# New Girl, Whole Lot of Problems, PLEASE HELP! (Long)



## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

So, I came into the 'new rat parent' world a little bit abruptly last night and saying that I was ill-prepared and ill-equipped is a huge understatement. 

Long story short, I have a snake; a ball python to be exact. She (the snake) has grown to a point were I am offering her a couple mice (sorry, it's kind of the nature of keeping a snake) each feeding so I thought "Well, why not just buy one rat instead of 2 adult mice?" I go to a local reptile specialty store, buy a rat and take her home. After I get the rat home, I sit her next to Isabelle's (the snake's) cage for a couple of minutes to 'scent the room'. The rat started to make really helpless, scared little noises and basically....she breaks my heart; I can't feed her to Isabelle. So guess what? New rat parent without any sort of enclosure/cage for her whatsoever. So, off I go to the pet store and the only thing that I found was a cage about the size of your average bird cage (she is small, so this will do for a couple of days until I can build her a condo). My boyfriend came over and helped me assemble the cage and we decided to name her Mew, for the little sounds that she makes. 

So, I hopped on the internet and started doing research and found this forum (love you guys, by the way). Found out the sounds that she was making sounded like she has an upper respiratory infection. More good news (now I do want to mention that it is not a constant squeaking. She seems to breathe normally most of the time and will start squeaking at random). When I put her in her new cage, she hopped all over the pellets that I had put in there for her (probably the best food she has ever gotten in her life the way she was acting) and I put some little treats in there. I also put a little water in a dish (will be getting a water bottle today though) and she seemed to drink it and eat up the pellets like nobody’s business.

Woke up this morning and she was at the top of the cage near the water looking a little lethargic (eyes half open, kind of squeaking).  I try to offer her a treat and she starts sniffing my finger and then bites, HARD (blood just started pouring out of my finger). I don't blame her at all. I'm sure she is still petrified and is probably not feeling too great so the bite was completely justified. But I hope she doesn’t remember that if she bites me, I'll pull away from her. (Heard about the oven mitts and am totally going to try that) I am going to be taking her to the vet tomorrow morning (they specialize in small animals. Took my rabbit there for treatment) and see if they can give me anything for the RI. I would get her a buddy so she could feel a little more secure but she is sick so that is kind of out of the question. I’m thinking about going back to the reptile store and letting them know that there is an RI infection in the small rats (I’m pretty sure this kind of thing is easy to spread). 

Any advice?


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

*** Update***

I got an appointment at the vet for later on today to see if they can do anything about her RI so hopefully we can get her some meds and she will be okay (or if it's not RI, figure out what it is).


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

> Its not good to feed sick rats to snakes either I'd assume?


I would definitely assume not. I mean, a snake has a pretty kick a** 'break down' system in them, but to eliminate an infection in an animal that they consume? I wouldn't take that kind of chance.



> What kind of food are you feeding her. You'll be surprised to hear that most rat commercial foods are not a sufficient diet for them. Lab blocks are what I would recommend, or research into making your own mix.


I picked up something that seems pretty generic (Forti-Diet I believe? It's the big pellets) so she would have at least something to eat and tied her over until I get a real diet working for her. I assumed that they (the feeder rats) didn't get any fresh greens or anything else awesomely delicious and tried to maybe give her something that the store might have. I will try to wean her off of that stuff and onto a more balanced diet slowly, she is already stressed enough and I don't need rattie runs all over the place! I really do want to make my own mix though. I did this with a rabbit that I had and I miss doing it :'(



> I think your doing a great job so far, she will definitely LOVE a room mate. You could get her a friend now, as you'll need to quarantine for three weeks before putting them in together.


Agreed, for sure. I just don't know where I can pick up a nice, healthy rat around here without going to the same place I got Mew from (and probably have to deal with another RI) or Petco! :-\ And I REALLY don't want to go to Petco....If anyone lives in SoCal, let me know!! I found some craigslist rats but those are probably worse than Petco. I don't know. I'm pretty lost on that. 



> hiding spots like pockets or hoodies are great in making them feel secure.


I saw (now I'm second guessing it) on some rat care site that you shouldn't put a hide in the new cage until she gets used to it because she might become territorial of said hide. Now, I felt that she really needed one (judging by her terrified state) so I bought her one regardless of that little tid-bit of info I found. Should I leave it in there? 

