# New rat behaviour



## Lorenna (Dec 19, 2006)

Hey guys, haven't been here in years since my girl (3 years old) had to be put down due to a massive tumor on her neck.

Yesterday I got a new rat (around 3 months). He is male and has a completely different personality to my other rat that I had. The problem is (and I might be overreacting since I've only had him for a little bit longer than 24 hours) is that he doesn't pee or poop in his new cage at all (maybe he urinates and I don't see it) but whenever I hold him, which is still a bit stressful for him but he gets used to being out of his cage in like 5 minutes and starts playing and running around, he pees on me and poops everywhere. But that's only for the initial "stressful" minutes when I take him out of his cage. I know it's normal that he does that if he's stressed out or afraid, but is it normal that he hasn't urinated or pooped in his cage for a day?

Another thing is that he nibbles me (he prefers the hand that gives him the treats). It doesn't hurt at all, yet sometimes he bites quite hard. What is the best thing to do to make him stop doing that? If he's being playful, that's fine, but I don't want him to make a habit out of it. I started making high-pitched squeeky sounds whenever he does that as I've been adviced that this type of sound among rats means pain, and they for sure don't want to hurt their owner. Do you think that will help?

And the last thing I wanted to ask is whether I should give him a "house" to sleep in or not. The problem is that the person I got the rat from told me not to as the rat would have a harder time getting used to its surroundings when he has a dark corner to hide in. Yet I don't want to stress him out. I bought cotton in a pet store that rodents are supposed to make nesting out of, yet my rat didn't even touch it. I then took it out and gave him a piece of cloth. He immediately started pushing and pulling it around and made some sort of nesting out of it yet now sleeps in a different corner than the cloth is in.

Thanks guys in advance.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

Going to the toilet when a bit stressed or nervous is normal for a new young rat. Our should settle down add he gets older. 

As a young rat he is also not going to know how hard is to hard when nibbling you. I would just say no firmly and take your hand ah if he's to rough and if he does it again ppick him up and say no. im pretty sure our attempt at squeaking probably sounds very like my attempt at speaking Spanish having never learnt to speak it lol. 

I wouldn't get him a house either until he's settled in well. Give it a month or two. Also don't use that cotton wool bedding. It's actualy dangerous if it's ingested. torn up paper is much better. 

I would day though that he really needs a friend. Ideally another young boy. They do a lot better with friends


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## Mischief (Jun 27, 2014)

As Isamurat said, a rat buddy would be the most helpful option, if you ask most rat lovers. With a companion they can learn to warm up to their environment and you as they develop their social skills. 

As for the urinating and pooping in the cage, he may be afraid that it isn't his. Is it a used cage? If so, what was it cleaned with? Maybe he smells somebody else there? I'm just speculating at this point. I would say that he probably just needs to figure out that it's his home and then he'll feel more comfortable using the bathroom there. My youngest girl, Rascal, did the same (except I moved her in with my two older females). Every single time I would pick her up she'd "go" everywhere, and a lot, as though she'd been holding it.

Most recommend that you don't give them somewhere to hide, but I let my girls have a box to hide in right off the bat. They were my first so I wasn't totally experienced. I had to make them come out of hiding all the time, which made me feel horrible (and probably made them feel scared). So I'd say don't give him somewhere to hide until he seems to have warmed up to the cage.


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## Lita (Jul 10, 2014)

I have experience with the nibbling but thats about it. Our younger girl does this. i stopped giving her treats for a few days and put my hand in the cage (free of treats or food smells) and let her investigate. If she got to hard I gave her a little bop and told her "no!" And she would stop and look at me and then seemed to try again gentler. After a couple days she hasn't been hard biting. She still has moments when she gets excited when i am giving her treats (after she seemed to get that it isn't always treat hand) but i give a little bop and a no and she settles back.


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## Lorenna (Dec 19, 2006)

Thanks a lot guys!

I'd say he's doing a lot better today. Maybe I just panicked too soon. The cage is brand new but he finally got used to it. I have him some paper yet he puts everything on one side and sleeps on the other side of the cage at the bottom level. I let him out on my bed in the morning and I found out that he really likes sitting on my phone and on my shoulder. As for the nibbling, I'd say he doesn't do it as hard anymore. He bit my lip once though but it was just a nibble. He doesn't bite anything else except the fingertips (and lips as I found out ), and I'm thinking maybe it also has something to do with the fact that my nails are painted... Anyway, thanks guys, I think he's going to be fine. And yeah, I'm thinking about getting him a buddy while he's still young.

Yet now I have another concern (I guess this is more suitable for the "Health" portion of the forum so sorry). I noticed that he was sneezing a bit every now and then (not too much). There's no sawdust or anything around. And today when he was sitting on my phone he had what seemed to be a kind of sneezing attack (not loud). He started scratching and rubbing his nose and a tiny drop of blood came out. Is it from the scratching or is it more serious than that? He acted as usual. I'm thinking I should really get him to the vet to get checked out. I just need to find a good one who knows a thing or two about rats around where I live...


