I am a first time rat owner and adopted my rats from the pets at home rescue centre last week at 6 months old. Pets at home told us they had a respiratory infection that was treated by the vet and are healthy but will always be sneezing. They sneeze less in their new home however are still very sneezy. I understand that pet store rats are usually predisposed to respiratory issues and usually don't live as long as well bred rats but should I get them checked by a vet? Is the infection really gone if they are still sneezing so regularly? They also get build up of what I believe is porphyrin around their nose. They have care fresh bedding at the moment and are chunky, hungry boys. Other than the sneezing, they appear healthy, happy and very friendly.

For some background, I had two rats (Remy and Mario) with chronic respiratory issues. I’ve on and off have given them doxy/bay combo. The last infection killed Remy unexpectedly. He was open mouth breathing one day. Put him on the combo antibiotics and prednisone as prescribed by doctor, and he seemed to be getting better until one day he just gave out. Mario currently has a little cold (not nearly as bad). He is on the antibiotics as well. It’s been a week and his symptoms don’t seem that different. Should I put him on steroid as well to just help get this infection out of the way? I know I can go to the vet and ask but I’ve spent so much money I’m just wondering if anyone has any advice here since I already have the meds available. Thanks for your help :)

1. What's the normal amount of sneezing my rat should do? She occasionally sneezes here and there but sometimes it's constant sneezing for few seconds. My house is pretty dusty and I'm trying to clean when I can. Could it be dust/allergies/bedding? Or should I be worried? Because like...it sounds kinda sus?

2. Can I use cardboard to build houses/structures for them? Is it safe?

3. When they play with each other they squeak? The small one does a bit. Is the bigger one just playing too rough? (They're normally okay with each other)

4. it too bad that I do have a relatively small cage right now? I'm planning on expanding eventually to a much bigger and more suitable cage but right now with a roommate I don't have much space for it. I try and let them free roam whenever I get the chance. They're still too shy tho. One doesn't like being touched or leave her house. Is there anything I can do to improve their quality of life in the meantime?

(I do google these questions but sometimes it's just better to ask the community. That's why I made this post)

Thought I’d share here because surely my boys aren’t the only ones who seem to think dinner in their litter tray is fine dining.

Can my rats get as much pleasure/nutrients out of frozen veg as they can fresh? Obviously I try to give them fresh as often as possible, but my local grocers has started selling fresh veg only in larger packs than before and I don't want to throw away good food because I can't eat it quickly enough!

As a kid i loved to collect coins from foreign countries when i was on holiday with my parents. Now i have a bunch of coins without any purpose. I was thinking to boil them to disinfect them. Would that be for my rats to explore? I have so mainy pieces i could make a small foraging box for them?

just wanted to show you all my precious little girls…. <<<333

angel is still mourning the loss of her sister but pepper is taking good care of her. i got this photo of these two and i can’t stop looking at it. i love these creatures so much ♥️

One time we got an adult rat that the previous owner had isolated for some dumbass reason and it bit both of our other rats feet to the point of bleeding, so they were both beefing with him, 80s cartel style, so i just started playing Parachutes by Coldplay on my phone and left my phone on the floor so they would leave him alone. Unfortunately we still had to get rid of him, but it kept them distracted for a while, both just laying on my phone.

I have had my girl Peach for almost 2 years. She had a cage mate Boo who I got at the same time, who sadly had to be euthanised, so Peach is alone. I got 2 new girls yesterday, they're currently in a separate cage. At what point can I introduce the two new girls? They'll be supervised initially of course. Thanks!

Kinda thinkin about getting a 3rd lil guy for my 2 boys, I think they're almost 3 months old so I don't know if they'll be territorially aggressive. Would this be a bad idea?

Hey everyone I have had 2 rats for about 11 months so far. I absolutely love them but anyway one of them seems to have ate food way too fast and now is choking. Before acting on it I looked it up and I'm glad I didn't try to help it because it seems like that's not a good thing and you should let it be as long as it's breathing. It started happening while they were out of the cage playing. It's been going on for about 30 mins now and I am just leaving her be. She seems to be breathing. Is there anything else I can do?

i introduced my pet rats to eachother and they fought :( idk what to do now cuz i feel like i cant keep them together and i dont wanna rehome any of them just yet so what do i do???

i have bought 10 mg ivermectin tablet for my rats ...can anyone please help with the dosage , they are 4 and 6 months old and around 400 to 500 grams