# Young male rat sneezing when eating



## crittercrazyJazz (Nov 29, 2013)

Hi there everyone, I got my first ever rats last week, Two young males from a seemingly good breeder.My gray and white blazed is doing great but my double rex is having a little problem.He sneezes and coughs whenever he eats but not any other time? Like I said I've only had him a week and I think he had done that from the first day I got him. He appears absolutely fine though, no distress or lethargy..quite the opposite actually haha hes very active and inquisitive! He was on a homemade muesli with the breeder but I put him on a mix of Science Selective and pets at home (a UK petshop) nuggets...he snuffles and sneezes when eating them and when he eats any treat..like cheerios, nuts, seeds, pet shop treats ect...He is on carefresh bedding but he never sneezes when hes just walking around or anything only when he eats? Any advice would be very much appreciated xx


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## AidanAston (Dec 2, 2013)

I seem to be having the same problem! I bought two rats about a week ago and they both sneeze a lot when eating. I've talked to many people lately and some say it could be a respiratory infection but others say it could be new home sneezes. I am getting very worried because I don't have the money to take them to the vet and I believe I'm starting to hear congestion...  If the sneezing lasts more than a month, take them to the vet, or if the problem escalates (wheezing, congestion, a large discharge of porphyrin, etc.). Just make sure you don't have any kind of shampoo, candles, air fresheners, or anything fragrant in your room (they may be allergic). Also, make sure you're cleaning their cage at least once a week, and don't use smelly beddings. As far as knowing if your rat is sick versus getting used to the new home, it's really impossible to tell. I've been monitoring my rats for the past week and researching/asking questions for almost four hours a day, and no luck so far. If you need to talk to someone, I'm online a lot, and also there is an admin named Jaguar that has been helping me through some of my problems. I highly suggest sending him a private message and taking his advice. He is very experienced and seems to know just about everything there is to know about rats. Hopefully I helped, and hopefully your ratties will get better


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## crittercrazyJazz (Nov 29, 2013)

AidanAston said:


> I seem to be having the same problem! I bought two rats about a week ago and they both sneeze a lot when eating. I've talked to many people lately and some say it could be a respiratory infection but others say it could be new home sneezes. I am getting very worried because I don't have the money to take them to the vet and I believe I'm starting to hear congestion...  If the sneezing lasts more than a month, take them to the vet, or if the problem escalates (wheezing, congestion, a large discharge of porphyrin, etc.). Just make sure you don't have any kind of shampoo, candles, air fresheners, or anything fragrant in your room (they may be allergic). Also, make sure you're cleaning their cage at least once a week, and don't use smelly beddings. As far as knowing if your rat is sick versus getting used to the new home, it's really impossible to tell. I've been monitoring my rats for the past week and researching/asking questions for almost four hours a day, and no luck so far. If you need to talk to someone, I'm online a lot, and also there is an admin named Jaguar that has been helping me through some of my problems. I highly suggest sending him a private message and taking his advice. He is very experienced and seems to know just about everything there is to know about rats. Hopefully I helped, and hopefully your ratties will get better


Im sorry to hear you are going through a similar thing, I know how worrying it is when your ratties are poorly! Thank you for the advice but fingers crossed my baby seems much better! I haven't heard him sneezing the last few days so I think it was just him getting used to his new food  phew! haha thank you for the invite to chat I really appreciate it, I love meeting and chatting to new people especially when they want to chat about animals! My favourite subject hehe Im always here to chat too  xx


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