Coughing and sneezing

[angel_wings250]

Hello,

I am new to the rat world and don't know very much about them at all.
I do own and breed Dwarf Hamsters though.

Well to the point, I have just recently taken two male rats from a family that could no longer care for them and after a while I noticed that the two of them cough and sneeze a lot.
Is this normal for them?
Is it a cold or respiratory infection? If so is there anything that I can give them or put in their cages to help them breath?
I know for my hams you can crush fresh thyme and place in around their bed and anywhere else they spend a lot of time and the vapors act like menthol for them.

Please if there is anything that i can do for them (at home) please met me know.

 

[lilangel]

taken from yahoo answers:

It sounds like she has mycoplasmosis flareups. All domestic rats (except certain specially bred lab rats) have myco in their bodies. Myco attacks the immune system and in times of stress or when the immune system isn't strong enough, it allows a secondary opportunistic infection to get in. These can be URI's (upper respiratory infections), UTI's (urinary tract infections) and genital infections (infections in the womb, etc).

Your girl sounds like she has flare ups of URI (coughing and sneezing). The nose "bleeds" are actually porphyrin, a natural reddish fluid that rats emit from their eyes/nose. BUT excessive amounts indicate stress or an illness, in your case it sounds like an illness rather than allergies. Be prepared for when she turns 18-24 months for her to get sick with some respiratory problem as this is when the immune system stops fighting as well as it used to.

I only do injections if a rat cannot wait for the oral antibiotics to get into the system, because they are too sick. See if you can find another vet who will give you oral meds like baytril and doxycycline instead.

-----
the only way to know is by going to the vet and for the meds is only given by the vet. but you can look up mycoplasmosis and see the symtoms also:
http://www.rmca.org/Articles/myco.htm

 

[jorats]

It could be new home sneezes or it could be what lilangel posted, a myco flare up. The best thing to do would be to bring them to a vet and get them thoroughly checked out. Rats can become sick quite fast and will need antibiotics to completely recover.

 

[user 78]

Coughing isn't all that common of a thing for New Home Sneezes. You said "after a while," but how long has it been? If they've been showing these symptoms for longer than 2-3 days, they really should see a vet for antibiotics. Baytril is the med of choice, given for no less than 2 weeks.

Herbal or home remedies won't cure an infection. Rats also have very delicate respiratory tracts, so strong scents can actually aggravate any issues they're having.

 

[angel_wings250]

It hasnt been that long, I got then friday night.
I am not hearing it to often now, but I still do sometimes.

So I am guessing it was just the drive here and the new environment and just all the stress of being moved around. I am just going to keep an eye and ear on them.

Thank you all so very much.