How can I tell if my rat is blind?

[Sami]

I got my rats (Emma and Dill) late October of 2008. They were born Sept. 6 so they're about 5 months old. Emma is a fawn rex Dumbo with pink eyes. I'm worried that she might be blind because she is very unresponsive with sight. I can have my hand right in front of her and she won't move until I actually touch her, as it frightens her. Also, she moves a lot slower than my other rat, who has dark eyes. Emma also does that vision-focusey thing where she stops all the sudden and moves her head back and forth- I guess to readjust her vision.
Are there any surefire ways to tell if Emma is blind, or does she just have bad vision because of her really light eyes? I'm just curious.

Thanks!

 

[Moon]

Well, the thing is, rats have pretty crummy vision to start out with. And, it seems that PEWs in particular (and probably pink eyed rats in general) see even worse.

This is a great link about rat vision, and at the bottom of the page there's even videos to help simulate it for you!

http://www.ratbehavior.org/RatVision.htm

Keep in mind that she'll see even worse in extra bright and dim light.

 

[jorats]

Since they do have bad eye sight already, rats don't rely on eyesight for much of anything. They rely on smell and touch.

 

[Sami]

Oh I see. Of course it makes no difference to me either way, I love my girlies, I was just curious about it.