Thank you for all the advice!!! I can't tell you how much your reply means to me! ;D Off to the vet to get her checked out!


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

So, got back from the vet. Turns out Mew is a boy!  Good thing I went to the vet or I would have probably had a litter on my hands which would ultimitely be a 'f*** my life' moment. 

Also turns out that I was right about the RI. He said that it was pretty bad but because there was no discharge coming out of anything, I probably caught it in time before it became a full blown lung infection. And on top of that, Mew is underweight (doctor could feel his ribs :-\) and he has lice!!! So, he perscribed some Baytril Suspension and some Vibramycin for the RI and some stuff called Revolution for the lice. Soooooo yeah, pretty expensive little Mew so far, but I'm sure he'll be worth it. The vet said that for a "feeder rat" he was pretty tame and probably only bit me because he was scared (like you said). 

Just a fun little fact that I learned that I'm is basically usless to evreyone on this board but I talk to the vet about the petstore selling me a ssick rat and how that might affect my snake and the vet told me that surprisingly enough, there is no transmittal of disease. Weird, I know. 

I just really hope that he is going to be okay. OHHH MY GOD!!!! He's curling up into a little ball and looks like he is having a really hard time breathing. WHAT DO I DO?


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

I am not surprised about the non-transmittal to a snake, as I am sure wild snakes catch/eat sickly mice/rats/prey all the time (much easier) and aren't affected.

Sounds like a URI, but not deep in the lungs which is good  Doxycycline (vibramycin) and baytril are a great combo for rat respiratory issues. One thing you have to remember is that you cannot feed any calcium containing foods within 2 hours of the meds...the calcium binds to the doxy and renders it ineffective.
You may also want to consider probiotics since meds often kill the good bacteria (gut flora) as well as the bad, so you can offer live culture yogurt once a day (just a dab) to help this.

Revolution absolutely rocks for lice/mites etc. One treatment, safe, effective, and done 

Btw the petstore won't care if you decided to keep a sick feeder rat and have to pay the bills, since they aren't supposed to live long anyways... 

Make sure Mew is hydrated, warm, fed if possible (try baby cereal, and/
or Ensure/Boost), nice liquidy foods as he can lick, breathe, lick, breathe. Sick rats often won't touch hard items since they cant breathe while gnawing/chewing.
You should see a difference in 3-4 days when the antibiotics get to a certain level in the blood and start to kick URI butt.

The forti-diet blocks will do for now, once your baby boy is feeling better we will discuss mixes. I think you would like Suebee's Mix (google it or go to http://www.ratsrule.com/diet.html). Instead of dog kibble you can use lab blocks, but not both.

As for SoCal? Tons of needy munchkins MUCH better than supporting the petstore industry and likely a lot healthier, more socialized too. I would definitely check out craigslist and kijiji for an oops litter being raised at home. Any clue how old Mew is? Can you post a pic of your new ratfriend?

Btw welcome to the world of being wrapped around little ratty paws. ;D


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

lilspaz68 said:


> Sounds like a URI, but not deep in the lungs which is good


How would I be able to tell for sure if it has got in the lungs? When I was giving him meds, I noticed some red at the top of his nose (might be some scabbing from messing with his nose so much?) so that kind of worries me...And is there some fancy trick for feeding meds through a syringe? Everytime I try to give it to him, he just grabs it and pushes away (instead of biting it when I go in from the side of the mouth). 

He is still eating the pellets and I put a carrot in there and he ate about half of that but i'm sure that he would like some yogurt so I will stop by a store on my lunch break.

Thanks for all the great advice guys....I'm still a little nervous about Mew though. He woke me up several times last night with his cooing. :-\ I took him out today and he didn't bite me! So i'm sure if he makes it, he will be an awesome little guy. 

Sorry for the crappy pic...


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## Rattieluv (Feb 1, 2010)

Awe! He's so tiny...and adorable! I'm sure that if you continue proper vet care he will be just fine. This is a great forum to join. Lots of good info! Something to give you some hope - I purchased my girls from a small crappy pet store (only one around in my po-dunk town) - they were feeder rats too - and one of them had a RI but after a trip to the vet and some meds - she was fine. Both of my girls are now very healthy and love attention. The way to their hearts was yogies. It seems to be a favorite with most rats. 

Oh..and welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of rats.


