Rat problem

[Sugarised]

Apologies for the re-post but i was told this is the place for other pets.

I gave my rats a bath today, they don't like water, but i made it as stress free as possible. Frightened, my rat dexter ran to my neck panting. Thinking it was fear i calmed him down and dried him off. But he's not moved in his cage much, and is shaking (almost like parkinsons -i don't wish to cause offense using this as a descriptive term, but it is accurate for his movements). He sounds like he is bruxing, but when i listen to him it appears its his heart rate. Its just not slowed at all. And its hours later. His cage mate isn't acting any differently around him, and he is moving when i greet him at the cage, but i'm obviously concerned due to the lngth of time of his high heart rate. Any ideas? Obviously going to contact the vet tomorrow, but wondering if anyone knew anything for in the meantime! thank you

 

[Jenn]

a moderator will move this to the right section, so no worries!

I'm sorry I don't have an answer for you and I don't want to mistakingly give you bad advice. All I can say, until someone knowledgeable sees this, is to keep a close eye on him, and definitely take him to the vet if he doesn't improve or gets worse. I hope he is ok. Please keep us posted.

 

[Christina Noraas]

I think Peggy (Tunes) has rats, you could try shooting her a message, idk when she'll be on next though.

 

[Riven]

Is it possible he got too hot? Was the water pretty warm? If the water was warm and he was stressed it may have been similar to a heat stroke. Also if the water wasn't necessarily warm to you but if the house is cool and the water was fairly warm it might have been that his body couldn't adjust quick enough. I would try to keep him comfortable and try to get him to drink if possible ( or offer foods with high water content ) to keep him hydrated.

Is it possible that he got water in his lungs during the bath and it is making the noise you hear? I know rats are normally good swimmers but things happen. I'm just kind of grasping for ideas here.

If it is in fact his heart rate I would do whatever you can to keep him calm, maybe play some soothing music and keep their area otherwise quiet and dim, if it's comforting to him you might want to hold him and pet him ( not sure how friendly he is, one of ours is super friendly the other is stand offish).

I'm sorry I don't know much more about rats, luckily we've not had any issues with ours, I would think maybe heat stroke type issues if the water was warm, plus the stressing, the panting would indicate either of those.

Also does he feel warm or cold to you? If he feels warm I'd try to offer him something cool to sit on if he desires, if he feels cold offer him a snuggle sack or blanket possibly. Animals are pretty good at knowing if they need to warm themselves up or cool off.

I'm sorry I don't have much of an answer though...

 

[menagerie]

How old is he? Was he having any respiratory issues before the bath? Was he acting off at all? Does he feel warm or cool to the touch?

It could be a respiratory problem, heart related or could even be a stroke. The bruxing is more likely to be stress or pain related rather than being a contented bruxing.