# my rat was acting strange.....



## k-train (Mar 18, 2012)

hello i just joined this forum in the hopes someone can help me. i have had 3 rats in my life (all rescues from being snake food), and currently i have, well.... had, two male rats. well i came down into my recording studio where i keep them tonight i found my black rat "kyuhaku" dead. what disturbs me though is his face/entire lower jaw was chewed off by my white rat "jushiro". i feel guilty that its my fault that one killed the other, because i have not fed them in two days (they usually have two decent size food bowls, enough that ive been told they were overweight at one point so i cut the food back, but i havent gotten to the store to get rat food until today so ive been feeding them crackers and other household foods safe for them as snacks every few hours) and i need to know if it was my fault because im devastated.... do rats cannibalize when hungry? or did my rat eat the other one for a different reason?

they were never too aggressive towards each other.. in fact the only real aggressive thing ive ever seen out of them was the black rat jumping on the white ones back, no biting or anything though. 

also i have no clue what killed the rat if my other rat didnt kill him. the only thing i can think of is he got out of his cage in january and i think chewed on a few things including chocolate, a granola bar, and a rat poison packet but i highly doubt it would take this long to take affect....

i just need to know was it my fault for not feeding them enough or is it because its eating at me whether or not this is my fault.... 

also if this is in the wrong section of the forum i apologize and will move it if someone kindly tells me where it belongs.


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## katkandy (Mar 3, 2012)

You dont mention how old Kyuhaku was. I'm certainly no expert but i would imagine that rats would have to be EXTREMELY hungry to cannabalize thier cage mate. I mean, these are little guys who actually grieve when their buddies pass away. Was there any food in the cage at all? You say you'd been feeding them "people" food...my last rat got to the stage where all he ate was "people" food even with a big bowl of rat food right in front of him! I really think the damage was done post mortem...what an awful thing for you to have to deal with. I'm sorry for your loss. RIP Kyuhaku.


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## k-train (Mar 18, 2012)

i forgot to mention there age. im not really sure of an exact age but i got them both from a petco adoption last summer, where some jerk was talking about adopting rats to feed a snake he owned (and as a reptile owner as well i know the danger and cruelty live feeding includes) so i adopted the two rats they had for adoption on the spot to save them. they doubled in size over the course of a few months so based on that ive always figured maybe a year old? they were considered small rats when i got them if that helps figure out age though. 

i had alittle food in the cage from the last food bag. i had just bought another bag today. ive never had any feeding problems with people food. they took both with no fuss no matter how much i gave them. 

this is also the first time ive had two rats at once. and the last one i had was a female before these guys.


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## 1a1a (May 6, 2011)

Firstly, sorry for your loss. Secondly, I doubt the living rat killed the deceased one. Rats do instinctively eat the bodies of their deceased friends, presumably because they are a prey animal and dead rats lying around the place might attract predators.

*high five* for the rats in the recording studio, that's where mine live too :-D


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## k-train (Mar 18, 2012)

so its possible that my one rat simply passed and the others defensive nature kicked in? 

and *high five back* its the only pet i can keep in the studio because my singers deathly afraid of reptiles lol.


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## 1a1a (May 6, 2011)

hahahahahaha, yes, very possible


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

It does sound like cleaning up to me...in the wild a rat would move away from a dead body, but in a small enclosed space those instincts to "clean up" so a predator is not attreacted to the colony can kick in. It happens, and it just means your black boy died on his own. How old was he? Sudden death in healthy rats is always a concern..


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## shawnalaufer (Aug 21, 2011)

Rats are not natural cannibals and unless they were literally starving to death, its highly unlikely that they did anything to your ratty. 
I have had that same thing happen to me twice in the 10+ years I have had pet rats. Very old rats that passed away were found by their cage mates before me and both times, it happened at night while I was asleep. And since I have always kept the cages in my room, I would have noticed if there was any fighting or anything (not to mention that my rats have always been VERY well fed...maybe even a little TOO well fed, LOL!) I think in both situations, the rats simply died naturally and quietly and the others were simply doing what was instinctive to them. Yes it is completely natural. Its natures way of cleaning up. I just wish I didnt have to see that! Ick!

Sorry to hear of your loss.  If only they could live as long as other pets!!!!!


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## k-train (Mar 18, 2012)

first id like to say thanks to everyone who responded.  it makes me feel alittle better that it was most likely a natural response and not something in my control. 

second to the person two posts up who asked about there age, im a bit unsure but not too old. they were small when i got them and that was last summer. im estimating maybe a year to year and a half old because they doubled/tripled in size after i bought them.


EDIT:

also heres my two rats, the black one is the one that passed (pictures are when i first got them)
heres kyuhaku









and heres jushiro


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## RatzRUs (Feb 5, 2012)

Awh the second one looks like my peanut and the same size! I would take it when you first got them they seem too be at least 6-8 months old


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## Arashi (Feb 4, 2012)

Hello,

I'm sorry for your loss, may Kyuhaku rest in peace.

I do hope Jushiro is alright now. It's a nice name! May I ask for it's meaning?

I'm thinking "Shiro" means white? I hope it all goes well for you.

Take care!


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## k-train (Mar 18, 2012)

RatzRUs said:


> Awh the second one looks like my peanut and the same size! I would take it when you first got them they seem too be at least 6-8 months old


thank you  its weird i can look at a reptile, fish, dog, cat, and have a good estimate of age but i havent been around rats enough to estimate age well lol. 





Arashi said:


> Hello,
> 
> I'm sorry for your loss, may Kyuhaku rest in peace.
> 
> ...


the names i picked have sort of a double meaning. both me and my friend (who was with me when i got the rats) are anime fans and we named them after our favorite characters from a show called bleach, ukitake jushiro and kyouraku shunsui (i changed the spelling to kyuhaku to shorten it slightly). 

the other meaning is in japanese jushiro (also spelled juushiro) can translate to juu (ten) and shiro (white, or son depending on use) and since he was my tenth adoption animal i named him jushiro as in "tenth son". kyouraku (without the spelling change) generally can translate to kyou (city, capitol) raku (fun, music) which is why i often times just called kyuhaku "raku" (or haku), so basically i called him fun which fit his character as he was more active then jushiro is. 




also i noticed that jushiro seems to have made a bedding nest at the bottom corner of the cage since kyuhaku died and seems kinda lonely (wanders around the cage more, doesnt eat as much all that) i know they are social creatures does that mean i should get another rat to keep him company? or would it cause fights since it would be a new rat?


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## Arashi (Feb 4, 2012)

Their names are fun . I don't know Japanese but I think it's interesting.

I'm no rat expert, but I got two rats because I was told that rats need other rats to lead happy and healthy lives.


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