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

Rattieluv said:


> Awe! He's so tiny...and adorable! I'm sure that if you continue proper vet care he will be just fine. This is a great forum to join. Lots of good info! Something to give you some hope - I purchased my girls from a small crappy pet store (only one around in my po-dunk town) - they were feeder rats too - and one of them had a RI but after a trip to the vet and some meds - she was fine. Both of my girls are now very healthy and love attention. The way to their hearts was yogies. It seems to be a favorite with most rats.
> 
> Oh..and welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of rats.


Thanks for the kind words!! Deep down i'm pretty confident that he will be fine. It's just that little voice saying "OMG! He made a weirder sound this time! He's going to die! Do something!" I might just be crazy though : After I gave him his medicine today (there was...so much poo. how could all that poo come out of a tiny little rat?!) he curled up in his strawberry hide with his head poking out and fell asleep. I took this as a good sign? I don't know. It's just that tiny little voice that's bugging me now. 

It kind of sucks that the only time I am handeling him is to give him meds. I hope he doesn't resent me later or think of me as the bad lady with the weird tasting goo everytime I want to take him out.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

The poo is nasty and smelly and loose? Its called fear poop, and it will go away once he stops being so frightened. he is a very very young baby, say 4 weeks old? Too young to be away from mom really. But they often sell them at 3 weeks old as snake food.

Is he eating? You could try squirting his dose of meds into a smallish amount of baby cereal and see if he eats it himself. I prefer the flavoured baby cereal as it covers the taste best. Is he able to drink from a bottle or is he too young and weak? Dehydration can kill rats, especially sick little babies. So the watery baby cereal should help with so much. I would also put down a shallow dish with water in it just in case.

The red discharge is called porphyrin, and it shows up when a rat is stressed, ill or has an eye injury...it can come from their nose and eyes. A little in the morning groomed off is fine, but when it persists baby is not feeling well enough to clean it off himself.

He's beautiful *heaat*


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

> The poo is nasty and smelly and loose? Its called fear poop,


Surprisingly, no. It was well formed but it was just a lot. I'm sure your'e right though. What's a little poop, right? 

He is eating but I do want to get some yogurt and now that you mention it, some baby food. I had a dish in there with some water that looked like he had sipped from but I bought a water bottle last night and put it in there and took out the dish. I will definitely be putting the dish back in there if I see he is not drinking from the water bottle, which I wouldn't be surprised if he's not. 



> A little in the morning groomed off is fine, but when it persists baby is not feeling well enough to clean it off himself.


I see him grooming his head/face a lot but there still seems to be red everytime I look. Should I help him clean it off? 

I feel bad that he is so young and away from his mum.... is this going to affect him greatly in the long run? Health, mental state, etc.? Is he too young to fight off the infection? WORRY WORRY WORRY!!!


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## lilangel (Mar 26, 2009)

Oh what a cute little guy!

Congrats on being a new rattie owner!


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

lilangel said:


> Oh what a cute little guy!
> 
> Congrats on being a new rattie owner!


Thanks!!! Wish it wouldn't be so stressful (for the both of us!). But, meh....what are you going to do? :


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## lilangel (Mar 26, 2009)

I think your doing a wonderful job at being a first time rat owner *thumps up* Many do not know right away what you knew.

In time you will have a soft big squishie man rat(maybe two of them hehe) that will love to sit with you while watching tv or reading books


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

LOL, after reading a while on this forum, I am really looking forward to that!


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

So, stopped by the store and they didn't have baby food (surprise, it's Trader Joes! ) So I picked up some applesauce instead. It doesn't have any calcium in it. 



> One thing you have to remember is that you cannot feed any calcium containing foods within 2 hours of the meds...the calcium binds to the doxy and renders it ineffective.


But I also got him some yogurt which has 20% calcium so I will be feeding that to him very carefully....

Do you guys think the applesauce will be okay in place of the baby food or should I just go out and buy some baby food at another store? 

Also, he does seem a little weak/very malnurished. I read on here that giving hard boiled eggs boosts their protien/fat levels and since it isn't really a solid (more mushy mush and probably easy for him to eat) should I offer him some?


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## littlematchstick (Apr 12, 2009)

hard boiled eggs would be great for the little guy! all my kiddos LOVE hard boiled eggs


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

Hard boiled eggs it is then! He's just so skinny...I need to bulk this baby boy up! His skinny butt is really bringing me down :'(

In a backwards way, I kind of feel taken advantage of as a snake owner because they didn't sell me what I payed for, a *plump* small rat! Oh well, he will live on to be my little butter bean now


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

Human suppliments such as Boost and Ensure are great for helping keep weight on as well


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

Jaguar said:


> Human suppliments such as Boost and Ensure are great for helping keep weight on as well


How much would you recommend giving him? I don't know if this is a factor, but, aforementioned, he is VERY young and VERY skinny. ???


