Separating old and sick rat

[Kaycee20]

Heya everyone,

After being gone for a while, I thought I'd tune back on the forum, seen as I need help with something.
So, the situation is like this:

I have three rats atm. 2 of them will turn 2 around the 25th of december, one of them is the birthdate unknown off, but she is with me for around a year now, so let's say she is a year old.
One of the older rats has a lump. She is very active and its not too big so it doesn't really look like it bothers her. She is called Liz. Liz and the one year old (Aiko) go along well.
Then you have the other (almost) 2 year old, called Yuuki. Yuuki and Liz are sisters.
Lately Yuuki has been going backwards in health.
She easily falls over and off like the platforms in the cage. She also gets picked on a lot by Aiko and sometimes by Liz as well.

Because Yuuki is falling over more and more, and because she gets picked on, I decided to get an other cage for her, which has more floor space, but a lot less climbing space, due to the fact I'm terrified she will break something when she falls off again, especially if it would happen from the top floor.

I also decided to separate her, because she gets picked on a lot. ( So badly that she has had multiple little bite wounds and lost a lot of pieces of fur)

I was wondering, was this the right decision?
I am giving her a ton more attention now, so she doesn't start to feel lonely.

I hope people can give advice

 

[lilspaz68]

Ok everything you are saying sounds like she has physical issues that need treatment.

The scabs are likely mites as they show up initially over the neck, shoulder and head then continue to spread out. These show up on compromised rats first but all your rats have them now. You'll need to treat all 3 with Revolution for cats or dogs.
As for falling over and falling off things this could indicate an inner ear infection or possibly a pituitary tumour. Does she have a head tilt or just seems confused and wobbly?
Cann you get us a video of her walking around on a flat nom-slippery surface?

Here's a couple of links to help you figure out these issues

http://lilspazrathospice.blogspot.com/2016/11/whats-on-my-rat-ectoparasites.html
http://lilspazrathospice.blogspot.com/2016/11/pituitary-tumour-failing-cheerio-test.html
You can also listen to her breathing to see if there's any noise. (Respiratory infection).

Generally I never remove a sick or old rat from a group unless you see active aggression towards them or the others are always bothering her while she's too sick to care. Separating a rat from her cagemates could stress her out and make her sicker, and also can stress out the cagemates. I would string up hammocks under shelves and ramps to catch her if she falls though. It's Oldie proofing your cage.

 

[Kaycee20]

So, here is a little update. I've put her back with her sister, cause she indeed only suffered from being alone. The rat that was too active and stuff for them has gotten two new cage mates, so I think everything should be set now I will still make an appointment with the vet