Porphyrin? Blood? Can we tell them apart?

[Fidget]

I was reading Tou_'s post about her Toby bleeding from the nose
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=8688&p=118640#p118640

Most likely porpyrin of course but Godmother's comment got me wondering

Porphyrin usually looks more rust than red (blood is usually bright red), but it is sometimes hard to tell them apart.

There never was a question for me in all these years & kids but obviously the situation could come up where I'm unsure.
and it made me wonder if there's any way we could tell them apart easily at home? I've never been in a position of needing to know - but what if?

- Are they chemically different? That's more a curiosity question as I don't have a chemistry kit anyway, but maybe someone with children does and could make it a project if they have the right chemicals to tell?

Main question - Are they really visually different enough that we could tell by putting some on -say- a piece of toilet paper or piece of glass or something and see a difference it how they look on that surface? I've never heard any discussion of this, maybe cause there's no way to tell the difference or it hasn't been of importance, but if there is I'd really like to know.

 

[Godmother]

I've been told (never tried it, though) that if you put hydrogen peroxide on blood it will fizz. So that's one reliable way to tell them apart if it's true. It probably wouldn't happen with porphyrin.... or would it? Somebody here must know this stuff!

 

[Shelley]

In terms of telling blood from porhyrin, for me, the major indication is location. Porphyrin is only secreted by glands on the face (eyes and nose). So going by that - if there is red liquid coming from anywhere else on the body it's most likely blood. Usually I can tell the difference between the two, but I can see at times how it could be challenging, especially if the confusion is coming from the face area. I remember reading that under an ultraviolet light porphyrin will appear fluerescent pinkish, and blood will not. Not entirely sure on this, as I've never tried. (Although now I'm very curious to try!)

This website has some more detailed information on the make-up of Porphyrin, which I found interesting. http://www.ratbehavior.org/porphyrin.htm

 

[jorats]

I can tell by colour. Blood will either be pink red (surface) or dark red (deep) but pophyrin is more of a brown red.
Nonetheless... if your rat is bleeding from the nose or mouth, there really is nothing you can do except find the source and apply pressure which is really hard on with nose and mouth. If it's porphyrin you need to find out the cause of your rats stress.

Blood will seep out, while generally porphyrin will secrete out. Basically blood will be a steady flow while porphyrin needs to be generated and then secreted, so it's not a steady flow.

 

[Godmother]

I had always thought that colour would be the clue, but I saw a post from someone here whose rat had bright red porph around the eye. I guess that in that case the location would be the giveaway. And of course, the fact that there was no seepage.

Our ratties never cease to give us challenges!

 

[joolzratbag]

The thing is, stale blood can be a brown colour - to me porphyrin is more of a red/purple colour rather than brown.

The method I use to tell them apart when unsure is to try to dab a bit up onto a piece of white tissue.

Porphyrin is really quite watery, and will stay exactly the same colour after it has dried on the tissue.

Blood will seem much thicker, and will oxidise as it dries - to a proper brown colour.

 

[lilratsy43]

My rat Rose got a scratched in her eye lid a while back. It was very easy to tell she was bleeding and it was not porphyrin, but it was very scary! Luckily it didn't take very long to stop and she's been fine ever since!!!