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## jasugar (Feb 2, 2010)

This story is heartwarming.  I definitely don't blame snake owners for doing what they have to do, but I could never own a snake. Sounds like the poor little girl got lucky when you picked her up.  Mew is an ADORABLE name. 

Sounds like you're doing everything pretty well, from what I can tell.  You were very quick to get a suitable cage & try to care for her. My newest little boy came from a feeder breeder and is timid and frightened like your little girl, he nips every once in a while. I don't blame him, either. The best way to teach them that this is hurting you is to squeak (like a rat would do). They're usually pretty quick to warm up if you're patient.  

Consider getting another little girl as a companion for her as soon as you can! I'm sure you've heard this before, but they're very social and need friends.  

Kudos on getting to the vet so quickly. It's likely that your promptness will help the little girl on the road to recovery. Overall, congratulations on becoming a rat owner (you'll never turn back, they take your heart and hide it in the most inaccessible corners of their cage and NEVER give it back ) and kudos for being so on the ball.  Welcome to the forum.


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## jasugar (Feb 2, 2010)

By the way, here are some rescues in California. Maybe one is near you?

California
Central Valley - Lorie's Little Angels
www.lorieham.com/rescue
contact: [email protected]

Los Angeles - Rockstar Rats
www.rockstarrats.com/
contact: [email protected]

San Diego - Wee Companions
www.weecompanions.com/
contact: Fenella at [email protected]

San Francisco (greater area) - Rattie Ratz
http://www.rattieratz.com/
contact: [email protected] or 1-888-LUV-RATZ

San Rafael - Bay Area Rats/Animal Care and Adoption Network
http://www.bayarearats.com/
contact: [email protected]

Santa Rosa - North Star Rescue
http://www.northstarrescue.org/
contact: [email protected]

Check them all out & see if any are still rescuing and adopting out.  Maybe they'll be albe to steer you in the right direction if they aren't.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

BumblebeexSweat said:


> > The poo is nasty and smelly and loose? Its called fear poop,
> 
> 
> Surprisingly, no. It was well formed but it was just a lot. I'm sure your'e right though. What's a little poop, right?
> ...


I took in a healthy 3 week orphan....didn't affect him. took in a feeder girl from a woman whose snakes refused 3 of the 4 babies...she was about his age, and she got scary sick...but she got better with antibiotics, and she has a happy new home and is doing very very well. Its a good time to bond with your baby if possible...put him on your lap under a towel or something so he is covered up. If he doesnt mind put your hands on either side of him under the towel. If he gets too stressed doing this then wait til he's feeling better, but some sick babies want the comfort.

Just keep up with the antibiotics and wait. Make sure he's warm (no drafts).

do you want me to doublecheck your medication dosages?

I would need a guess on his weight unless you have a scale? and the concentration of your baytril and doxy (vibra) for eg. ?? mg/ml.


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

So, I put in an application to get Mew a friend at Rockstar Rats and decided upon M037 (you can see him here http://www.rockstarrats.com/jan262010.htm just scroll down until you get to "Rescue Litter"). Just saw that he is pending adoption! Hopefully it's me *crosses fingers*.

Update on Mew: He is moving around a lot more and making a lot less noise! ;D ;D ;D Yesterday, I offered him some applesauce and though reluctant at first, he dug right in (hands in it and everything). I also offered him a little bit of a boiled egg and that one took even longer for him to accept but after about 10 minutes of not wanting anything to do with it, he nommed on the yolky part. 

I waited for 2 hours (per the convo about calcium and the meds) and gave him his meds. He put up much more of a fight (which means he is gaining back his strength! ;D) and afterwards, I put a tissue box in there with him which he propmtly started storing food in and ripping layers off the box and building a little nest. I gave him some toilet paper to play with and he snagged it right out of my hands!  Though, I did notice some discharge (creamy looking stuff) coming out of his nose but this was after I gave him meds. Should I be worried? It wasn't there this morning so I'm not terribly worried. Just thought I would bring it up. 

