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Pet Forum / Mammals / Rats / January 2008Spooked rats
Do anyone else's rats get spooked? I've seen it a couple of times with the boys I have at the moment, and a few times with the girls I had. It seems to be when they're frightened by something sudden they're not expecting. The other day, one of my boys jumped down from the top level and knocked the other when he came down. The rat that had got jolted went absolutely still, and when I put my fingers through the cage to touch his whiskers and his nose, which sometimes brings them round, it didn't rouse him. I tried pushing his head around, and all sorts, to try and wake him up, but he was completely out of it. So I opened the cage lid and he hurtled up my boyrfiend's arm and onto his shoulder like - well, like a scalded rat! I guess that it's a prey reaction - freezing to avoid detection by predators that spot their prey by their movements. I'd be interested to know if anyone's observed their rats doing this. Rosemary When we first introduced Buttons and Darla to Chewie, Chewie was mean to them. But Buttons so wanted to be her friend. She did a behavior we dubbed "slow rat".... moving very slowly when she was near Chewie. I don't know if that's in the same class or not. I haven't seen my rats do the specific behavior you describe, but that's very interesting. -Marlo > Do anyone else's rats get spooked? I've seen it a couple of times with the > boys I have at the moment, and a few times with the girls I had. It seems [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Rosemary >> Do anyone else's rats get spooked? I've seen it a couple of times >> with the boys I have at the moment, and a few times with the girls I [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > rats do the specific behavior you describe, but that's very > interesting. Maybe what Buttons was doing was a submissive thing. It would make sense to me that if I were a rat who was around a bigger, more aggressive rat, I would move very slowly and carefully so that I didn't surprise the dominant rat and provoke an attack, and to emphasise the point that I wasn't going to attack and acknowledged the other rat's superiority. Then again, I'm putting human interpretation on rat behaviour. Did Chewie eventually mellow to Buttons and Darla once the pecking order had been settled? Rosemary Hi Rosemary. Yes, Chewie finally settled down, but she was always cranky to some extent, and then would be lovey and friendly with them. I just think poor Chewie wasn't socialized right. We got her as a hand-me-down rat when she was about a year old and she had never been with other rats. Honestly, since she died, Darla and Buttons actually seem less stressed. Darla doesn't run 14 miles on the wheel every night. >>> Do anyone else's rats get spooked? I've seen it a couple of times >>> with the boys I have at the moment, and a few times with the girls I [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > > Rosemary <snip> >> Did Chewie eventually mellow to Buttons and Darla once the pecking >> order had been settled? > > Hi Rosemary. Yes, Chewie finally settled down, but she was always > cranky to some extent, and then would be lovey and friendly with them. I s'pose rat psychology is as complex as human psychology, eh? > I just think poor Chewie wasn't socialized right. We got her as a > hand-me-down rat when she was about a year old and she had never been > with other rats. Honestly, since she died, Darla and Buttons actually > seem less stressed. Darla doesn't run 14 miles on the wheel every > night. It's really difficult to tame a rat that hasn't been handled right from the start. Bing and Bong, my two shouldn't-really-have-bought-pets-from- that-shop girls, did settle down a lot and stopped biting, but they were always impossible to catch again if you took your eye off them for a second. Did Darla really used to run that much? I always thought it was hamsters that went squeak squeak squeak in the wheel all night :-) Rosemary I had a very silly thing happen yesterday! A friend was sitting on the floor and she looked up at Scoot and was just kinda stairing at him, and when he noticed she was he kinda freaded out. I thought it was super funny. Also, When she stuck her hand in the cage to pet Filbert he ran and stood infront of him, not to get attention, but to block him so that she couldnt hurt him. > I had a very silly thing happen yesterday! A friend was sitting on > the floor and she looked up at Scoot and was just kinda stairing at > him, and when he noticed she was he kinda freaded out. I thought it > was super funny. Also, When she stuck her hand in the cage to pet > Filbert he ran and stood infront of him, not to get attention, but to > block him so that she couldnt hurt him. There's a whooole lot more stuff going on inside those tiny skulls than we will ever know, I think :-) Rosemary > Did Darla really used to run that much? I always thought it was hamsters > that went squeak squeak squeak in the wheel all night :-) > > Rosemary Yes, she ran like crazy. She was an exercise freak. -Marlo > When we first introduced Buttons and Darla to Chewie, Chewie was mean to > them. But Buttons so wanted to be her friend. She did a behavior we > dubbed "slow rat".... moving very slowly when she was near Chewie. I > don't know if that's in the same class or not. I haven't seen my rats do > the specific behavior you describe, but that's very interesting. > -Marlo dogs do the same thing > Do anyone else's rats get spooked? I've seen it a couple of times with the > boys I have at the moment, and a few times with the girls I had. It seems [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Rosemary you're absolutely correct. some rat-predators, like snakes, are attracted to movement. unfortunately, snakes can smell good too so staying still doesn't always help the little guys. <snip> > some rat-predators, like snakes, are > attracted to movement. unfortunately, snakes can smell good too so > staying still doesn't always help the little guys. It can work to avoid detection by some birds of prey, I think, as long as they freeze before they've been seen. ISTR someone saying snakes smell by doing that tongue in and out thing they do. Rosemary |
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