constant squeeking, signs of blindess?

[eriin]

hey guys i finally found a friend for my little girl, who isnt so little anymore. this is her
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=31192
and i dont have any pictures of the new girl yet. but she's a 6 week old tand hooded blazed something.. i dunno lol with a detached stripe on her back. so cute. she's got red eyes. one is darker than the other but not black. could that be a sign of blindness? because i've noticed she's hasnt been using her eyes alot. and it seems like she doesnt really know where she's going. or is that just because she's quite young and hasnt grown into her senses yet?
ALSO she seems to squeek constantly :S now doe you think it's because i took her away from her sisters and are now alone? no i dont plan to start intros for another couple of weeks because she's so tiny compared to my other girl. so i had her in a cage across the room. constant squeeking. so i moved her cage close to my original girl. she still squeek. even sometimes when she's out. but it's not a high pitched 'im in pain' squeek. it's more like the 'squeeky clean' sound. when your rubbing glass. i have no idea what this means because i've never had youngings before and my girl never made a sound her entire infant life.
is she just lonely? anyone have any thoughts?

 

[Joanne]

You had your other girl at six weeks as well. Does this new baby seem very different from her?
I have never had a rattie that squeaked all the time. Perhaps there is something wrong with her. How does she seem as far as eating and drinking and pooping?

 

[jorats]

Generally, rats really shouldn't make much noise except for the occasional squeaking. How does her breathing sound?

 

[eriin]

my original girl was outgoing and confident from the beginning. only hid in her hut for maybe a day and then would crawl right out of it onto my hand. never made a sound.
this new girl is quite opposite. she's very shy, hasnt come out out of her hut much although i hear her scrambling around at night. i've heard her eating and seen her drink a few times. and the snacks i leave her always disappear. her breathing sounds good, no straining or wheezing for what i can tell. her poop is a little slimy though... :S not runny, but slimy and smelly. i have started introducing the food i use to her though. i use oxbow. and the people i got her from gave me what she was previously eating which were giant lab blocks, i dont remember the brand.
she seems to squeek an awful lot though. even a few times when she was hiding under my arm during outside time. and she squeeks almost every time she cleans her face. ill try to put a video up tomorrow because she seems healthy to me. that might also helps with the possible blindness. because i have seem her do the head wave thing. i tried a few tests, and it's hard to tell. like waving my hand. she doesnt seem to notice it or any movements reallybut then it seems like she knows where she''s going sometimes and it's all in my head
and she absolutely dreads being picked up and when i put her down she seems to follow the ground with her nose. and follows the wall. she may just be looking for somewhere to hide.. i can't be sure... i did see her poppcorning around in her cage once and saw her climb onto her hammock for the first time today.

 

[hopefloats]

I know my scared girls do the crawling on the ground when they are scared. That is what the nose to the ground sounds like. I have had some girls that squeak a lot but generally only when being touched.

if she is swaying it isnt that she is blind I would assume she is either a pink or ruby eyed rat. All pews and beige are one or the other. They will almost all sway. They have worse eye sight than other rats who have bad eyesight to begin with. Following the wall is an instinct kinda like us walking on sidewalks instead of in the middle of traffic. The dont like to be out in the open where they can be prey, they feel safer following the wall and only having to watch one part from prey rather than watching all around. It is a safety measure with rats. My rats free range in their room but when they get scared they hug the walls.

 

[lilspaz68]

She sounds nervous, hence a lot of squeaking when handled but she's alone so she should not be squeaking on her own. So you have 2 baby girls in cages side by side? How old is your original girl?

The squeaking while grooming is NOT a good sign, a rat is silent when grooming, so I think we had better see that video ASAP.

 

[eriin]

they're not quite side by side a few feet apart. she likes to lay on her hammock and watch the new baby scavenge around. she does have the red red eyes. one is more of a ruby color and the other more pink. hence one is darker than the other or vice versa. but i'll try to get a video up today