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One of my male rats has some blood around his nose, any insight on this2007-11-24 22:13:20

he was making some strange noises this morning - not chattering, but more like soft squeeks. this afternoon i noticed that around his nose has a bit of dried blood, just a little, but all around his nose. he's only about a year and a half old.

any idea what the problem could be?

thanks in advance

Answers:

What you are seeing is porphyrin, not blood.

Porphyrine or red tears in rats:

http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=po...

A little porphyrin is not terribly worrisome, just means an eye irritation due to the bedding (allergy), cigarette smoke, cleaners, perfume etc. But too much porphyrin indicates stress and illness. Accompanied by the odd noises that some describe as squeaking, or grunting piggy noises, sends up a red flag of a Myco flare-up.

Mycoplasmosis in rats:

http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=my...

I would suggest that you get your little guy to the vet for a diagnosis and treatment with antibiotics.

For more info e-mail me at spazrats@yahoo.ca

spazrats

"my life has gone to the rats"

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It could very well just be dried mucus from a runny nose or respiratory infection. My rat gets dried redness on her nose occasionally too but it clears up quickly on its own. If he's acting normal, easting fine, he should be alright, but if you're really concerned a visit to your vet can't hurt.

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I would ring your vet, it wont cost anything to ask them some advice over the phone and see what they think, good luck i hope your ratty is ok

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i'm no expert on this, but it COULD be this respitory disease that is very common in rats (the #1 health problem in rats is actualy respitory problems in general). the reason that its so common is because they all have this bacteria in their lungs that i think helps them in some way but i'm not sure, but when their immune system is lower than usual, they can get sick from it. things that lower their immune system includes age and stress, and a year and a half old rat can be considered aging for many rats.