# Different kinds of bruxing?



## Mylandah (Aug 24, 2013)

I read online that rats will brux when they're happy/content as well as when they are stressed. So how do I tell the difference? 

During an immersion session, I picked up my rat and after trying to hold him still for a bit he started sound like he has URI or something so I quickly let go of him. (He sneezes sometimes, but the vet said that he is fine) He was still wheezing after I let him go but he stopped making that noise after a while, it really scared me. 

Then after another 5 minutes or so he started bruxing... I'm not sure if that's stress or happiness. 
So my question is... How do I tell if they're stressed or happy?


----------



## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Very similar to bruxing is chattering; it's a bit louder and cracklier.


----------



## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

I was wondering this too. When I am treating the megacolon babies they will sometimes brux too. When they relax, they will close their eyes and their tummies will be completely relaxed and soft and they will stay calm and sometimes lick my fingers and sometimes brux. Sometimes their bruxing will sound normal and they'll boggle a little too, but sometimes the bruxing is a little louder and harder and their teeth will make a snapping noise since it seems they are bruxing their teeth hard and it sounds like it's the bad kind of bruxing, but that is the only type of sign that they might be uncomfotable. Though they still are relaxed and don't tense up or flinch or struggle at all so I'm not sure.

Can someone tell me too what the difference is or if this is the unhappy type of bruxing?


----------



## lalalauren (Jul 3, 2013)

I disturbed one of my rats once. He's normally quite lazy, and I woke him up getting his brother out for a play (this was when my cage was in a room different to my free range room). I was going to leave the lazy boy in bed, seeing as he doesn't normally mind, but he actually got out of bed and came to see me, and I misjudged his curiousity for him wanting to come out for some free range time. I picked him up and carried him to the free range room with his brother. This was back when he hated being picked up and, again, I misjudged his reaction - he was pretty limp and relaxed and I assumed it was because he wanted to come with me, but actually he was half asleep. 

In the free range room, the lights were on and it was bright and busy with me and my boyfriend. The entire time (about an hour), he was making these really loud bruxing noises. They sounded like an actual person grinding their teeth. They SOUNDED like he was stressed. They sounded really crackly and harsh as opposed to the calm, quiet brux that I normally hear. I've not heard those noises since then. I don't really have any true confirmation, but I believe that's what stressed bruxing sounds like.


----------



## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Finnebon said:


> I was wondering this too. When I am treating the megacolon babies they will sometimes brux too. When they relax, they will close their eyes and their tummies will be completely relaxed and soft and they will stay calm and sometimes lick my fingers and sometimes brux. Sometimes their bruxing will sound normal and they'll boggle a little too, but sometimes the bruxing is a little louder and harder and their teeth will make a snapping noise since it seems they are bruxing their teeth hard and it sounds like it's the bad kind of bruxing, but that is the only type of sign that they might be uncomfotable. Though they still are relaxed and don't tense up or flinch or struggle at all so I'm not sure.
> 
> Can someone tell me too what the difference is or if this is the unhappy type of bruxing?


Sounds like the unhappy brux (chatter imo). My rescue rat did this during intros. Usually it is easier to hear and comes at a higher frequency.


----------



## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

nanashi7 said:


> Sounds like the unhappy brux (chatter imo). My rescue rat did this during intros. Usually it is easier to hear and comes at a higher frequency.


Hm I was afraid of that. It is rather harsh, it sounds like their teeth are about to crack and is almost like nails on a chalkboard that just makes me cringe because I worry they'll chip a tooth. Sometimes it's the normal calm bruxing, and they don't act like their in pain in any other way. Do you think the unhappy bruxing is just because they're unhappy? They don't show any other signs of pain usually.


----------



## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Finnebon said:


> Hm I was afraid of that. It is rather harsh, it sounds like their teeth are about to crack and is almost like nails on a chalkboard that just makes me cringe because I worry they'll chip a tooth. Sometimes it's the normal calm bruxing, and they don't act like their in pain in any other way. Do you think the unhappy bruxing is just because they're unhappy? They don't show any other signs of pain usually.


He could just be dramatic. That sounds awful, but if he is the type that at the slightest hint of something happening that he doesn't like flips out, that's probably it. The rescue rat that chatters for me chatters when she gets admonished and isn't allowed to try and destroy whatever caught her eye/escape, or when her treat is stolen by the others, or when she is carried around instead of riding. She is just being a baby because I spoil her too much. I don't take offense at it because she is normally happy. 
Chatter is really just unhappy, I don't think they chatter because they are in pain. In your case, they probably enjoy it sometimes and othertimes are just whining... "but I want to PLAY and the other rats don't have to do this!" sort of.


----------



## kjgannon09 (Oct 16, 2013)

Maddie, one of my young girls, chatters almost constantly. Sometimes soft, sometimes loud, but she is almost always going. Because she seems perfectly healthy otherwise, I just assumed that the softer chatters were happy sounds and the louder were unhappy. Seeing as she is loudest in new situations, when she is scared, or when she is wrestling another rat for a piece of food, I suppose she is just sensitive (or dramatic lol). Thanks for the thread though, it answered some questions for me!


----------



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I'm pretty sure each rat bruxes for different reasons and makes different noises at different times to mean different things. Fuzzy Rat bruxed and boggled when she was happy, Max never boggles and bruxes very rapidly like something out of a horror movie chewing through the walls when she is in fast forward play mode and trying to wake me up from a dead sleep. She never bruxes to indicate she is happy, she just licks. I can't recall Amelia hardly ever bruxing, but she can growl like a dog and meow like a cat on rare occasions. 

I think it's best just to try and interpret your own rats communications based on when they do it and what else is going on at the time. Rats adapt their communications based on how they think you understand them rather than on a universal rat language from my experience.


----------

