# Sudden sneezing or hiccups?



## Jess20_KirkandReznor (Jul 13, 2006)

*I bought two young male rats, couldn't be more than a month old. They are very small. At least I have never started with rats this size. Anyway, I have only had them for about two weeks. I know the pet store isn't the best place in the world to get them necessarily, but they were the only two their size and they are cute, so I bought them anyway. As one could guess, they weren't very well socialized. Today, Kirk(my beige hooded) showed me that they weren't trying to bite me, they were trying to groom me. I let them groom me, and now I am wondering if that was a bad idea. 
You see, I thought it would be safer to sanitize my hands before playing with my rats, so as not to make them sick from germs. I have dogs and cats, and I just wanted to be safe. Well, the stuff I've been using is that Purell liquid, that no water stuff. 
I wouldn't have thought twice about it except that after Kirk started grooming my hand, well when I decided to leave them alone for a bit, I noticed Kirk started sneezing(sniffling? hiccuping?) or something. It's this little errf! sound, squeaky but not really. I don't know maybe I am over reacting. I'm just worried and I just wondered if anyone knew what it was.*


----------



## rattyloving (Jul 3, 2006)

It could just be sneezing, When they 'powersniff' (thats what I call it anyways lol) they tend to do a couple of sneezes once they stop, its just a ratty thing I think 

Hiccups are really fast jerking movments, its kinda strange/scary if you haven't seen it before. But they last for about a minute and there isn't usually any squeaking type noises. 

As for germs, everybody needs some germs, just washing your hands as normal is fine, unless your other pets are sick. However do not let your dog/cat lick them or share food dishes.


----------



## pinnacle (May 24, 2006)

sounds very scary. Stop using that soap stuff because it might have a slight toxin towards rats. I wash my hands with normal soap it seems to be fine so you should try using that. I think that the fact you wash off the soap makes it better for the rats near your hands. Be careful though about what you use to handle them. But just use normal soap I think that would be the trick.


----------



## Roddanagh (Dec 9, 2006)

Antibacterial soaps aren't terribly good for _you_, honestly. Most of the diseases they're said to protect from are actually VIRAL. What's more, they kill all bacteria on your skin, including the good bacteria, which can leave openings for disease-causing bacteria.

Normal, non-antibiotic soaps should be fine.


----------

