Irritated Eye Lids on Rat

[Angelrattie]

My girl has had irritated eyelids for about a week now and I don't know what to do. She hasn't shown any signs of illness besides the obvious redness around the eyelid. Her behavior seems normal to me. Although she has been grooming herself around her head/eyes a bit more than usual.

I'm not sure how to handle this.

I've been told it could just be something is in her eye. (I did change their bedding type recently) And I can simply use saline and a damp cloth to help, but I don't know how to get her to hold still and let it go into her eye.

I was also told it could be conjunctivitis (pink eye) that can also be treated with drops, but I don't know which to use for that.

And lastly, I was told it could be an infection, which I hope it is not.

I don't know if I should take her to the vet or not. She hasn't gotten any worse, but it hasn't gotten too much better. I also am on a low budget this month. I don't know if I can afford the vet bill right now. They charge quite a bit for a rat exam where I live. It would be a shame to travel all the way to the vet and find out it's just some gunk, but if it's necessary than I will do it. I just wanted some opinions from people other than myself.

These are from a week ago. The porphyrin has gone away, so it's not as gross looking. The picture below is from today taken by my dad. The one I'm concerned for is the white one.

H

 

[lilspaz68]

The first thing to do is flush the eyes with regular lubricating eye drops to help with any possible irritants. A little bit of porphryin can be for lots of reasons, and unless its paired with congested or crackly breathing, sneezing, acting lethargic or ill, don't worry too much. How old is she? She might just be lazy with her morning clean up where they groom off all the porphyrin that accumulated as they slept.