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## ratmode (May 15, 2014)

That's not blood coming out of his nose - it's porphyrin secretion. Totally normal. The sneezing is totally normal too - he is getting used to the air in your home. That will go away after a few weeks.

He does need a friend, though - keeping a rat in solitary confinement is the psychological equivalent of keeping a human in solitary confinement. If you don't give him a nest box, he will probably just make a nest for himself out of the bedding, it is an instinctual behavior for rats - so I think you should definitely give him something to hide in.


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## Lorenna (Dec 19, 2006)

Thanks. Yeah I contacted a vet and he told me the same thing about the "blood". I was getting worried. As for the house, I choose not to give him one at least for now til he's completely comfortable with his surroundings.


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## Zabora (Jun 8, 2014)

Babies tend to be vary curious about things and will put everything in their mouth just like human babies. My babies (4 weeks old) love to clean my fingers. Especially my nails. They can sometimes nom on them a bit hard so I say no and take my hand away. A minute later we try again. They usually don't nom hard afterwards.


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## Lorenna (Dec 19, 2006)

I told him no a few times after he bit me too hard and put him away from my hand, and now he doesn't do it. He only nibbles and pushes around my left hand fingers (I'm left-handed) if he smells there's a treat around (he just loves corn) and wants me to give it to him. Other than that, he's a perfectly good boy now, not stressed or scared at all. The one thing I would like to change is the fact that he doesn't wanna be held at all. He runs around like crazy on my bed, then presumably gets tired and starts looking for a cooler place to lay in, and only then I get some time to pet him and he even shows his belly, so I'm guessing it's just his personality.

The worst thing is that I'm noticing I might be allergic to him. Anyone's had that problem? It's not that bad - my nose is running and eyes are slightly itchy when he's around. Goes away when I put him in his cage and go wash my hands. I had a female rat before yet had no allergies with her whatsoever. I'm allergic to cats though (or was as a child at least - haven't been around cats in years and I'm 26 now so maybe I grew out of that somehow). I suppose it's more common for male rats to trigger allergies than female?


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

It sounds like hes settling in, definitly still needs a friend though. He is likley to be bouncy and pingy, he's a baby, and often they do keep up being active for a good portion of there life, this is much healthier for them than becming coach potatoes.

In terms of allergys, unfortunatly it is common for people to be more, or only, allergic to bucks. It is possible to manage rat allergys relatively well, and it is well worth checking out the bedding you use. Someone who got rats off us was so bad she was seriously considering rehoming her boys, at my advice she changed bedding (i tend ot have about 3 different types at any one time for gave her a couple to try), it made a massive amount of difference and she ended up switching to fitch (a kind of paper bedding a bit like carefresh) rather than shredded card. Since then she has the odd issue but not much. I would try that first of all, and also try wiping him down with a damp cloth or baby wipe before handleing, also always wash your hands after playing with him and consider getting a "rat jumper" to wear over your clothes when hes out, that way you dont carry his dander around with you.

I will say though that he's very young yet, its likley that if you are specifically allergic to bucks this will get worse as he grows older. It may be worth considering neutering him and moving him in with a girl friend or two.


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## Lorenna (Dec 19, 2006)

The one thing I'm sure about is I'm never rehoming my rat so thanks for all the advice, I'll defitinely try everything I can to deal with my allergies. Speaking of bedding, I'm currently using pellets, which I'm not sure is the best choice. With my first rat, I was completely misguided by a petstore owner who told me sawdust was the best choice for bedding. I thought she'd die after the first week of using it from sneezing. The pellets don't seem to cause any problems to my new rat's respiratory system so far. I also bought natural hay as he now sleeps directly on the pellets and pushes the paper and shredded cloth I gave him around to sort of block the gate of the cage when he doesn't wanna be disturbed.

And yeah, I am considering giving him a companion. It's just that something's happening with the rat population where I live (Lithuania). There seems to be only one breeder in the whole country. You can't find a female rat anywhere. I called all the petstores - there's only bucks. I initially didn't even consider getting a rat from a petstore but I still went to the largest one in my city to look around and fell in love with this one. Looked very social and active right away.


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## JudeWriley (Aug 1, 2007)

If your new rat is a guy, then you don't need to look for a female rat for him (unless he's already neutered).


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## Lorenna (Dec 19, 2006)

I know, I was replying to the previous advice on neutering him and getting him a girl or two.


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## SneakyLord (Mar 22, 2014)

You don't specially need to get a female if there's none around. If you can't find females, get 2 boys under 8 weeks. If you can't do that then any male will do but they may be harder to introduce. Depends on the rats.


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