sneezes maybe? Rats sneeze to clear their airways occasionally, but frequent, wet sounding sneezes along with hunched posture with piloerection/rough coat, avoidance, sucking in of the cheeks/decreased definition of the whisker pad, excessive porphyrin production (around the nose and eyes) and eye squinting are some of the symptoms that a rat is sick. If your ratties have wet, frequent sneezing along with any of the symptoms above, that is a good indication that you're dealing with a respiratory infection, which will require a round of antibiotics.

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I think the babies had new home sneezes for sure, they’ve been sneeze free the past few days. Alley went to the vet two days ago and got a clean bill of health and the vet said her lungs sounded great. I was mostly just super worried about her bc of the mold situation, but luckily she’s doing fine!

Hooray! That is great news!!

I would advise to keep an eye on Alley over the next two weeks. If she is still producing wet sounding, excessive sneezes you may want to consider placing her on oral baytril or doxy/baytril combo for 4 weeks as a preventive. I don't like to over medicate because drug resistance in rats does happen, but even the best exotics veterinarians can underestimate the prevelance of mycoplasmosis.

There have been instances where active mycoplasma pulmonis infections in the upper respiratory tract
(Upper respiratory tract includes the nose and nasal passages, paranasal sinuses and the pharynx as opposed to the lower respiratory tract which includes trachea, bronchi, lungs and bronchioles, etc)
are under-diagnosed or missed completely because the veterinarian is only observing the lungs, not the entire respiratory system as a whole. If the lung sounds are within normal limits, sometimes vets will rely solely on this finding and they don't believe there is a need to treat an upper respiratory infection just as aggressively as an active infection in the lower respiratory tract.

Just keep that in mind over the next couple of weeks in the event that Alley's sneezing doesn't completely resolve or if you notice that the sneezing increases in frequency in addition to one or more of the symptoms I mentioned in my previous post. If you see an excessive amount of sneezed porphyrin spattered on your walls by the cage, I would flag that right away as an active infection as well.

Keep us updated and wishing for perfect health and long, happy lives for your mischief. ❤