Big Problem-what's going on?

luvboyrats · #1 07-14-2007, 09:47 AM

Okay as I said in my last post I've only had my new boys for a few days. Remi has been pretty calm and sweet from the get go, Emile is still a little nervous. Last night I had them both out and my sister wanted to hold Remi because he's so little and precious. While she was walking around on her he walked up to her hand and bit her hard enough to draw blood. We thought maybe it was just that my young nephew was in there making a lot of noise and making him nervous so she gave him another chance later and he did it again. My fiance and I handled him after that and he never offered to bite but he was certainly a lot more agitated than he had been in the past.

This morning he is really worrying me. He's been staying in one corner of the cage and it looked like he was either breathing hard or shivering. I put a towel in his favorite corner for a blanket and closed the vent closest to their cage in case he was cold, but he's still sitting there shivering and grooming himself and not venturing out of that corner. I reached my hand in with a treat. He didn't bite, he let me pet him but he seemed really nervous and he hasn't touched the treat. Is he just upset and nervous because of his rather traumatic interaction with my sister? What would make him just bite one person? Is his behavior this morning totally unrelated? Is he sick? Should I separate them? Could my sister being nervous and afraid of the rats make them scared and bite her? Do I need to do something particular with him, handle him more or take him to the vet? I'm really worried something might be wrong with my tiny little guy.

luvboyrats · #2 07-14-2007, 12:48 PM

OK, I took him out to play with him and he acted like normal, cuddled a little, ran around a little, tried to sneak back out when I put him up.

When he's in his cage he's moving around, eating, and drinking more but he's still mostly just sitting, grooming, breathing kinda hard or kinda fast and snuffing. It's not really like sneezing but you know when they groom themselves and they make kinda a chirpy snorty sound like they're just trying to get something irritating off of or out of their nose? Well he's doing that almost constantly in the cage, but only did it once or twice during the time I had him out playing. Is this normal? Is he sick?

mulder · #3 07-14-2007, 12:50 PM

well, i've not much experience, but maybe give him another day or two to settle in? you've only just gotten them. also watch to see if he eats and drinks. if not then take him to the vet, cause any animal not eating, is a problem for sure. good for you closign the vent, rats can get sick from drafts. blankets are a good. maybe see if you can toss in a few dog kibbles, my boys go nuts for those

lilspaz68 · #4 07-14-2007, 01:49 PM

If a new rat comes to your house and starts to sneeze excessively you usually leave it for a few days since a lot of "new home sneezies" clear up on their own. BUT breath sounds, hunched behaviours etc, do mean your little boy is sick. It sounds like he has a URI (upper respiratory infection) and needs a vet/antibiotics (baytril, doxycycline, etc...do not let them give you Tylan for their water, or TMZ sulfa...)

luvboyrats · #5 07-14-2007, 04:38 PM

He is still eating and drinking. What is hunched behavior?

luvboyrats · #6 07-14-2007, 11:14 PM

Okay, I took the baby to the vet. I had to take him to the walk in instead of making an appt with our family vet so I spent way more money than I would have liked but I just didn't want to wait a week.

Good call lilspaz68! Poor Remi has a URI, but they said he's in the early stages. He actually was moving around more and playing a little even before we took him. They listened to him and prodded a little and then gave him an antibiotic shot. They also gave me some drops to give him twice a day. They included enough drops that I could treat my other little boy if he begins showing symptoms but so far he seems perfectly well. Does anybody have advice on the best way to administer the drops? Can I make it easy by putting the drops on a piece of whole wheat bread or something? Obviously I would give it to him while he was out of the cage to make sure he was the one to eat it. Is that okay or is it absolutely necessary that I hold him down and administer the drops directly? I'm afraid that this soon in our relationship that could really hurt the socialization process.

I'm also still perplexed about why he would have so deliberately bitten my sister like that. The vet poked, prodded, gave him a shot (which made the poor critter scream!), and he never bit her or us during any of it. I think my sister must smell like instant rat death.

Oh by the way, can anyone tell me how likely he is to recover from an infection like this? I would hate to lose my little guy.

Vanilla_Rat · #7 07-15-2007, 09:53 AM

I agree,he sounds sick to me and somewhat stressed out.

Rodie61 · #8 07-15-2007, 10:02 AM

What do you wash the towel(blanket) and other cloth toys in? I found out the hard way that one of my rats reacts very badly to washing powder and fab soft that are perfumed. It looked as if she was in serious respiratory distress. I wash everything in a product called "Neutral" now without fab soft and she's okay. Just an idea.
I'd keep an eye on the little guy. Do you have a vet? It's good to have one already before you need one in a hurry. Good luck.

luvboyrats · #9 07-15-2007, 10:41 AM

I have no idea why it hasn't shown up t I tried a couple of different times to post that I had taken him to the vet. He's in the early stages of a URI. They gave him an antibiotic injection and gave me drops to give him and his roommate should he start having symptoms too. They said the should be good in a week but to bring him back if he's not. I felt sooo guilty. He screamed when she gave him the shot.

Do rats usually recover from this sort of thing? I'd hate to lose him so early.

took him to the vet