Now, lets just say that Mew is not a morning rat. I get up at 6:30am to give him his meds and he's back to his sleepiness/lethargy/half open eyes. I'm hoping he is just tired. But I think he is not drinking water. I tried to give him some in a syringe (after I cleaned out the meds, of course) but, it kind of just shot out of his mouth. I know he got some down but i'm sure it wasn't enough. I have work until 5:00pm so trying to feed him water every couple of hours isn't going to work (I can do this on the weekend though). Any suggestions? I watered down some of his applesauce so maybe he can get some today. 

Thank again for all the help (and reading my terribly long posts)!


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

> Just keep up with the antibiotics and wait. Make sure he's warm (no drafts).


My room seems to be at a nice temp all the time (about 75 degrees) but when I get home from work, I put on a heat lamp (one that I used for my snake until I discovered that Under Tank Heaters work much better for Ball Pythons) about a foot away from his cage (this thing gets pretty warm) and he seems to love it. When I turn it on, he hops ontop of his hide (which is closest to the heat lamp), snuggles up and goes to sleep. 



> do you want me to doublecheck your medication dosages?
> 
> I would need a guess on his weight unless you have a scale? and the concentration of your baytril and doxy (vibra) for eg. ?? mg/ml.


This was his weight when we went to the vet (on Wednesday) and the doses the doc gave me:

Weight: 79g
Baytril dose: 0.02
Vibra dose: 0.03

Edit: I give this dose twice a day (every 12 hours). The vet also told me to go for a whole 10 days (excluding the dose Mew received at the vet on Wednesday.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Do you have the mg/ml on the bottles themselves?

You can test for dehydration with the skin pinch test. You grasp and gently puu/twist a hunk of skin over their shoulders, let go and it should snap right back...if it tents or takes more than a couple of seconds to go back to normal you have dehydrated rat. Don't forget that he may be getting some of his fluids from food.

He sounds adorable and I think we need more pics to awww over. ;D


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

> Do you have the mg/ml on the bottles themselves?


LOL whoops! Forgot the most important part. I don't have the bottles in front of me but am almost 100% that it is ml. 

I will take some more pictures of him later on tonight when I do the towel trick. 

Also, that dehydration trick is really good to know!!! I will definitely be doing that when I get home today! That releaves some of the worry, thank you so much! ;D


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Hahaha...I'll explain a little better.

the mg is the concentration of the actual antibiotics, the ml is the fluid its mixed in.

For eg...if you saw 50 mg/ml on the baytril that would be 50 mg's of baytril would be in 1 ml of the solution.

I'll wait til you post those before doublechecking your doses.

The other issue is that 10 days is not long enough, 14 is much better and if they are really sick you would need 3 weeks.

Try mixing the meds into a small amount of applesauce and see if Mew eats it?


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

LOL, I'll just post when I have the bottles in front of me ;p

As for the length of dosage, on the 10th day, I was going to take him back to the vet for a little check up on his progress with the RI. I highly doubt I'm going to run out of the meds in 10 days but I don't really know when they expire either so I might just have to go in and get a second dose anyways if I have to continue for longer than 10 days. 

I will talk to my vet about the length of time that Mew is on the meds and see what he says when I see him again (probably next Friday or Saturday). I'm sure if he still sees signs of illness, he will recommend a longer period of dosing). 

The vet that I'm going to is All Creatures Care Cottage and they have got a lot of really good reviews from small pet owner and have over 30 years experience in dealing with small animals (and every kind of animal, actually).


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

I actually just got off the phone with my vet and basically, he said to just play it by ear. If Mew is feeling better by the fifth day, continue til the 10th day. If he is still showing signs on the 10th day, continue until the 14th and so on and so forth. I think, just to be safe, I will be going until the 14th day no matter what.


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

> Hope hes feeling better soon, did you contact the petstore you got him from yet?


Not yet...I've just been so busy trying to save little Mew I've put that on the back burner. I don't think they would really care one way or another to be quite honest though, especially since sick rats don't affect their product (the snakes). I really don't think they would give a.....can't resist....rat's a**. But I still will make a mention of it. It can't be good if rats start dying off and they start losing money...


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

a very general rule of thumb is that you medicate one week past when the last symptoms disappear or 2 weeks whichever is longer.  Otherwise you may have recurrences. My wee girl Pinta was medicated for 3 weeks, but she almost died.










she had these horrible gasping fits...


