# My rat has moved all her bedding



## Bluebird87 (Jun 25, 2020)

First time rat owner, I had 2 girl rats. One passed away about a month ago. The remaining rat is more dominant and seemed to have taken this in her stride. There was no noticeable change in behaviours and she has continued to groom herself, eat, move about her cage and be handled quite happily. I asked advice and was told given her age and the fact she seems fine it would be best not to try and introduce new rats.

My rats picked their sleeping spot in the back bottom corner of the cage when they first arrived and it has stayed the same ever since. Then this morning I noticed that my rat had moved all her bedding across the cage to a spot right under her water bottle. Should I be concerned at this sudden change? Is it a sign that she is unwell or lonely or am I just overreacting?


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## CorbinDallasMyMan (Feb 24, 2017)

I think it's strange that you were advised to make her be alone for the rest of her life. Do you not want to continue owning rats?


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## Bluebird87 (Jun 25, 2020)

Not to make her be alone, just not to force other rats on her if she's happy as she is. If she's lonely then absolutely I will get her some company. If that's going to cause her more stress then I will continue with just her for the time being. I do want to continue owning rats.


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## ratboytime (May 15, 2021)

I think we all know rats are usually really social but sometimes an older rat can genuinely be fine by themselves, especially if they get a lot of human attention. But I would say watch her and see if there are any other changes, right now there's really no way to tell why she moved her bedding around but it could be no big deal, maybe just rearranging and adjusting to having the cage to herself. I'd say you only need to get concerned if you notice a pattern of behavior changes or other signs of stress/loneliness. I was in a similar situation, my girl was also very dominant and adapted well to her cagemate's passing and was fine on her own/just hanging out with some ferret buddies for months. But I noticed she started sleeping a lot and becoming a lot more lovey with me, grooming me more often and wanting attention from me when usually she's bored of me and wants to poke around at everything else. So I got two babies and she's been over the moon, so definitely just keep an eye on your gal's behavior, it might be helpful to have a plan in place for adoping a cagemate or two if you do notice her getting depressed and for now, maybe try to find someone to have rat playdates with? As long as she's happy that's what matters! Good luck!


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## ratboytime (May 15, 2021)

ratboytime said:


> I think we all know rats are usually really social but sometimes an older rat can genuinely be fine by themselves, especially if they get a lot of human attention. But I would say watch her and see if there are any other changes, right now there's really no way to tell why she moved her bedding around but it could be no big deal, maybe just rearranging and adjusting to having the cage to herself. I'd say you only need to get concerned if you notice a pattern of behavior changes or other signs of stress/loneliness. I was in a similar situation, my girl was also very dominant and adapted well to her cagemate's passing and was fine on her own/just hanging out with some ferret buddies for months. But I noticed she started sleeping a lot and becoming a lot more lovey with me, grooming me more often and wanting attention from me when usually she's bored of me and wants to poke around at everything else. So I got two babies and she's been over the moon, so definitely just keep an eye on your gal's behavior, it might be helpful to have a plan in place for adoping a cagemate or two if you do notice her getting depressed and for now, maybe try to find someone to have rat playdates with? As long as she's happy that's what matters! Good luck!


Clearly I shouldn't post when I'm tired, I just realized 2020 was last year and this post is very old 😳 oops


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## Mkd (Mar 24, 2021)

A rat should never be alone. Always try to have buddy about the same age


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## skittles2113 (8 mo ago)

My female rats sister just died and is displaying similar behaviours to this still eating sleeping and grooming. But she recently moved her bedding from the place her and her sister would sleep and put it to the other far end of the cage. She rarely leaves this spot where she's placed the bed. After seeing this small amount of grief I allowed my lone rat to spend some time with male counterparts to reproduce and not feel alone


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## Whiskersinwyoming (8 mo ago)

I think that’s normal. I recently bought some birch bedding and I’m hoping my ratties settle into the back corner when I get them.


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