# Upper respratory Disease??



## Alyssa_Rat

So a while back I had adopted a Rat from a pet store that had Upper respritory Disease and so I reaturned him and he lived yet the one I dopted after him died 3 days later....?? Well Alyssa my Rat I just adopted ((not from the same place)) has Upper respritory disease.. i think. Well I really dont have the money for antibiotics and I dont want her to get realy sick and die.. is there a home remedy to help her a little??She doesnt have Red stuff coming out of her nose/eyes yet, she gags every now and then and she doesnt explore like shes suposed too. Ive seen her drinking water today but I havnt seen her eat yet.. im ganna keep a close eye on her and hope to se her eating... what do I do if she not?? And what causes Upper Respratory Disease??
((sorry i posted it on this tread, im new and couldnt figure out how to post, but can you please help me anyway??))


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## linz_04

If it's an infection, she really needs to see a vet. She needs to be on antibiotics. You should really have emergency money just in case they need to go to the vet because rats can go downhill REALLY fast. and if she gets dehydrated, you're in for BIG trouble. What symptoms does she have to make you think she has a respiratory problem?? If you JUST got her, she might just be scared and not want to go running around exploring. also, my rats sneezed quite a bit from stress when I first brought them home.


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## DonnaK

You could try giving her something really yummy to test the eating part of it - our rats go crazy for pieces of banana or hard-boiled egg (not too much, though!). I've seen other people in these forums recommend using baby food to entice rats to eat. Again, not too much as you don't want a fat ratty!

I don't know anything about the respiratory disease, I'm afraid - this isn't something that I have had to deal with, yet *knocks very loudly on wood*. I would echo what linz said, though, in that if you have just got her home it could be that she is just settling in. The "gagging" and lack of exploring could simply be down to nerves.

My advice would be to keep an eye on her for the next couple of days, and get her to a vet for a health check as soon as you can. In the meantime, if you haven't already, thoroughly scrub anything that has been in contact with the other rats that were sick. Give her lots of love and encouragement, and let's hope it is just new-home-nerves.


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## Poppyseed

If they aren't eating or drinking, baby food is the best thing to get them hydrated again as it contains a lot of water. I couldn't get Joshu to eat enough. My vet recommended 24-30cc each day.

Yes please get her to the vet. It could be something as simple as antibiotics that saves her.


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## Alyssa_Rat

Well shes doing better now.. im pretty shure shes eating and i know for shure shes drinking. Shes not exploring her cage, its sorta a 2 story cage but she hasnt left the bottom floor. although when i take her out of her cage she runs around then climbs into my pocket and sleeps. She doesnt gag anymore.. but acationaly i here her having trouble breathing. 
Also iv got another question.. since shes partly hairless what temp. can she stand?? i was so worried last night cause it was pretty cold that i stayed up 2 extra hours keeping her warm in my lap, i also gave her a couple tissues to curl up with and wraped her cage with a towel so there was no breeze. Do you guys have any tips??

Also:
I always fed my previouse rats baby food
as a treat.. they loved it so ill be giving 
baby food too.


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## DonnaK

I'm glad to hear she's doing better. 

I don't know about the temperature for hairless rats, but as for keeping our rats warm - I put a double thickness fleece hammock in our cages, made such so the rat can chill out on top or crawl inside to get cozy and warm. I also do the tissue thing that you mentioned, but I use 5 or 6 kitchen paper towels, and they make a nice cozy bed out of them. Since I put the hammocks in the cages, though, they've deserted the tissue beds a bit :lol:


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## linz_04

I was told that the hairless rats don't require anything special for heat. If you have more than one rat, they will snuggle together and that will help her if it's cold in your house (assuming they get along) In general, I'd say if you're cold, your rats might be cold too. My house is pretty cool but I think my rats have adjusted because when I take them to my mom's house or my grandma's house (which are both in the low-mid-70's) they become really lethargic and lay stretched out away from each other in the cage. So as long as it's not like below 65 she's probably fine. You can do what DonnaK said and give them something nice and fuzzy to cuddle up in, that would be nice for her.


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## Alyssa_Rat

Yea ill have you give her some sort of clothe to snuggle with.. shes the only rat i have at the moment, since shes still young should i get her a friend?? Or will she do fine without?.. ive never realy had single rats so idk. 

Also i watched her eat earlier so i know shes eating, also i gave her a couple (3) chopped peices of grapes and she loves them.. but she wont eat the carrots i gave her... can you give me some ideas on fruits and veggies i can give her?? 

I know i sound like a first time rat owner but im not ((se pics of my other rats in my photo albums)) i just never realy fed my rats anything but rat blocks, premium rat food, baby food, and very rarely a peice of chocolate ((cuz i read in a few places that rats can have very small amounts of chocolate)).


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## linz_04

Glad to hear she's doing well. Try bananas, apples, cooked pasta, hard boiled egg, cheerios (my girls' fave!!) I'd get her a friend if you can. Being young and a female, she'll probably accept a new rat just fine. Do proper intros and you should be good. She'll be happier with a buddy, especially since she's female & young and more than likely is or will be pretty playful. Someone to sleep with, groom, and play with will be great for her!


