# OARBs (Overly Attached Rat Buddies)



## heartemis (Mar 29, 2014)

Evening, everyone 

This isn't a worry post, thankfully, but I would like to discuss one of the behaviours exhibited by my rat buddies.

I have two females, Jean and Edie, and while they don't enjoy being snuggled or picked up too much, their human is absolutely essential during play time.

So what's up with this?

J and E get out of cage time on our bed a couple of times a day, usually 15 min - half an hour. They're happy to use me/my fiancé as a climbing frame, sniffing perch, grooming doll and hiding cave, but mostly they have a wrestle and do their own ratty thing when it's play time. 

However, if I get up and move to the computer (sometimes sitting on the bed for half an hour with just my phone or a book to entertain me is boring), or basically leave the bed for any reason, they'll stop whatever they're doing and try desperately to get to me. It's resulted in many a fallen ratty off of the bed, not to mention claw marks on the sheets. They seem pretty frantic, and when they get to me again, they climb me like a curtain until they've sorted out that I'm not going anywhere anytime soon.

I'm not too worried about their health (it's just a foot and a half drop to the carpeted floor), but it does make me think about what having them looked after by someone else for a while would work. End of October this year I'm getting married, which means honeymoon, which means someone else'll be doing the rat maintenance. If 5 seconds apart from them (note - only during play time do they flip like this) rustles their jimmies, what's a week going to do?

Ta


----------



## ratty_milkshake (Feb 24, 2014)

I also find this somewhat. mine dont jump though so thats good. when i get off the couch they will all run in my direction and wait to be airlifted to my shoulder. when i leave the room they sit on the edge of the couch waiting for my return. so strange. If i leave them alone for long - like 15mins to 30mins they wil continue to play on their own.


----------



## Andyurgay (Jun 10, 2013)

I noticed this with my girls too. During free roam, they had no interest in me unless i was doing something "exciting". They easily got bored with the room. But were terrified of any other room i took them in no matter if i was there or not. I've come to learn that girls need a lot more engaging activities than males. Such as training, learning to swim, playing games. You cannot just surf the web with them running about even though they seem to have no interest in you. Their mind is constantly go go go and they need a TON of stimulation whereas my guys are content to sit on my lap for pets, get treats, wrestle and groom me. 
With my girls, they would ignore me no matter what i did until i did something out of the ordinary like pick up my guitar, they would bound of of whatever burrow they made and climb the strings or if i decided to rearrange the cage, they would be under foot constantly. The girls were hard to manage if i didn't change things up constantly. I personally love girls, their energy is awesome, but sometimes its exhausting. But then, its like letting a couple 2 year olds out in the same room each night. They might like to play together more than with you, but after a while, that same room gets boring and they look for anything new. 

Try changing things in the free range room a bit. Add some boxes, a dig box, some treat toys, a pool, rearrange the room. They will come to you for safety now and then since there are new things and they will be happy to explore everything. 

You have to keep in mind, rats are extremely intelligent and curious and their world is only as big as we allow it to be. The bigger and more complex and changing, the better. Good luck!


----------



## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Andyurgay is right. My rats do this usually because they want to know where I'm going and come with. I think if you were to offer more stimulation, you'd see this decrease. 

Generally, rats should get an hour out a day so seeing if you can offer that unbroken should help. More time to both get comfortable then go explore. My rats used to freak when I left the play area. Now I give them my bedroom and sometimes leave them there alone to do other things; they cope just fine, with only minimal attempts to exit the room. 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## heartemis (Mar 29, 2014)

Ahhh, I see now.

Everything being said rings true for my girls, and it really does look like they're bored. No wonder Jean's my little escape artist (although Edie'll take her chances when they're available).

In truth, I don't have a rat proofed "room"; it's the bed, or nothing. My fiance and I live with my parents, with two connected rooms to ourselves. It would have been easy enough just to shut the door and voilà, room rat-proofed, but both rooms have computers in them (with CORDS! xD). 

Essentially, I would have to:

Purchase boxes (for box-forts, hiding, etc.)
Wrap up the cords from top to bottom
Get child-proof plugs for the power boards
Get enough cardboard to line the bottom of the ensemble bed (annoying to lift up to retrieve naughty rats), and behind the cupboards.
Try and make the room rat-fun, but still liveable.
We are both students on a zero-extras budget; time to get creative!


