# Rat spazzing out



## Rainnykay (Mar 6, 2018)

Hello! So this only happens some days but it scares me. My female rat Pip sometimes goes CRAZY. Like SUPER hyper and SUPER scared.When I hold her she freaks out of my hand like she is having a seizure.


----------



## Phoene (Dec 21, 2017)

She is probably in heat. They go into heat about once every 5 days for a few hours. Though I can't tell when Wren is in heat when Lark is if I hold her she will scream like I am torturing her! I then put her down and she starts begging for treats so I know she is not scared. You might also see ear waggling.


----------



## Shadow <3 (Jan 25, 2017)

Rainnykay said:


> Hello! So this only happens some days but it scares me. My female rat Pip sometimes goes CRAZY. Like SUPER hyper and SUPER scared.When I hold her she freaks out of my hand like she is having a seizure.



Yup, as Phoene said, it sounds like she's in heat. When you touch a female rat whose in heat's rump, you trigger the lordosis behavior (arched back, quick jump/wiggle forwards, vibrating ears, etc.). This is a totally instinctual behavior, and can be triggered by anyone touching the female's back when she's in heat. And since female rats come into heat every 4-5 days, you'll be see this behavior A LOT until the rat gets older.

Then again, not all females show overt signs of being in heat. I've had rats that become more skittish and slip out of my hands like your girl does when in heat, girls who go all out and do the ear wiggle, arch their back, hump people (and try to hump MY arm - thanks Cream! Ugh), and get INSANELY energetic and skittish! My girl Cream used to be avoided by her cagemates when she went into heat because she'd mercilessly chase them around and try to hump them, which they hated (thankfully she's outgrown this!). And then I've had some females that show no outward signs (like my Blackberry). Sometimes she would seem a bit more high strung, but she'd never show any other signs so I couldn't always tell.


Anyway, it sounds like normal female rat behavior, so I wouldn't worry


----------



## Kelsbels (Aug 12, 2015)

When we were doing intros with our adopted rats, poor Lotte Laserstein was in heat for 12 hours and at the time she was almost 2! So I do think it happens at any age, and can span from 2-12 hours O_O. You better believe my cage was absolutely nuts!


----------



## Rainnykay (Mar 6, 2018)

Oh my gosh I didn't even know that was a thing, thanks so much!


----------