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## DonnaK

linz_04 said:


> I'd say if you're cold, your rats might be cold too


That's my rule of thumb, too. I take comfort in that they have somewhere warm and snuggly to go if they need it.


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## DonnaK

Alyssa_Rat said:


> Yea ill have you give her some sort of clothe to snuggle with.. shes the only rat i have at the moment, since shes still young should i get her a friend?? Or will she do fine without?.. ive never realy had single rats so idk.
> 
> Also i watched her eat earlier so i know shes eating, also i gave her a couple (3) chopped peices of grapes and she loves them.. but she wont eat the carrots i gave her... can you give me some ideas on fruits and veggies i can give her??


I would get her a friend while she's young and adaptable. We're trying to introduce a 4 month old to an adult rat atm. It's going ok, but it's going to take some time. We'd have been much better off if we'd done it with two 4 month old rats.

As for fresh stuff, I give our rats various types of melon, grapes, carrots, cooked broccoli, occasionally banana for a special treat, hard boiled egg, nuts in their shells (hazelnuts, pecans, almonds), peas, sweetcorn, our youngest also likes pineapple and strawberries, but our eldest doesn't. I'll try basically anything that is in it's natural state and doesn't have too much salt, fat or sugar.

There are some fresh foods you shouldn't give your rats. The book I have lists them as - 

raw beans or peanuts
raw sweet potato
raw red cabbage
raw brussels sprouts
raw artichokes
green bananas
green potato skin and eyes

I have also read elsewhere that you should never give them onions or citrus peel, though I don't remember why.

If you look around these forums a bit there is a thread somewhere that tells you what is wrong with certain foods and why you shouldn't give them to your rats.


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## linz_04

Something in the orange peel has been linked to cancer in male rats I think *I could be really wrong here* but supposidly it's not as much of a threat for females. I just always make sure I get the peel off completely and rarely give my girls orange (but they LOVE it!)


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## DonnaK

I've always avoided giving them orange because I wasn't sure what the problem was with it. I bought some for me and my husband yesterday, so I might give them a little of the middle of it, now you've said how much they love it.


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## Alyssa_Rat

Thanks guys!! i wrote down all the treats you guys gave me so im ganna experiment on them and se which one she likes the best. 
Also, i think it might sound pretty quick but i built my own hammock out of thick hoodie and a thin peice of nice fabric ((the nice fabrick is sewn to the top of the hoodie fabric)) so whe can either sleep on top in the open or climb inside it to hide.. and so far she likes it!! 
Thanks for all your guys help... and i cant wait to take pics of her to share with you all!!

Would watermelon be considered a melon or no??

Oh and i dont know the soonest i can get another rat.. she in a 1 rat spaced cage right now but in working on getting a larger cage, so when i do i might get 1 (or maybe more) rat(s) to accompanie her. Shes only about 8-9 weeks old so i have plenty of time to work on it.


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## DonnaK

Alyssa_Rat said:


> Would watermelon be considered a melon or no??


Absolutely. I think watermelon is probably the most popular melon with our girls.

Congrats on the hammock! I only recently started making them and they really do love them


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## Alyssa_Rat

Thanks for the watermelon info ((ive got plenty on the fridge)), also ive always made my own toys and hammocks for my rats.. the only time i didnt was when i wanted something specific for them or if i didnt have the right "around the house" materials for them. I find it quite amusing when they get excited over a new toy/bed!! 
Also Alyssa like cheerios! ((i also found out my tiel does too)).


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## DonnaK

You're welcome. 

Isn't it nice when they appreciate what you make? I was soooo excited when they both went in the hammocks within 5 mins of me putting them in, I couldn't shut up about it :lol:

Forgive me for asking, but who's Tiel? I don't see you mention him/her before...


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## Alyssa_Rat

Yea.. i think its just funny and adorable. Um Tiel is short ((also the australian form of saying it, but im not australian)) for Cockatiel, I own a male Cockatiel we named Petra.


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## DonnaK

Ah, ok, I've never heard that before, but then I've only ever had budgies. Birds are my other big love, pet and wild alike


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## Alyssa_Rat

Yea birds, rats and exotics are my 3 faves... like i used to own wild birds ((blue jays, sea gulls, cardinals, pigions ect.)) yea i used to rescue them as orfan chicks.. ween them then release them. And i also used to have a possum and i lived with people a couple months back that had a goose, 2 pigs, 2 ducks, 16+ pitbulls and a monkey... so i love animals!!! But i absolutly LOVE rats!!!!!!


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## linz_04

Wow, I thought i was bad about taking in animals! haha I think you might be worse than me... I've basically only had domesticated animals except for 3 litters of baby bunnies who's mom's died, and a few birds we've rescued!


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## Alyssa_Rat

Yea i am pretty bad about it... before i found how great rats make as pets i used to breed hamsters... so you can also say ive had 40+ hamsters too ((not all at once though)). I also volentered at a farm for a while too, just so i could spend time with horses during my free time, but there werent just horses.. there were 11 horses, 13 goats ((one of which i almost adopted from them)) a few chickens, 3 ferrets. about 20 bunnies, an iguana, and a huge rattery... it was cool. ive always rescued dogs from shelters ((we never buy)) and cats were always with us too, we had a bunny once but she was to much to handle so we had to give her away.

So long-story-short.. i love animals.


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