# Very Strange Baby Rat Behavior



## Fantasy (May 5, 2013)

I have a young female rat called Avalon. She is 7 weeks old, and is no bigger than a large mouse. I attribute her small proportions to her being the runt of the litter, however. I am most concerned about her behavior, though. She was gotten when she was almost 4 weeks old- she was from an accidental litter and the owner was going to sell them as snake food- which is of course a less than ideal age. She has safely been introduced and moved in with my older rat, Legend, who is 2 years old. She acts very strangely, however- she randomly has panic attacks and bolts, squirming and clawing and moving as quickly as she can, including up the walls, across the ceiling of the cage, and down again. She spends hours up in one top corner of the cage just hanging by her claws. She randomly freezes in place and will stay like that, almost paralyzed, for extremely long periods of time. She also trembles so much her whole body shakes. Is this a neurological issue, or being taken from her mother too soon, or is there something else at play?


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## Patientzero (Jan 12, 2012)

I would say she was very improperly sociallized before you got her and this plays a big role in their personality. She wasnt taken away from mum to early, that wouldn't play a role in it. The trembling would be out of fear, as well as the bolting and running around the cage, she is trying to find a escape or place to hide or trying to run away. I got a almost feral female from petsmart many months ago, she would for months just cling to the side of the cage at the top like yours, she would bolt, not let me touch her, etc, and it took a lot of work for her to not be scared all the time, she is still not a fan of being handled but she does like to get a scratch now and then and doesn't bolt anymore. She needs to get more confident threw you helping her, and showing her not to be scared. Do you have a lot of places for her to hide in? I find that these types of rats need a place to hide when they want to or feel threatened, my girl's favourite is flexible downspout tubes.


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## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

It could be a combination of all of the above. It's definitely fear behavior that can be fixed with lots of love and careful handling, generally. It could also be due to her not having been with her mother long enough, though, as the only rat I've ever had that displyed this kind of behavior was also taken from her mother much too young. I think it makes them have a somewhat less developed psychology in general, so they are more likely to panic and freak out. My baby, Ashe, is now my most loving and affectionate rat, though, and while she still has random episodes of the crazy she's a very well adjusted and sweet rat. Just work with her and she'll be fine.
I love their names, by the way!


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## Patientzero (Jan 12, 2012)

Edit: I see now, I thought it said she was removed from mum at 7 weeks, at less then 4 weeks that is a little to young and could attribute to her shyness.


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## Fantasy (May 5, 2013)

She has many places to hide, but she was very friendly and sociable when I first got her, the bolting and strange clinging behavior only started about 2 weeks ago, 2 weeks after I got her. Before that, she was calm and very sweet.


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## Voltage (May 15, 2013)

The only time I've heard about this was when it was referred to as seizures.
I don't know if it is true or no but they could very well be seizures. The way it was described was the person's rat would frantically and rapidly bolted about the cage and then would freeze.


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## Nimh (Jun 3, 2013)

This sounds very familiar to what my Nihm is going through. She was very sweet and cuddly then all of a sudden she will go into these fits of running around crazily and freezing up for long periods of time. I still don't know what it could be, I think it may be some sort of a seizure or panic attack. I have searched the internet and it seems many rats seem to do this but no one seems to have a consistent answer to what it is.

Some say its popcorning but the freezing afterward just doesn't make me feel like thats correct. My Nihm seems to be in some sort of catatonic state after her "fit".
Others say it could be from the rat consuming adderal?? Not possible in my case.

The only thing I can think of that happened right before she started acting this way was I bathed her with some water free foam wash and changed her bedding, so I hope I didn't do anything to cause this behavior.


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## Gannyaan (Dec 7, 2012)

Rat seizures look a lot like human seizures, with some variation depending on the severity. You can find several videos on YouTube... Warning though, they are disturbing  

Here's one with more severe seizures: (ticks me off because you'd think the person would be comforting the baby....)

http://youtu.be/4T3MwRGag28


Here's one with less severe: 

http://youtu.be/tOk9Rpk673I

Sorry if these videos disturb anyone... It would be good to find a vet who is doing some treatment... 





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## Gannyaan (Dec 7, 2012)

Just to clarify... I'm not saying your rat does not have epilepsy, but it wouldn't be the first conclusion I'd have jumped to. But even in humans, seizures can manifest in different ways. 


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## CindrDoLLy (Oct 3, 2012)

Does she do this every day or once every few days? My female rats tend to get very jumpy and skittish when they're in heat and dart around the cage. They also freeze in place and start vibrating their whole bodies, especially their ears. If your girl literally stays frozen for hours at a time though then being in heat couldn't be the culprit. But it doesn't hurt to consider every possibility.


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## zurfaces (Jan 16, 2013)

Rats freeze when they are in fear. Also you'll see rats in distress running about wildly. She could have something wrong with her that is freaking her out and then she freezes because she is scared

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