Dealing with a blind rat?

I got my Albino rat Appollo on Saturday but at the I was not aware that albinos were pretty much blind. I still love him to death obv but now that I know about his eye sight are there any tips for taking care of him? Like for example in time will he learn that it's me at his cage, or how to approach him without scarying him?|||All rats have poor eyesight and sensitivity to bright light regardless of the color. Albino rats have a lower vision acuity making them even more sensitive to light than pigmented rats. Also, it takes them longer to adjust to the dark than pigmented rats. The result is they have much poorer vision. They compensate for this with their hearing and they use their whiskers to navigate. For details on how rats see, both albinos and pigmented rats, please see the following link:





http://www.ratbehavior.org/RatVision.htm





The home page of the above link details all the senses of the rat. It also gives a good description of behavior. The link is as follows:





http://ratbehavior.org/rats.html





Your Appollo will learn it is you by your voice. Do not rely on scent, as albinos have an impaired sense of smell, unlike albino mice who can smell very well. Approach the cage quietly, as loud noises will startle him. Our Rat-a-ma-taz was not an albino, but she had red eyes. It took a couple of weeks for her to get used to us, but the more we spent time with her, the tamer she became.





All the best with your Appollo. We also just got a new one. Phoebe is such a sweetie, as I am sure your Appollo is, too.|||No rats have great eye sight - albinos are just more sensitive to the light. You should try to avoid too much/too bright lights as their eyes will be easily damaged which can lead to total blindness.


Provide shelter for him and you could cover the top of the cage and make sure that it isn't directly under the light.


Your rat will soon get to know when you're at the cage and will probably come running to the door as you approach. Try to avoid loud or sudden noises as they will stress and scare the rat. Let him sniff you before you pick him up.|||A few years ago i purchased an albino mouse and found out the next day that she was blind, and it wasnt sensitivity to light her eyes were completely whited out and i did take her to the vet so that they could confirm. A tip.. dont buy the wire cage for it because mine broke a leg because it couldnt see to get down once it climbed up the side and got it stuck. Mine never got scared of me tho, i always approached it slowly and made sure i talked to it so it would know i was there, and it didnt take very long for it to get used to my voice and i never had a problem with her biting me or getting scared.|||Rats use there sense of smell and their hearing before they use eyesight.


Rats are VERY nearsighted %26amp; and rat with Red or pink eyes is affected by this more.


if you approach him and he is swaying his head back and forth (left to right) then he is NOT blind.


just REALLY nearsighted.|||i have a red eyed rat and he is fine. if i call to him he sways his head and then runs over to me. he doesnt freak out when i pick him up or anything