Ratty Language and Behavior All animals have a language which they use to communicate with each other. Some is verbal. Some is physical. Learning what your rats are trying to say to you is a very important part to understanding them better. The following is descriptions of some of the rat's more common behaviors and vocalizations organized by category. Signs of Joy... Bruxing When rats are feeling content, they will often grind their teeth together. This is kind of like a rat's version of purring. Eye Boggling Sometimes rats will brux so hard that their eyes will start to bulge in and out. A true sign of a happy rat. A Quick, Swishing Tail Rats will wag and wiggle their tail back in forth sometimes during play fights with other rats. A sign of excitement. (Can also be a sign of anger in a more serious confrontation.) Hopping As rats play and become excited, they will some times hop straight up in the air, bounce around, and run back and forth. Peeping This is a soft little peeping noise which rats will make, most commonly while they are being groomed. Play Fighting Rats love to play, and play fighting is their favorite kind of fun!     Rats wrestle frequently. Signs of Fear/Pain... A Medium Length, Loud, High Pitched, Squeak This can be a noise of fright or pain. If you hear this noise, it is a good idea to check and see what happened. They could have just been startled, but they may have also gotten injured. A Long, Very Loud, High Pitched, Panicked Sounding Shriek This is a definite noise of pain and sounds very much like a scream. If you hear this noise, your rat is most likely caught up in something, or being violently attacked by another rat. Check on them immediately! Pinched in Sides This is where your rat looks like somebody is pinching in their sides. Back where their belly is, the sides will appear caved in and the hip bone will be prominently displayed. This is a sure sign that your rat is in pain. Our girl Ivy displayed these symptoms after she suffered from a heart attack. Take your rat to the vet if you witness this. Puffed Out Hair When rats are feeling sick they will sometimes puff out their hair. Here, Ivy is lethargic and her hair is puffed out. A sure sign that something is wrong. Freezing This is when your rat freezes into an absolute statue. They do this when they are frightened by something they see, or smell, but aren't quite sure what to make of it yet. Signs of Annoyance... A Longer, Whinny, Lower Pitched Squeak This is a noise of annoyance or displeasure. You will often hear this when one rat tries to steal food from another rat or sometimes when a rat is being force groomed. A Somewhat Quick, Solid, Lower Pitched, Sharp Squeak This can be a noise of serious annoyance. If your rat does this while you are handling them it is a good indicator that they don't like what you're doing to them. Phantom Bites While handling your rat, if you are pushing them past their limits of tolerance, and ignore their squeaks of displeasure, they might start lunging at your hand with their teeth. They are only biting at the air, but it is a definite warning sign to stop what ever it is you're trying to do and let them go. Shoving Just as a person would shove another person away, rats will shove other rats away. This is simply a sign that they want whoever it is who is bothering them to go away. Rats frequently do this to each other and they will even try to do this to you. Signs of Anger... Note: These are all signs that your rat is about to get into a serious fight that could lead to injury. You will usually only see these behaviors when trying to introduce new rats into your existing colony. If you see your rat displaying any one of these behaviors to the new rat, quickly throw a towel over them and remove the new rat. This means that you will have to move back one step in the introduction process. Teeth Chattering A chattering noise rats will make with their teeth when they are very angry. It's louder and more intense than bruxing. Hissing Rats will hiss when they are angry and ready to attack. A Slapping Tail This is a warning sign of anger, or annoyance. (Rats will also wiggle their tails sometimes when excited or play fighting.) Bearing Teeth This is when a rat will pull their mouth back to completely reveal their bottom teeth. This is a sign of extreme anger and is often proceeded by a lunge and a bite. Hair Standing on End Rats will puff their hair out when they are angry and ready to attack. Tabu is on top of a strange rat's cage and puffs her fur out in anger. Arched Back Rats will arch their back to appear as large as they possibly can to an opponent. When combined with their hair standing on end, it is a sure sign of anger. Tabu puts on a very angry display by arching her back and puffing out her hair. Fighting Actual fighting is very different from play fighting. It is much more explosive as two rats, shrieking, wrap into a tight ball and roll around biting each other in a very frantic way. A true fight is very dangerous and usually results in wounds or even sometimes death. Dominance Behavior... Note: These are all common behaviors which you will witness in the everyday life of your rat colony. Rats are constantly testing each other to establish dominance. You will especially see all these behaviors displayed when you introduce a new rat to your colony. This is normal and nothing to be worried about as long as they are not combined with any of the angry behaviors above. Crawling Under This is where one rat will crawl underneath another rat and freeze there perfectly still for a short time. Uno crawls under Minka to show her submission. Crawling Over This is where one rat will crawl over another rat, usually urine marking them as they go. Standing Over To show dominance one rat will stand very still over another rat. Very similar to "Sizing Up". Here Peanut tries to assert her dominance over Beaker. Rolling Over Rats will sometimes roll over on their backs and display their bellies when being picked on by another rat. This helps protect the nap of their neck and flank which is the most targeted area for biting and nipping. Sizing Up This is when two rats face each other off. They will both