URI? First time, seeking advice

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Megan Fleischman

Megan Fleischman

New Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2019
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0
Location
Washington
History: A month ago we adopted two young rats (standard Roan and dumbo double Rex) from questionable conditions (fed fruit loops as part of a homemade diet and were very dirty). After just a few days with us they both were looking alert and clean. A week ago I adopted a very healthy black adult female (housed with pine bedding ) who is so sweet and very healthy, with no known history of sneezing or parasites. They are in separate cages now, though I plan to join the three girls soon after the recommended introductory phase.

Now: a couple days ago I noticed our Roan girl had a couple wet sounding sneezes. Today she is lethargic and has red Porphyrin staining on her face with a red nose. I understand there are a few common causes for URI. she may have a virus she picked up from the new rat (‍♀️) or a bacterial infection of some sort.

Question: should I take her straight to the vet? I want to treat ASAP if bacterial, but don’t want to build antibiotic resistance if only a virus. What is the first line of treatment? She does not seem to be wheezing.

Thanks for your feedback!
 

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If you can post a video of her breathing to YouTube, then copy and paste the link on here, we could better help you. Do you know how old she is, how much she weighs, how long have you had her? Is the new rat showing ANY signs of illness? She's adorable, and I love her coloring!
 
Isn’t she pretty?! Her name is Cocoa. She’s starting to become more white as I’ve read they do over time.
I do not have a scale to weigh her. She is approximately 6 months old (allegedly) and small compared to the new full grown one. I have had her a month.
The new rat, Rockie, wasn’t showing any signs, but she was doing a few little sneezes when I held her earlier this afternoon. (Door open and breezy today)
Additionally, Cocoa’s cage mate seems to be bullying/bossing her a little today, trying to pull her around with her teeth., and now they are sleeping in separate hammocks for the first time ever. I will try to upload a video as soon as I can.
 
Omg at first I was like "WOAH that breathing"! Then I realized that you have a baby and what sounds like a small child in the background. LOL

Hopefully someone more experienced will chime in, but a few sneezes aren't always bad. The teeth pulling you were talking about, seems to be a maternal thing that females do. Nothing to worry about, as long as there's no blood, and they don't look super stressed or frightened. Don't be alarmed if you hear some squeaking with it as well. Sometimes the one being pulled will squeak in protest. But the one pulling is trying to get her to the nest. They will sometimes even try this with their humans. It just means they love you! If it bothers you, or they bite too hard, squeak in protest, and pull your hand, shirt, or whatever out of their reach.
 
Oh Dena, sorry I didn’t mention I was holding a noisy baby! Haha. That’s why I posted the second clip, I have four kids 5 and under so it’s basically impossible to take a video without background noise . I wouldn’t be concerned about the sneezing per se, except that it is new, becoming more frequent and is accompanied by a raw nose and Porphyrin staining on her face (not as visible in the photo or video unfortunately) Our vet can’t see her until next Monday. I will continue to watch her and the other two.
 

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