Strange noises

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CrazyRatLady

Active Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2020
Messages
31
Location
North Carolina
Hi, I got two boy rats from a reputable breeder last Friday (9/4/2020). It's been a week and two days since then. One of the boys, Theodore, came sneezing. But now that the new home sneeze period is coming to an end and his noises have gotten increasingly stranger (link below) we wanted to reach out.
He is six weeks old and he is not lethargic, he doesn't have an excess of porphyrin, and the noises come and go. When we first heard it he was enjoying playtime, and then it went away within a few hours. A day goes by without incident and ”rat phone” proved he was fine last night (no wheezing or whistles in the lungs) but this morning he's a little chatter box (with a small whistle).
They’ve been treated with grapeseed extract in the water bottles, colloidal silver, and we have amoxicillin coming. We’re trying to boost immunity with garlic, turmeric, and lots of healthy foods. They also have Mazuri lab blocks at all times. His appetite is good.
They live in a single critter nation and we use fleece. Their fleece liners are changed out every 3 days and I spot clean every morning. They have handmade hammocks and everything is washed before they go in the cage.

They're litter trained (poop and most of their pee) so I clean their litterbox every day too. One thing that might be causing this is the litter... We’re using Exquisicat natural paper pellet litter. Dust free and made from recycled paper. The ingredients are paper, baking soda, and zeolite. I know that baking soda can be toxic when consumedin large amounts but they aren't chewing on the pellets.

The other rat is good, with only occasional sneezes. No weird noises with him.

Any help appreciated... Thanks

 
Update: we gave him a bit of Benadryl and his breathing has improved... no obvious congested chirps like in the video, just very faint whistles in the lungs when we do the rat phone.
 
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