As Halloween approaches get ready for the witches, broomsticks, black cats and rats to be out and about in the full force of fancy dress. You may notice that rats get a really rough deal; they’re often portrayed as the bad-guys in films and decorations. They do have one unusual trait that can be a little more ‘trick’ than ‘treat’, however!
Those of you that have owned rats may have noticed that they can occasionally get red or orange staining or crusting around their eyes and nose. This can give the appearance that they have been crying or sneezing blood – perhaps they are the scary little creatures we see in Halloween films? Or maybe there’s something else behind it…
The fancy name for this condition is actually ‘chromodacryorrhea’ or ‘red tears’ and is caused by a pigment in the normal tears of a rat. You may see an increase of a pink, red or orange liquid around the eyes or nose of your rat. This can give the appearance they have been sneezing or crying blood-tinged fluid. As the colour can vary in intensity, it can look severe and be quite concerning.
If it’s not blood, what is it?
Lots of mammals have third-eyelids (this is the pink bit you sometimes can see at the inner corner of cats/dogs eyes). Those with third-eyelids also possess an extra lacrimal gland (or tear gland) called the Harderian gland. In humans this gland is really small, and doesn’t really do anything. In rodents (including ratties!) this gland is larger and has an important function.
This gland secretes a mixture of lipids (oils/fats) and products called melatonin and porphyrin. These secretions function to lubricate the eye and third eyelid, produce pheromones (chemical messages) and help to protect the retina (back of the eye) from ultraviolet (UV) light.
It is these porphyrins, which are secreted by the gland, that are responsible for the red colouration given to the rat’s tears and are to blame for them “crying blood”.
Prophyrin facts:
- It is produced and stored within the gland itself.
- Production increases as a rat ages (until around 2 years of age), then decreases again after that age.
- It will fluoresce (glow!) under UV light and your vet can use this fact to differentiate between blood or porphyrin secretions.
Why is this important?
A very small amount of porphyrin staining around the eyes and nostrils can be normal; your rat should clean this by themselves during normal grooming. However, an increase can indicate an underlying health issue.
Remember that there are some situations where your rat may actually be sneezing blood or may have injured themselves, and if you are concerned you must speak to or visit your vet for a health check.
Reasons for an increase in production include:
- Environmental stressors = arguments between cage-mates, overcrowding, competition for food, household noise.
- Irritants = bedding materials, scented air-fresheners/candles in the home, strong cage disinfectants, smoking.
- Illness:
- Dental disease
- Respiratory disease = bacterial or viral infections
- Skin disease/tumours
- Other
- Eye issues = infection, trauma to the eye, blocked tear ducts
- Poor nutrition = lack of access to good food or poor appetite
- Dehydration
What do we do about it?
An increase or sudden production of red tears is a symptom of an underlying issue – this is important.
If your rat is not well then you must take him or her to a vet for a health check as soon as there are any signs of illness – I cannot stress this enough.
At a health check your vet will check the front teeth, listen to the heart, lungs and examine for any other issues; of course, this depends on how wriggly your rat is for the examination! Whether or not there are concerns raised at the health-check you need to review your management at home:
- Reduce stress in the household
- Ensure your rat’s housing is appropriately sized (for the number in there!)
- Provide enrichment (toys/climbing) to help reduce stress
- Check your bedding material; avoid scented or dusty materials
- Don’t smoke (or allow others to!) around your pets
- Ensure good quality food is available and that there’s enough for everyone to avoid competition.
- Provide fresh water (bowls and/or bottles), change this daily.
Remember, it’s not just hocus-pocus…
The sooner you start treatment for a condition or improve management at home then the better the chance of a positive outcome, and most importantly – the better your rat’s quality of life.
Discussion
My rat is 2-3 years old and her one eye was bleeding brown like blood but now it is in her another eye too please help me and let me know what should i do for her
Few week ago she was making unusual sounds too which wasn’t like chirping or something please help me out of this there isn’t any vet in contact to me 😭😭😭
OK, the brown blood-like material usually is a non-specific sign of stress – like a significant underlying illness. If it’s only one eye, that might indicate an eye injury or infection, but either way: she needs to be seen by a vet ASAP for diagnosis and treatment.
