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My Siamese rat keeps chirping, hiccuping, and sneezing. Is it normal?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Other | Unknown - Other | Male | unneutered | 270 lbs

One of my rats (a 3.5 month Siamese) keeps having sneezing jags. It sounds like he's chirping/hiccuping. He does this 3-4 times a day for about 10 secs. I've already taken him to the vet for a round of antibiotic injections then later on he went onto Zithromax. He keeps chirping but there are no other signs of mycoplasma. Other people have told me that their Siamese rats do it too. Is my rat just vocal or is there something wrong?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Megan, DVM, CVA

Answered By Megan, DVM, CVA

Veterinarian

Published on September 30th, 2017

If he is eating, drinking and acting normal and he doesn't have any eye or nasal discharge then I wouldn't be concerned. I would also weigh him weekly on a gram scale to ensure he isn't loosing weight. This could be a normal sound for him. I would also make sure you aren't using an wood/cedar chips for a substrate as some are allergic to this. Care flesh or a cotton like material is the best substrate for their cages. If you continue to worry about it or anything with his behavior changes I would try to get the noise on video and let your vet listen to it. I think the next step would be for your vet to take some check X-rays if it gets worse. I hope this helps.
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