# Quiet Squeaks and Head Jerking..WIERD!



## tang3rine21 (Dec 23, 2010)

So my little boy Ollie has developed something odd. For the past couple of days he would make this very soft squeaking noise and jerk his head forward repeatedly, almost like sneeze but not quite. He only does this when I first pick him up. It lasts maybe a minute then goes away. while he's doing it it looks like he's breathing kind of funky, like gasps, but they coincide with his squeaking. 

I've noticed a slight amount of porphyrin on his nose as well. One I put him back in his cage after an episode like this, he makes really jerky movements. Hopefully someone can identify this because its worrysome to a new mommy!


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## littlematchstick (Apr 12, 2009)

it sounds like the beginnings of a respiratory infection. I've seen this a few times in my rats, I always treat with a course of antibiotics..like baytril or Doxycycline..if he gets worse..you can use both in conjunction. But if you catch it early (like it is now) usually one antibiotic is enough. But make sure your vet gives you enough for 3 weeks, thats the recommended length of treatment for a respiratory infection. Hope he gets better soon, and keep us updated!


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## ATez (May 5, 2009)

I agree with the above post, sounds like a respiratory infection... but if you have a camera and you're able to capture your rat doing it on tape. Seriously, the first time i heard Crank doing squeaky noises almost like quiet chirps my boyfriend thought i was being paranoid and the vet heard nothing when she was listening to his lungs and breathing.

Then finaly 2 months later my boyfriend hears him doing a loud noise almost like a pigeon cooing. At that point he was really sick and had to take A LOT of med for a tiny baby rat. 3 kind of meds for 10 days and a total of around 0.15 CC, twice a day. Which i thought was a lot for a 3 month old rat. :/ Also shoving that much med down his throat didn't help with the trust factor. We had a hard time getting him to be okay around us. But to this day he hates being picked up. He'll claw at anything and sometimes squeak in anger. Other then that he climbs all over us and runs up to our feet.


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