possible brown rash and diarrhoea?

[user 1922]

today my rats got their first bath as they were a little smelly, whilst waiting i noticed that one of my rats, Nippy, had brown marks down his side which i blamed on sleeping in his own poo and also that he has really bad diarrhoea :-(
George is just fine - these are my first rats and i've only had them about two weeks so I'm a little worried!

I went ahead with his bath and noticed that the brown marks were even more noticeable, could they be a rash or just natural skin pigmentation? - sorry for the potentially very silly question!
my rats dont have much fur hence you can see their skin

despite this what can i do about the diarrhoea?

he's happily playing with his cage-mate and eating fine so i suppose i cant be too worried!

 

[user 1922]

they are 2 months old by the way!

 

[jorats]

Do you have an idea when the diarrhea started? Rats will have soft poops when they are scared. Unsalted soda crackers seem to work like a charm for my guys when they have wet poops.
Is the colour on the skin or fur? I'm thinking it might be porphyrin staining. Any chance we can get a picture?

 

[user 1922]

Do you have an idea when the diarrhea started? Rats will have soft poops when they are scared. Unsalted soda crackers seem to work like a charm for my guys when they have wet poops.
Is the colour on the skin or fur? I'm thinking it might be porphyrin staining. Any chance we can get a picture?

Diarrhoea could have only started today, although as you said stress may be a factor... they are just getting their confidence and beginning to venture away from me exploring when they come out of their cage and i'm sure that's a little scary!
will try to get a picture in the morning, but the colour is definitely on the skin, I thought it was on the fur though until i got him wet...

 

[jorats]

Is that them in the picture? they look like double rexes. If so, then you can definitely see the skin pigment.
The bath could have brought on the diarrhea. Some rats are real anxious with water.

 

[user 1922]

yeah that is them, the diarrhoea was before the bath though so can't blame that!
am sure he is fine - he's acting completely normal - just was a bit of a shock earlier as it was very liquidy
havent seen any since though, will check again in the morning and update then

thanks for the help though

 

[Maple]

We need a bigger picture of the little ones. Us "old folk" have trouble seeing the small stuff.

 

[jorats]

If the poop is that liquidy, you really need to "fix" that. Diarrhea and dehydration can be a killer. So keep an eye on it and give the unsalted saltines a try.

 

[user 1922]

ok, well he's still acting fine, eating and drinking no problem... thought the diarrhoea had stopped too but just found some in the litter tray (although it is definitely firmer than yesterdays) so im off out to find some crackers!

 

[user 1922]

definitely seeming better today - flushed the system through with crackers and now have a hard boiled egg just to make sure!



yum!

thanks for the help

 

[mamarat]

You have 2 gorgeous double rexes. I don't think rats should have catnip though.

 

[jorats]

Oh they are so cute!!! I agree, get the cat nip out of there.

 

[user 1922]

Thank you :giggle:

and ok!
catnip gone - just incase