Pet Rat sneezes often? Is that normal, or an allergy?
December 30th, 2008 by admin
Sara asked:
Hey! My one smallest baby blue rat sneezes often; Is that normal, because their sense of smell is so strong? I never noticed my other two rats to do that… But then I haven’t had rats for very long. She looks healthy, she’s playful, her eyes are clear and bright, ears and nose aren’t runny or dull. So, I was just wondering if anyone had an opinion on this? Thanks!
Hey! My one smallest baby blue rat sneezes often; Is that normal, because their sense of smell is so strong? I never noticed my other two rats to do that… But then I haven’t had rats for very long. She looks healthy, she’s playful, her eyes are clear and bright, ears and nose aren’t runny or dull. So, I was just wondering if anyone had an opinion on this? Thanks!
- Posted in Pets
January 1st, 2009 at 8:19 am
Worth taking her to the vet. I have a rather sneezy rat too, tried 2 different vets who done loads of tests and couldnt find anything wrong, but its worth taking them to be sure,
January 2nd, 2009 at 7:35 pm
This answer will probably amuse you, but I read somewhere that when rats are happy they sometimes release histamines, which makes them sneeze! So I guess it is kind of like allergies, but she’s like allergic to excitement? haha that sounds funny. I’m really sorry I can’t actually find the source, and I don’t know if that fact is entirely true, but I know my first rat would sneeze whenever I played with him and tickled his belly, I thought it was so cute!
If she starts wheezing or having rattling breathing, then she probably has a respiratory infection, but what you’ve described is probably not an illness. The only other situation would be that the dust from her bedding is making her sneeze, so you might want to think about trying a different type of bedding.
January 5th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
I had the same problem with my two rats when I first got them. I changed the bedding and it solved the problem. Many bedding brands have too much dust which will make them sneeze. Now I use Kaytee Soft-sorbent and the sneezing is gone!
January 7th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Mycoplasma is a possibility but I would bet on it being the bedding that you use. all of my rats sneeze and there healthy and they have a low dust bedding but they all still sneeze. its no a big deal.
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