Baby rat making noise--Normal or not?

a6385u

I just bought a baby rat and I'm concerned about some noises he makes. He makes some noises when he breaths..like little squeaky noises...but they're only audible when he in sitting on my shoulder near my ear. Also, when he is in his cage, he makes a sound like a sneeze, but it doesn't happen when he is outside the cage. It isn't a constant noise, but does happen more than twice a day. I bought a pack of bedding at Weis that had "Rat" on the list of animals suitable for using the bedding, so I wonder if the bedding is the culprit if it is listed at a rat-compatible bedding. I am currently in a living arrangement in which 2 smokers live with me on the weekends. I had thought that the smoke had something to do with it, but he is still making the noise. Should I move the cage outside on the weekends as long as I keep it in the shade? He is in a glass cage now since he might fit through the wires on a wire cage, as instructed by the pet store. Is this noise normal or should I be concerned?
Also, will having a pet rat attract wild rats into the house? We had problems with rats earlier, and I wonder if we might have them again.
There is no drainage of the eyes or whatever else might drain when a rat is very sick. He is very lively when he is awake. I also want to feed him a good diet, but am having a hard time finding "rat" food. Is there some other rodent food I could use as a substitute, like hamster or guinnea pig food?

Answer
Normal rats do not make noise when they breathe, and usually don't make much noise at all unless they are in pain or play-fighting with another rat. It sounds like your rat has the beginnings of a respiratory infection. Nothing much to worry about at this point, but it can quickly get worse if things do not improve.

I don't know what kind of bedding you are talking about, but pine as well as cedar are not good for rats. Recycled paper products such as Carefresh and Yesterdays News are acceptable, as well as aspen wood.

Your glass cage may also be exacerbating things. The glass walls don't allow proper ventilation and urine odors can quickly build up and add to the irritation in the lungs. If he is only in there because he will fit through the bars of a wire cage, make sure you clean it every 2 days at least. No matter the size of the rat, they won't fit through the bars on a cage with 1/2" bar spacing.

The smoke could definitely be bothering him. Rats have very sensitive respiratory systems and anything like that in the air can set off an infection. Rats have a bacteria called mycoplasma pulmonis which is normally kept in check but when the rat is stressed by illness or other factors this bacteria can overgrow and cause a respiratory infection. At this stage your rat doesn't seem too dire, so a round of antibiotics will probably fix him right up. You'll have to take him to a vet for an exam to receive the proper drug and dosage.

Having him around won't attract wild rats, the only thing that does is having food accessible for them. If your food is up and out of the way and cannot be accessed easily you shouldn't get any wild rats coming in to the house.

There really is no substitute for rat food, I'm afraid. You'll want a good quality lab block where the first ingredient isn't corn and the protein content isn't too high. If you are in the United States, you can order several different good quality brands over the internet such as Harlan Teklad, Oxbow Regal Rat, and Mazuri (I don't have the links right now but if you do a google search you should be able to find them). I can't afford the shipping on Harlan myself but I buy a 25lb bag of Mazuri for $30 including shipping and it lasts me forever.

I hope that helps you, good luck with your rat!

Baby Cockatiel is constantly making noise?

Epitaph

I have this baby cockatiel that is about 2 months old and he (or she) keeps making this noise: http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=oi6p7c&s=3

what does this mean? I've only had it for less than a week. Also, they told me to feed it the baby food the previous owners kept feeding it, but it doesn't eat it, instead it goes for adult food but doesn't eat much of that anyway, it just starts eating these little pellet things we have in the bottom of the cage to keep the poop when it falls from smelling bad. Also, it doesn't drink water. How do i help this?
by baby food I mean this yellowish powder you mix with lukewarm water. I really don't know what its called.

Answer
Hi. It looks to me like your baby cockatiel wants to be fed. The bobbing and whining are typical begging behavior for a baby bird. Did you get him/her from a breeder? I think you need to contact the breeder/person you got it from. What else do you have to feed it other than 'baby food'. What is the baby food?



Sounds like what you have is baby bird formula. Formula needs to be warm but not hot. You really need a food thermometer to get the right temperature. You should do your own research on the right temperature as I am not a breeder or experienced hand feeder and I absolutely don't want to give you bad information. You can try spoon feeding. If you have not hand fed with a syringe before or been properly trained I don't recommend it as it can be tricky and if you do it wrong you can injure or even kill the baby bird. (formula can get in the baby birds lungs). That's why I say try to use a spoon. A baby bird usually won't touch cold formula. If it is too hot it can burn them. I would really recommend contacting whoever you got the bird from. Sometimes when baby birds are under stress they revert back to wanting to be hand fed. If you have formula then the baby probably still requires formula and the baby is in jeopardy if you aren't trained to feed it properly. Please call whoever you got the bird from and see if they will continue to hand feed or show you how to do it properly. Good Luck.

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