Rat squeaky noises when sniffing

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madinaholic

Active Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2020
Messages
36
Location
Sheffield, UK
Hey all,

Is it normal for rats to make a quiet squeaking noise if they’re sniffing when they’re excited? Both my rats occasionally make a slight squeaking noise when they’re sniffing something new or exciting, it kind of sounds like somewhere between a chicken clucking and those funny little plastic toys that make a squeaky noise when you shake them. I wouldn’t describe it as rattling, honking or hooting. The rest of the time theyre completely silent when breathing and they don’t ever breathe with their mouths open.

I’ve read online that rats should never make any noise when breathing and if they do then it can be a sign of a respiratory infection, but I was wondering if some can make some sounds when they’re feeling really excited or nervous? The other thing is that they sneeze occasionally and sometimes have porphyrin around their nose or mouth when they’ve just woken up, but it’s not every day and it’s nothing that I think is out of the ordinary, but I’m still a new rat mama so I’m not confident I know what’s normal. They seem completely fine otherwise, eating, drinking and grooming as normal and they’re not lethargic, it’s just the occasional squeaking that’s concerning me slightly and I was wondering if anybody else’s ratties do this
 
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Umm I dont know for sure if you could take a video of the noise would be helpful.

It is normal to be able to hear them breathing when they are sniffing excitedly and really quickly. But I wouldnt say its a squeaking noise. It only lasts for a few really quick inhales as they sniff.
 
Umm I dont know for sure if you could take a video of the noise would be helpful.

It is normal to be able to hear them breathing when they are sniffing excitedly and really quickly. But I wouldnt say its a squeaking noise. It only lasts for a few really quick inhales as they sniff.
I actually just managed to get some videos tonight. Not sure if this is the best way to share them but hopefully you can see this:

That’s about as loud/bad as it gets. They only make that noise when they’re super excited, apprehensive, curious etc. It happened a few times the first few times I put my hand in their cage for them to sniff and then recently they’ve been climbing inside my hoodie and bonding with me more (previously they’ve been very skittish and don’t like to come near me at all) so it tends to happen then. Once they’ve been out the cage for 10 mins or so the noise stops
 
Yeah, I’m not really sure what to make of it. They don’t make the sound very often, only seems to be when they’re feeling an emotion really intensely. I’ve only had them a few weeks so it seems to be when they’re experiencing something new, and then when they experience the same thing the next day they don’t make the same noise
 
it sounds lik e popping or nasal congestion. its sometimes a sign of a respiratory infection is on its way, but for now its just nasal congestion. If you can, you can try to treat the symptomatic rats with antibiotics but sometimes these things aren't actually infections just a stuffy nose and there is no infection for the antibiotics to cure.
 
it sounds lik e popping or nasal congestion. its sometimes a sign of a respiratory infection is on its way, but for now its just nasal congestion. If you can, you can try to treat the symptomatic rats with antibiotics but sometimes these things aren't actually infections just a stuffy nose and there is no infection for the antibiotics to cure.
Okay that’s reassuring! I don’t think they’re ill, they’re totally fine otherwise and only make this noise when they’re feeling super stimulated, so I think it might just be congestion - I wasn’t sure if rats could just have a blocked nose or not!

With the colder weather the heating has been on more in the house and I tried a new bedding with them, so I think it could just be that. I’ll swap the bedding out and keep an eye on them for the time being since I don’t have any antibiotics to hand but I’ll look at getting some to keep in just in case.

Is there an antibiotic that’s good to always have to hand? I’ve seen people talking about doxy and baytril, are they the best things to have? Sorry for all the questions, still a new rat mama and the sheer amount of information online means there’s a lot of contradictory stuff out there, and always best to hear it from someone who knows what they’re talking about
 
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