The importance of Quarantining rats
As detailed in other sections there are a number of issues that are transmissible between rats. This can range from viral and bacterial issues to parasites. There are also a number of issues that whilst highly transmissible are also endemic in the population. The ones you really need to take into account are those that could put your existing rats at risk. Rats are placed at risk in any situation where they are in contact with a substance that can carry the pathogens. What this is depends on the transmission route.
- Air Bourne droplets – this is the most common way viruses travel, particularly viral respiratory infections. Much like the human cold this is caused by tiny droplets from an infectious rat being carried on the air. This can then adhere to surfaces such as clothing or skin and some viruses can stay infectious in that form for up to 3 days. A rat then inhales the droplet and the virus is inside them. You can also pick up this kind of issue from anywhere with infected rats, ranging from your local pet shop, vets, rat show or even visiting a rat friend’s house, transmitting the droplets on your clothing etc., however this is a significantly lower risk than the same airspace.
- Physical / Close Contact – this is particularly true of parasites such as lice. The highest risk is direct contact between rats, so rats sharing the same cage. It can also be a common transmission route for bacterial or fungal infections such as staph or ringworm.
- Secondary Contact – this is where rats have contact with something in recent contact with an infected rat, for example a rat at a show being held by a judge who has just held an infected rat. This is another method of passing parasites across, but can also apply to droplets or skin infections in some cases. It can also apply to bedding / food etc stored unsafely, and is a route where for example parasites can be passed from wild rats to our pets.
- Faecal – Oral – This is where a rat eats another rats (or other infected animals) faeces or something the faeces has been in contact with. This is a typical transmission route for internal parasites and some forms of bacterial / viral infections.
- Bodily Fluids – This is a typical transmission route for sexually transmitted diseases such as genital myco. It can also transmit issues like rat bite fever via infected saliva in a bite wound.
When to Quarantine
Looking at this list of transmission routes and knowing some of the nasty issues that can at worst kill multiple rats in a group it can be tempting to never want to go to a pet shop, show or vets again. However as with anything in life its not that simple and nor should we over react. A friend’s rat group was once hit by bordetella, yet she’d had no contact with rats or dogs in the infectious time frame. Instead her local vet tracked it down to her taking regular walks in a local park where a number of dogs had seemingly picked up the infection, she must have picked it up and carried it in on her clothes or skin.
We can’t protect our rats from everything, and in fact if we tried to they would miss out on a lot of things that would potentially miss out on a lot of positive or helpful experiences. Take showing, this can really help socialise rats, and exposure to a certain amount of minor bugs can actually help build up the immune system to make it stronger. Then there’s the vet, when the rat needs treatment it needs it, avoiding it to protect the rat from the risk of picking something else up will only harm the rat. This is where a sensible risk assessment approach comes in combined with a period of quarantine (essentially keeping the rats away from other rats, but more on this later). This is particularly true when introducing new rats to your colony. There are some situations that are much higher risk than others. I will split them into 2 groups to help
High Risk
This is where there is a significant or high risk of the rats being exposed to something contagious, taking precautions is very important in these cases
Where there is a reasonable risk to the rats though often manageable with some minor precautions.
We can’t protect our rats from everything, and in fact if we tried to they would miss out on a lot of things that would potentially miss out on a lot of positive or helpful experiences. Take showing, this can really help socialise rats, and exposure to a certain amount of minor bugs can actually help build up the immune system to make it stronger. Then there’s the vet, when the rat needs treatment it needs it, avoiding it to protect the rat from the risk of picking something else up will only harm the rat. This is where a sensible risk assessment approach comes in combined with a period of quarantine (essentially keeping the rats away from other rats, but more on this later). This is particularly true when introducing new rats to your colony. There are some situations that are much higher risk than others. I will split them into 2 groups to help
High Risk
This is where there is a significant or high risk of the rats being exposed to something contagious, taking precautions is very important in these cases
- Bringing in pet shop rats to your group – these will have generally come from a rodent mill with large numbers of rats in poor conditions and also have the downside of lots of passing pet owning traffic at the pet shop.
- Taking in rescues from unknown sources to your group – as with pet shop rats these could have been exposed to a number of issues, particularly in situations where the person being rescued from has a large number of rats / animals kept in poor conditions (e.g. hoarding cases). This tends to apply more directly from the owner, or from a rescue with little experience of rats and multiple groups in where they may not be aware of the risks or symptoms of illness.
- Taking part in a rat social / meet / show where the rats are present but the attendees have not quarantined or taken any precautions before the event.
Where there is a reasonable risk to the rats though often manageable with some minor precautions.
- Bringing rats in from an experienced rescue
- Visiting the vets with your rats which is regularly attended by other rat owners (especially those sourcing there rats from pet shops / unknown sources