stand still as statues intensely staring at each other. The closer they are, the more intense it is. Sometimes one or both rats will have one or both front paws off the ground. This is usually a lead into boxing or wrestling. It's a showdown between Peanut and Beaker. Sidleing This is were a rat will arch their back and sidle up, or walk sideways up to an opponent, often times pressing right against them. Minka sidles up to Uno to show her dominance. Kicking During dominance fights and play fights, rats will kick out at each other with their back legs, sometimes even grabbing at their opponent with the back leg in an attempt to flip them over for a pin. Boxing This is a defensive move to keep a rat from getting at their rump or nape of neck. Both rats will stand on their hind legs and push and paw at each other. Minka and Seuss square off. Wrestling When rats wrestle, it looks and sounds much more violent then it really is. Rats wrestle sometimes to establish dominance over one another, and sometimes just to have fun.     Rats often pin each other while wrestling. A Series of High and Low Pitched Squeaks When rats are wrestling they can be very vocal about it by letting out a string of various sounding squeaks. Pinning The goal of dominance fighting and play fighting is to pin the opponent to the ground and hover over them. Force Grooming Rats which have been pinned to the floor often then get power groomed by their opponent. This is where a rat forcefully nibbles at the skin of another rat.     You can see here how Puka pins Baku to     the floor so that she can start grooming her. Mock Humping Rats of the same sex will sometimes mount each other as a sign of dominance Seuss tries to show her dominance over Uno. Marking Behavior... Note: Males mark more frequently then females. Rubbing Their Body Along Objects To claim objects as theirs, rats will sometimes rub the side of their body along an object. Rubbing Palms on Objects Another way a rat will claim an object and mark their territory is to rub their palms on an object. Urine Marking This is the traditional way rats mark things. Rats like to smell their own smell to be comfortable in their environment, and will also leave drops of urine behind as a calling card for other rats. Signs of Sexual Arousal... Female in Heat Female rats will go into heat about every 4 days. When a female rat is in heat, her vagina will become swollen and turn a redish-purple. When this happens, it means that a female rat is ready and excepting to mate with a male. It is easy to tell when our hairless girl Peanut is in heat. Mating Dance When females are in heat and trying to entice males to mount them, they will do a little dance were they run to and from the male, displaying postures and wiggling their ears. Ear Wiggling When females are in heat and doing the mating dance, they will often wiggle their ears rapidly as a sign that they are aroused and ready to mate. Female Mating Posture The female posture for mating is kind of like a reverse arch. The rat's head is arched upward, along with their hind end, and their middle is touching the ground. Their tail is moved to the side. Sometimes when you are handling a female rat who is in heat, you can accidentally trigger them to go into this posture. Miscellaneous... Butt Sniffing Just like dogs, when rats great each other, they will sniff each other's butts. Minka receives a lot of information about Uno by sniffing her butt. Grooming Rats are constantly grooming themselves to keep themselves clean. Rats also like to groom their fellow rats. This helps them socially bond with one another. Some rats will even like to groom you! Rats groom by nibbling and licking at the skin. Minka intensely works on grooming Beaker. Barbering Rats will sometimes groom so obsessively that they will nibble their fur right off leaving behind bald spots. Rats can barber themselves and sometimes other cage mates. This can be a sign of boredom, or in some cases mites, and sometimes nursing moms will barber their bellies. Uno's bum was barbered. Barbering on the arm is usually self inflicted. Sniffing Rats constantly sniff at the air to get a clearer picture of what's in their environment. Different odors can indicate to them different things, such as danger, or that there is food in the area, or that an intruder has invaded their territory. To get a really good sniff of the air, a rat will stand up on their hind legs and stretch their nose out as far as they can reach it. Bounding Rats have the normal gaits of movement you see in most animals - walking, trotting, and galloping - but rats can also "bound". This is a very cute and joyful movement in which a rat hops along like a rabbit to reach their destination. Rats will usually only bound if they feel very safe in their environment. Pulling Some rats will use their mouth to grab on to another rat and they will try to pull that rat with their teeth. We've seen some of our rats do this, but we have no idea what it means. Maybe an attempt to entice a cagemate to play, or a motherly instinct to bring babies back to the nest? Stashing Rats love to stash food and they do so when ever they get a chance to. This is where they take a bit of food and hide it somewhere to save for later consumption. Many rats will develop favorite stashing spots and always hide their food in the same spot. Rats never like to leave any food laying out. They will either eat it or stash it. Head Swaying Rats with poor vision, especially pink eyed rats, will sway their heads back and forth in an attempt to focus in on an object to better see what it is. Nest Building Both female and male rats love to build nests in their sleeping dens using any material they can find. Stealing Rats are natural born thieves. They love to steal things when ever they get a chance. Especially food. Rats are constantly stealing food from each other which is why a rat will run and hide when they are given a piece of food to eat. Helicopter Tail If you're not supporting your rat well enough while picking them up or setting them down, they will swing their tail around like a helicopter trying to find balance. You need to be supporting them better if you see this.