Eye Boogers?

[smorand]

My one year old rat Tellulah keeps getting a reddish brown eye crusty around her eyes. I'm not sure what it's from. She's healthy otherwise and her cage mate Miss Daisy doesn't have any eye goop at all. Any suggestions on what it could be and how to help get rid of it? I've been taking a warm washcloth and wiping the crusties away for now.

 

[Chevalrose]

As long as she's not sick otherwise (no whistley breathing, eating OK, plenty of energy), she could just be producing a lot of porphyrin.

It could also be that there is something in her eye(s)? There usually isn't porphyrin around the eyes unless they're sick (as I've noticed with my boys anyways)...usually there is some porphyrin around the nose on occasion for no reason when they wake up...but not around the eyes.

Maybe someone else has another suggestion?

 

[jorats]

Any stress can make a rat produce porphyrin and it can be something as simple as your furnace kicking in, or loud noise, or new pet in the home, new visitors, smoke around them, fragrances. If you can find the trigger, you will be able to help her cope with it.