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

Well, he was actually a little worse than that (He would curl up and start gasping) and he also had a lot of congestion. I probably will wind up going the full 3 weeks though.....he isn't making any noises anymore which is a good sign I would assume. 

I looked on the bottle that there was no mg/ml reading on there ??? I also tried looking at the reciept I got and it didn't have it either.

That picture is about how big Mew is. How old was she in that pic?


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

BumblebeexSweat said:


> Well, he was actually a little worse than that (He would curl up and start gasping) and he also had a lot of congestion. I probably will wind up going the full 3 weeks though.....he isn't making any noises anymore which is a good sign I would assume.
> 
> I looked on the bottle that there was no mg/ml reading on there ??? I also tried looking at the reciept I got and it didn't have it either.
> 
> That picture is about how big Mew is. How old was she in that pic?


she was 5 weeks old, but looked more like a stunted 4 weeker. Her sister and brother were both bigger and healthier.

Baby Darwin held









Baby Pinta held









All the babies together


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

Well, doing a comparison with Darwin, I would venture to say that Mew is about 5 weeks. ;D LOL She does seem really tiney in those pictures!


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

The fact that Mew is responding well and fast to the antibiotics is a GREAT sign


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

I am very happy that he is responding so quickley to the medication but I still extremely worried about this dehydration....I really need this worry stage to be over with! :-\


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## nertnie (Jan 4, 2010)

Aww.. what an adorable little guy. Congrats on being a new ratty parent.  It sounds like you're doing everything you can. 

So great he's responding to the meds! Have you tried the ensure yet?


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## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

everything you're doing seems right, good luck.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

BumblebeexSweat said:


> I am very happy that he is responding so quickley to the medication but I still extremely worried about this dehydration....I really need this worry stage to be over with! :-\


OK try another trick, pinch the skin over his shoulders, then work your way down his back...sometimes the neck skin can fool ya, but the back snapping back is fine. If the skin stays tented longer than 2 seconds he is dehydrated. If its a sloooow return to normal he's dehydrated. If it takes less than 2 seconds (1 steamboat, 2 steamboat...don't rush it) then he's fine.

A dehydrated baby has dull eyes, a puffy staring coat, etc...they are wobbly and seem weak and unwell.

this baby was dehydrated and sick when she arrived









She was thirsty!
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/rattiluv/Tessa Jan 17 10/biterincage2feb7.jpg

Feeling much better the next day


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

Thanks for all the encouragement from everyone! ;D Im haven't tried the Ensure yet because it has calcium in it and I don't want it counteracting the meds I give him. Though it has been 2 hours since he has taken his meds, so I could give it a shot! 

I will do an update a little later on and let everyone know how he is doing and if he is dehydraed or not. Thanks again!!!


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

He's not dehydrated anymore!!!! ;D ;D ;D He's been eating watermelon and baby food and his pellets pretty regularly. 

I marked off his water bottle yesterday in the morning, woke up today and it was in the same place. He must be getting all the water he needs from the food that I'm giving him, I don't know. I took the bottle out and did notice that it was pretty hard to get a single drop out of it so I took a paint brush and pushed the spring back into the metal tip which made it A LOT easier to get the water out and put some peanut butter at the end of it to encourage him to lick it. We'll see how that goes.


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## Lea (May 15, 2009)

I bought a spring-loaded one that was too hard to get water out of, and did the same as you, pushed the spring back so it was putting less pressure on the ball. Now it leaks a little sometimes but they have no problem using it. 

Also, I keep two water bottles on the cage at all times just in case one malfunctions or runs out. I have a little dish under them to catch any leaks and they like to use that as a sink to get their hands wet and wash with.


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

> Also, I keep two water bottles on the cage at all times just in case one malfunctions or runs out. I have a little dish under them to catch any leaks and they like to use that as a sink to get their hands wet and wash with.


That's an awesome idea!! *Idea theif!!!*


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Great news!! How's his breathing?


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## BumblebeexSweat (Mar 10, 2010)

His breathing is spectacular!!! He only sneezes once in a blue moon and only makes really tiny "meeews" when he gets really excited about something (when he is smelling anything or when he is getting picked up). 

I have decided that I am going to go for the whole 3 weeks. Would this count as a quarantine period or would I have to start the quarantine after I have stopped giving him meds? I already got a little boy picked out and ready for pick up. Just waiting on the "quarantine cage" to be built.


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