Hairless/Semi-Hairless and Eye Porphyrin

[Vanessa]

Do people find that hairless and semi-hairless rats have a higher instance of porphyrin staining around their eyes?
I know that their eyes can get more irritated due to lack of protection and curly eyelashes, but I am noticing that my new group of boys have a constant look of pink around the eyes. Or am I seeing a pinker skin that I am not used to seeing with furred rats and mistaking the pink of the skin for staining?
Nothing at all is wrong with any of them, they show no symptoms or stress or illness, it is just this look of being hungover that they always have and I wanted to know if I should be concerned.
I thought I would add a video I took of them this evening. I went video crazy on the rats today which I haven't done in a long time. Sorry for the quality, it is very dark no matter how many lights I turn on. Plus, it is so difficult to corral them at the door of the cage, but it is the only way to get all four (or most of them) in the shot. It makes it even more difficult when they are chewing on the camera and licking me to death.
These four boys are just the epitome of adorable and loving rats! They did a bang up job at Hamilton SPCA in making sure that they were sociable.


That little Jack has to always be the center of attention.

 

[Bati]

Most of my hairless have no eye-problems, but a few have very very bad eyes and it always starts with more red porfyrin.

 

[lilspaz68]

Hmmm...I haven't really noticed porphyrin with my old girls (28 months), but you keep thinking its there. I find that Lisbet keeps her eyes a bit squinted at times, and Bella's eyes are wide open and clear.
Lisbet is in the front

Bella has big clear eyes, but yeah you see that pink and you're constantly making sure. :doh:

I would keep an eye on the one pink-eyed boy who seems to have a little. It may just be him but you never know. The others look great, happy and active, and boy do they love you!!

 

[jorats]

Well, from the video, they sure are happy rats.

They are completely nakid now? I could only see one of the rats with the red around the eyes, I would say it's probably due to being hairless and having less protection. You could apply polysporin eye/ear drops and see if it will help him clear up.

 

[mamarat]

when I had my 5 patchwork boys, two always had porphyrin around the eyes, the beige and the blue one. The 3 blacks never did.
Your babies sure seem happy in that video.

 

[ratamataz]

One of my hairless only has eye porphyrin when he is sick.

My other hairless, however, can have lots of eye porphyrin and be completely healthy. (I took him to the vet because of his eye porphyrin and he was perfectly fine.)
I find that very frusterating, because I think that's how Oliver got so sick on me all of a sudden. He doesn't sneeze and I just couldn't tell that he was sick, especially because his eye porphyrin is often gone for a few days, then back. That's how it's been his whole life and he's always, oddly, been the healtheir of my two hairless. (Until now, of course)