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Baby rat sneezing?

2K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  begoodtoanimals 
#1 ·
So I have two litters of little ones and it sounds like a lot of them sneeze when ive been holding them. I dunno if its sommin' to worry about ><

I haven't noticed anything else though. No discharge or anything like that.
They're about 3 weeks old.

One of them has this funny little bend in his tail though, at the bottom. Any idea how that might have happened? o.o
 
#2 ·
I'm no expert but in my experience sneezing has always been a symptom of something. The only time I've personally heard of sneezing that is not a sign of illness is when rats come to a new home, and it's only a couple of sneezes in the first day. Is this only occurring when you hold them? Are they in a wire cage or an aquarium? What kind of bedding are you using? How often do you clean the cage? Any possibility of stress? You might also hold them up to your ear and listen to their breathing. Any wheezing? I'm currently treating a sneezy baby rat (7-8 weeks) who has no porphyrin discharge, so sometimes you won't have that visible sign.

Tail breaks can occur during birth. And I -think- bends can also be genetic, but I'm not positive.
 
#3 ·
Well, I haven't heard any sneezing while they're in the cage, nor from the mother rats.

It's a wire cage. Im just using a shop-brand litter. It's 100% recycled paper and such. Clean the cage pretty often, really. Just taking dirty bits of litter out often and things like that. Uh, I can't think of anything I've been doing thats particularly stressful? And I don't hear any wheezing from the rats, either.

Well, I'll keep an eye out anyway. Thanks ^^


Hmm, okay. Well, it's a really small bend and the rat doesn't seem to be having a problem with it.
 
#4 ·
Could they smell perfume, soap or something else that they don't like or could be sensitive to?
When I got Luna from the pet store she sneezed and I immediately put her on antibiotics. After that she still sneezed once in a while and then (I can't remember where I learned about this) I put her on two drops of liquid (human) baby Echinacia twice a day. It has a fruity flavor and I put it on a cheerio which they love. I gave Harriet it as well as a preventative. It's herbal You do this for a week, two weeks off and repeat a couple of cycles. It totally cleared everything up. Now she only sneezes when she encounters dust bunnies, but I too sneeze then :wink:
 
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