File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
the other day i a baby dumbo rat for my boyfriend from the store i work at. she's like, 6 weeks old and tiny as shit, and he loves her to bits. he named her orange.

anyway, she's sick and she's really wheezy, but we really don't want to go the vet just yet because she might just be stressed from the move and not be nearly as sick as we think she is. is there anything that /an/ can suggest we do to help her, i.e. home remedies? i've already put echinacea in her water, and it seemed to help a lot. pic not his rat, but looks almost the same.
>> Anonymous
>>312020
Something is wrong with your setup if your rats are dieing from infections. There's probably too much moisture or bad cage hygiene, or your breeder is doing a very poor job and raising sick rats.
>> Anonymous
>>312026
Seconded. I've worked with rats for three years and respiratory infections really aren't as common as you're suggesting they are.
>> Anonymous
>>311828
Take her to the vet.... you can get her some antibiotics to clear it up. If you feed her well and keep her cage clean, you can reduce the chances of her getting worse, at least for now. It won't cost too much, so just do it.

>>312020
All rats have Mycoplasmosis, which is what causes these respiratory problems. The key is to prevent flare ups. So if a rat is constantly getting respiratory infections, you either have a sickly, delicate rat that can't fight off infection, or you're not taking very good care of it. Most of them get it eventually, but that's when they're getting older... young healthy rats shouldn't have these problems.
>> Anonymous
If she does get better, get her a friend, rats do much better in pairs/groups.
>> Anonymous
>>312026
>>312041
>>312052

I meant the last part of 312052. As in, rats will commonly die from it. All my rats have lived long, healthy lives but that is how they die.

It was worded poorly, I guess.