he is a year old in november his cage is always clean but he gets a runny nose that looks like blood ive took him to the vets loadsa times and he has had drops, injections, anti-biotics and cream and nothing is working the vet says his bloody nose is not blood just a sign that they are not well!!! the drops an injections were incase it woz mites, the anti-biotics for infection and the cream woz anti-septic.!
does any1 know what else it could be or has had the same problem???? please help :(
2007-10-24 10:26:20 · 6 answers · asked by xxangelxx 1 in Pets ➔ Rodents
It sounds like this vet is not experienced with rats. Most likely the "bloody nose" is a secretion of porphyrin, which is a fluid in the tear ducts that can be secreted excessively when a rat is stressed or sick.
The scabs could be mites - did the medicine work at all for these?
When a vet doesn't know how to handle an animal, they will often throw the whole book at it - antibiotics, drops, vitapacks...
I suggest going to the following website and find a vet in your area that is recommended by rat owners:
http://www.rmca.org/Vets/index.php?action=list
Good luck with the little guy!
2007-10-24 12:19:20 · answer #1 · answered by Muhnkee 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What kind of bedding are you using for your rat? If you are using something with a lot of oils or perfumes, like cedar or pine shavings, that could make them get a bloody nose. I've had that happen to a couple of my rats unfortunatley. The scabs could be mites or fleas that your little guy got from the bedding also. The eggs of these critters are in the bedding and then hatch, which then infests the rats. What I would try doing is changing the bedding to aspen shavings (no oils or anything harmful to the rat). The aspen should be frozen for atleast 24 hours before you use it so that any little eggs would die. For the treatment for the mites you can get a gel called Ivermectin. You can get it at any country supply store...it's used for horses....pretty cheap too. You should give him a dosage about the size of an uncooked grain of rice. Usually it works good if you put this amount of medication on a snack like a little piece of apple or something. Do this once a week for 3-4 weeks and that will kill the mites. Just make sure that you only do a dosage the size of an uncooked grain of rice because it's poison and could kill him if it's too much.
2007-10-25 15:53:44 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well Ive never had that happen, but It sounds like the vet is being unhelpful in general.
Telling you a runny nose is a sign of being sick is useless. Its their job to work out why it is sick and treat the animal accordingly.
These websites may be able to help you, but I suggest you go back to the vet and get them to find out exactly what is wrong with the rat.
http://www.ratfanclub.org/skin.html
http://www.dapper.com.au/articles.htm
http://www.petratscanada.com/scabs.htm
2007-10-24 17:32:49 · answer #3 · answered by lealea1989 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like you only have one. I think it's lonely. Rats exude the red liquid when stressed. Living alone could be stressful enough. The scratching could be a time waster. Some animals do weird things when they are penned up or lonely
2007-10-24 20:22:09 · answer #4 · answered by dude 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, he could be just biting himself.. My friends rat does that an shes fine afterwards.. But try to find something just in case.
2007-10-24 20:40:59 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I advise you take him to a vet asap, if its affecting him play, walk or do anything he might have a disease but if its not its probadly just a skin infection... Hope my advise helps xxx
2007-10-24 17:32:10 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