# How do rats normally behave?



## ushiwakafox (Sep 4, 2012)

Hey all, just a question about my new rats.
I got them 3 days ago, and at first they would ran away from my hand but today they're much less skittish of it which I'm thrilled about, but I'm a bit concerned about them still. How do rats normally act when they're getting used to a new place? My two girls really don't do much at all during the day. They only seem to eat and drink and whatever else they do when I'm not around/sleeping. Otherwise they just huddle in the corner literally like all day. Is this normal?
Thanks!


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## gal5150 (Aug 14, 2012)

Rats are nocturnal so they would do most of their business at night. Eventually they'll adjust to your schedule more and associate your comings with goodies, attention, etc and engage more during the day. Are they sleeping in the corner? Do they have a nesting box, hammock, tunnel to snooze in?


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## YellowSpork (Jul 7, 2012)

Do they have lots of toys to play with?  There's a lot of good home-made toys you can create. My girls are always either sleeping, eating, jumping on each other or playing with jingly balls. lol. It's only been three days though, so they might still be adjusting a little.

Two of my girls' favorite things are a hamster ball I zip-tied to their cage with the lid off and a scrap of fleece in the bottom, a V8 bottle I poked holes in and zip-tied to the edge of the cage (it's really funny when they sleep in it), and they lovelovelove square kleenex boxes to sleep in. 

I remember my girls were suuuuuuuper skittish when I'd only had them 3 days... it's amazing to think back to that point and compare their behavior then to now. :3


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## ushiwakafox (Sep 4, 2012)

Thanks! I woke up this morning to find them both curled up under my make-shift hammock and their toys, the kleenex box and everything scattered. I also heard them play with their jingle ball. This is the first time I've actually seen them hanging out on the second floor so maybe I just need to give them more time. And my shy girl just took a piece of cereal from me! She didn't even want anything to do with the yogurt last night, I guess they just needed some adjusting time. 
I'm so excited guys!! Thank you so much for your advice, I'll look into making more toys for them.


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