My rat is one year old he is a rex part dumbo and we just moved from Oregon to missouri he had no red eye crustys or nose crusty until everyone started settling in he’s eating and drinking and moving around perfectly fine a little moody nibbles on me every once in awhile but I think it’s just from the stress of the move but I still need to know if there’s anything else I can do at home to help he started sneezing the red stuff too a day ago I’m just really worried and hope that somebody could help there are no rat vets here so I’m just hoping really hard that maybe there’s something I personally can do
Petco if there is one in your area will have a vet that can check out your rat baby!
It’s difficult to say what the issues are – I’m not sure what the situation is in the US, but here in the UK every vet practice would be expected to have someone willing and able to do basic health checks on a pet rat, to rule out obvious underlying disease: the worry is that he’s picked up a local bug (and rats are prone to respiratory issues) and that’s causing the issues.
Hello, my pet rat has these crusts and we thought they were normal eye crusts. Chromodacryorrhea is quite possible, but we once wiped it with some tea (cold) and it reformed. When the red eye crusts form, they look moist and are drippy like normal blood. Is it possible that it is actual blood?
t is possible, if there’s severe trauma to the skin or conjunctiva (membrane lining the eye socket), but it’s pretty rare. If there’s no obvious cause, though, I’d suggest a vet check, as the stressor might be biological rather than behavioural.
My rat has the red crusties in his right eye and nose, and a little in his ear. eating and drinking fine, still active. but it being in his ear concerns me. They had bugs i can only assume to be fleas a little bit ago and i got rid of them, is that cause to believe he has some sort of infection?
It’s quite possible, but difficult to prove without a full physical exam – I’d suggest a vet check though as the red pigmentation can also indicate significant physical stress, which could be a sign of an underlying issue.
There is a slightly more red than the eye color ring around the left eye, its a little puffy, shes eating an drinking but shes not as active as my other three rats
If the eye seems puffy, it’s more likely to be an injury than a stress sign: vet time, I’m afraid!
My rats eyes and nose is bleeding
Take a look at the discussion above about the causes; then make an appointment to get them checked over by your vet.
My rat I have just got off someone well he wasn’t well and I didn’t no that he keeps falling backwards but trying to walk can anyone help he is eating and drinking fine
Rats can go downhill really fast, can’t they? There are lots of possible reasons for difficulty balancing, and so I’d strongly advise getting him checked over by your vet, or a vet with a particular interest in rodents.
My daughters one year rat started bleeding from its bottom on Friday last week. We took it to our usual vet who said she had never come across this before and prescribed baytril in case it was caused by an infection. She is still bleeding and has an appointment to go back but we’ve been trying to find more information about what the problem might be but can’t find anything. At the moment the rat is still fairly lively and still eating but although I don’t want her to deteriorate she is still only young so it would be better if the problem could be identified.
Has any one had this problem before and if so what was the cause?
Thanks
The immediate concern would be a tumour in the rectal mucosa – tumours are quite common in rats from this age on. I think it’s definitely worth going back, and potentially seeing if there’s a vet in the practice with a particular interest in exotics who would be able to give a second opinion.
My rat is getting very old and has red crusts around her eyes that she’s definitely not happy about.’I don’t know whether to take her to the vet or not?
It suggests she’s pretty stressed or sick – I’d advise a vet visit to see if there’s any simple medical issues that can be treated.
I have one large albino, rat and one hairless, medium, albino, dumbo rat and ll of a sudden one day he had ALOT of crusty red color under one eye! it really worried me! this has never happened to me before!! I think they do not have enough space or toys bt luckily they are getting a new MUCh bigger cage… but still any advice??
Stress is a common cause, so good idea to address that. Other common triggers can be underlying disease, especially respiratory infections – are either of them showing any other symptoms? If so, definitely call your vet for advice, rats can go downhill really fast.
So I have to rats they have a huge three story cage and cent and dust free bedding and many toys but one of my rats sneezes a lot aswell as blood colour on her nose and eyes she’s had this for a while what do I do ?
She may well have a respiratory infection – rats are prone to them. The blood colour on her nose is likely to be due to the stress of being ill. I think a vet check or at least vet advice is the best way forward.
Yes we had 2 rats Tom and Jerry we had to put Tom to sleep because he had 2 lumps in his puku jerry has had 2 of his teeth cut down then we had to take himy back to a tooth pulled out he has been bleeding round his eye for awhile now should take back to the vet
It would be a good idea to rule out any medical problems, yes – he may have developed complications after the dental procedure, for example.