# How Far Can Rats Jump/Climb Etc?



## Rattienewbie (Aug 4, 2017)

Can someone explain to me a few basics about rat agility/physical aptitude?

I've been raising 3 month old orphaned wild rats, and have decided I need to release them because they are too much for me to handle and also give them the active life they seem to need.
I'd like to get a couple fancy rats, but I would like to better understand what they are capable of to make sure I can handle _them_ before I commit to taking care of them for their lifetime. 

I see videos on Youtube of people with rats in plastic swimming pools as play areas. Will rats stay in something with sides that low, or can they jump over at will? How fast do they run...could you catch them if you needed to put them away? These probably sound like really dumb questions. I just want to make sure the videos aren't showing me just a moment in time and I'm missing something bigger. 

For example, my wild rats that I can't manage will jump over the side into and out of the bathtub. They can jump from the floor and scramble up onto the counter tops. They climb up the sides of door moldings and walk along the top. They jump from the tub to the faucet, to the shower head and and then to a window ledge 8 feet off the ground. These are roof rats and I know they are good climbers. I'd like to compare that to domesticated rats to see if it sounds like I can manage and keep up with them as pets.
I see people holding them in pictures, and I'd like to think with daily handling I could walk up to a rat, pick him up and put him back in his cage. That's something I can't do with these wild ones even though I handled them from 2 weeks on, until they started getting more mature and wild. 

But also, since mine are still only 12 weeks, maybe they get slower with age? What I see in rat videos looks like waddling or jogging, and when the wild ones run you can't even see which way they went, it's a flash. Sometimes I'm still looking under furniture and the rattie is already somewhere else but I didn't see them leave. 
I'm not sure how to describe it, but when the rats are loose, if I sit very still they will climb on me and sniff my hands. But I can't try to touch or grab them or they'll dart five feet away. If I put out food they will eat it, but they won't take it out of my hand or even eat it on the ground until I've sat very still for a long time. They climb on me but if I move an arm or something, I become a predator and they will run away. 

I guess I'd like some encouragement that if I get fancy rats they won't be this challenging and I'll be able to handle them OK.


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## Shadow <3 (Jan 25, 2017)

My babies at 6 weeks could jump out of a 3-4 foot high pen...just saying, but even domestics can be super agile. The difference is that these rats actually want me to handle them and such, which is really the difference between domestic and wild. 

Here's a good example: I got two 5-6 week old babies that were only handled by the tail, kept in a ten galling tank with sawdust, and never had positive human interaction. After a week of having them, they would meet me at the cage door, come on command, had learned several tricks (spin, paw, backup), no longer shied away from touch, and actively seeked me out to play/groom during free-range. 

So yes, domestic rats can be agile. Not as agile as your wild babies, but they can certainly jump several feet straight up (well, two of my girls can. The other baby is too unsure of herself to do so, and my other older girl is too chunky ). If they get scared, they can and will bolt. But domestic rats are much harder to scare, and while they are agile they often would rather be with you, and thus don't try and escape.

My girls know how to escape my cardboard play pen, and in fact my girl Berry used to do so regularly. She would mad dash away when I went to collect her, then return to her cage. I eventually figured out that when she wanted out of the pen, she wanted home. So I began to call her over (she knew come at this point) when she started trying to get out, and lured her to my shoulder. Once she reached my shoulder, I put her back in the cage. And then the next day, she just jumped right onto my shoulder when she wanted to go home. It's amazing how fast they learn to communicate with you, and in fact Berry has trained my other 3 girls to jump onto my shoulder when they're done playing. So as long as I'm in the playpen, the rats will come to me to get out, and not try and escape themselves. 


It basically boils down to domestics rats are similar to domestic dogs. They want to be around you, they want to interact, and they usually love their human(s). If I walk into the room where my rats are, my friendliest girls will get up from their sleeping spot to say hi. If I give treat inside the cage, my girls will jump out and eat the treat in my lap. If I stand up during free-range, my rats run over and beg to be picked up, literally crawling into my hand as I bend down to get them. They want to be with me, for companionship, for food, and just for fun.


Granted some rats aren't as sociable than others, but just like my girl Berry (not a people rat at all, but now very tolerant and decently friendly) they can learn tolerate and communicate with you. My girls are very "expressive" in what they want, whether it be licking to get me to cuddle them, pouncing on my hand to initiate play, walking up and spinning to initiate training, or just hanging out in my lap when they have dozens of other spots they could occupy.


My rats will also stand still if I go to pick them up. Actually, if I stand up they'll usually run towards me and beg to be picked up (they do this by standing straight up and jumping onto my hand as soon as it's close enough). Strangers can handle my rats as well without issue. I recently went to a school with my two older girls, and children were feeding them fruit and petting them. The rats even licked their fingers and were surprisingly friendly (they usually act nervous with too many people/new places but apparently they liked the school ).

I've trained weave walk and leg weaves with my girls as well, and if they were even slightly put off by me moving upright this would be impossible. 


Honestly if you tame any domestic rat, you should be able to pick them up without issue. I've never spent more than 15 seconds collecting a rat, and even then it's just a matter of finding them if they've fallen asleep in the free-range area. They are truely domestic animals, and after reading your story they sound about as different as an animal can be from its wild counterpart.


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## Rattienewbie (Aug 4, 2017)

Thank you for your response, it was very enlightening. Even the idea of a rat wanting to go back to the cage is different. When I put them inside I have to shut the door really quickly or they will jump back out. It sounds like it will be very fun to have domesticated rats.


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## Fu-Inle (Jan 22, 2015)

Norway rats are far less agile than Roof rats and domesticated Norway rats are even less agile than that. Don't get me wrong though, they are still very agile and capable of climbing vertical objects and jumping high but I don't think its anything you wouldn't be able to handle. Once they get older and heavy they climb alot less.


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## Coffeebean (Jan 6, 2017)

I've had 2 crazy girls who jumped from my shoulder 6 feet across the room and landed in the cage. That's not the norm _at all. _I don't know what was up with those girls.

Most rats won't jump off of tables/desks/chairs at all. I can sit comfortably at my computer with 6 rats on my lap and they won't jump off. Besides the girls I mentioned above, I've never had one jump further than a foot, and most won't jump a gap of more than a couple inches unless they really talk themselves up. When they want to escape something, they can jump out of the bathtub if they try, and I had one very energetic baby rat who climbed up my shower curtain. She was a weird girl in general. 

With pet rats you should mostly be concerned with any gaps in your floor that they can escape to. If your room is baby/rabbit proofed then they won't get themselves into trouble and should not end up anywhere that you won't be able to reach.


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