----------



## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Go to the dollar store and get some posterboard (if you ever had to make a project in middle school, it's the thick kind like that). Get some duct tape, and you can create easy-to-erect and perfectly-tall fences. Tape them together. The easiest thing to do here (depending on your set up, of course), would to use these "fences" to fence off the computer area (come on, I doubt your fiance is going to think it is fun to unplug and replug-in a computer every day...). You can also trim extra board down and create a mini-fence that you duct-tape to the bottom of your bed. Other cords you can just wrap and secure above ground with bread ties/zip ties/tape. TV/lamp/cellphone...

Also want to look at nightsstands/bookshelves. Meanwhile this is happening, get some cheerios and work on their names/coming on command. Put these in a container that you shake everytime you use it. This will get food-motivated girls running should they ever get a bit too far.

Look at guides for ferret-proofing or rabbit-proofing. http://www.bunnymama.com/Care/RabbitProofing.aspx


----------



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Some rats move pretty slowly from an area of comfort to an area of stress, you are comfort and the rest of your house is new and stressful, also you may have taught them to stay on the bed. To help your rats explore the room and have more fun on their own, play with them on the floor. Over time your rats will explore more and more of your house, especially if you lead the way.

Some rats can become amazingly competent, our current shoulder rat is at home living in the store room on her own and only occasionally comes out for human companionship. So far she hasn't caused any real damage and the house isn't rat proofed. Other rats can be very destructive and most certainly can't live the indoor free range lifestyle. When Max was a two week old pup, I kept her in bed with me nights, as she got older she would sneak off during the night and go explore on her own, and come back when I woke up.. finally she didn't come back, she went to her cage to eat drink and go potty, otherwise she would evaporate. I figured just for the fun of it to let her... and as soon as she destroyed something, I'd have to cage her.... Well like the crafty rat she is, she's managed to not destroy or chew stuff... She's over 10 month's old and has hardly ever spent more than a few hours in captivity and that only to protect our rat phobic from her. In other words she's in home competent. She busies herself by building elaborate nests our of paper towels and raiding the kitchen trash while we sleep. She steals pencils and crayons from my daughter and occasionally small stuff left laying around and she will eat any food she finds during her travels around the house. I don't know how to teach this though. It's cool to have a rat that's generally indoor safe and I've had three that I could leave alone in the home without worrying about them, but I've had one that was a fire hazard and loved to slice wires. 

So for now, you are safety and they know they shouldn't go explore, letting them explore more will give you more breathing room too. How to make a rat indoor safe is doable, as I've done it, but I can't say for sure why some rats get it and become great house pets and why other's don't. I suppose I did tell her she shouldn't eat wires and when she stole important papers I always gave her a piece of tissue paper or a paper towel instead so mostly she steals tissue and paper towels now.... but I suspect there's more to her good behavior than just that.

And yes, your rats will miss you while you are away. There's likely nothing you can do about that other than to get them used to their babysitter before you go on your honeymoon.

Best luck.


----------



## heartemis (Mar 29, 2014)

I hope I can get some posterboard. That's exactly what I wanted to buy in the first place, but those funny science-project things I see on the internet don't get done in Australia, so I might have to head to a craft store (who'll no doubt charge me my first born child, my soul and my life savings). Old boxes duct-tapes together should do for the bed, right? 

Well, I assume they'll want to eat the cardboard. They'll know that behind the cardboard is Under the Bed, and Under the Bed is Darkness and Safety.

Hopefully they won't eat the cardboard. My rats are fabric-holics. They've eaten my curtains, my wallpaper, two sets of sheets, four sets of pillows, my lounge covers, a pair of jeans, their expensive hammock, and no doubt something else I have yet to find. 

Considering the damage they do when they're having their run around time, it's a wonder I didn't realise that they were under-stimulated in the first place.

Thanks also, Rat Daddy  We're going to need the luck!


----------



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Go to any appliance store, they have huge cardboard boxes that stoves and fridges come in. Some are double thick. There are also inexpensive grades of plywood and hard board that will slow rats down. I use a piece of plywood to keep my rat phobic wife away from Max when she's in one room and Max is free ranging the rest of the house... so I actually pen up the wife not the rat... (Shhhh, nobody tell her or I'll be in deep rat poop.)

Try explaining to your rats that they aren't supposed to shred your nice stuff, that might help or give them more interesting stuff to do... Last night I gave Max a plastic Easter egg with a tootsie roll inside... she made short work of the egg, but it makes me feel like my daughter's plastic Easter eggs aren't safe on the floor anymore. That might have been a bad plan... Still it kept her busy for a while.

Be creative and use the local resources you have available and most of all think cheap! Whatever you do your rats will eventually overcome and destroy that which is between themselves and their happiness.


----------

