# Have I frightened my rat? Very loud bruxing!



## lalalauren (Jul 3, 2013)

I've just got home from the cinema and my boys haven't had their normal playtime routine. The last time I didn't get them out, my baby boy tore the cage apart. I swore then that I would make sure I at least got the baby out every day, at least until he calmed down.

So tonight, I come home, and I said if they were all in a squishy sleepy rat pile that I'd leave them alone and just go to bed myself. But baby boy was awake and causing trouble, and Thaddius was out of bed. So I got baby boy out, and the other rats seemed curious and like they wanted to come. So I got them out too! Athos, my most skittish rat, has since been behaving very strangely. Normally, I put him and baby Badger in a carry case and take them to the playroom because they both struggle too much for the journey in my hands. This time, I got Badger in the carry case, but was worried he'd jump out if I tried to open it again for Athos. So I picked Athos up out of the cage and carried him in, getting my boyfriend to carry Badger in the case and with plans to come back for Thaddius (who HATES the carry case). 

Athos wasn't as squirmy as usual, which was odd, but I put it down to tiredness, however, since we've had them out (about 10 minutes now), he hasn't stopped bruxing. Not the normal gentle bruxing sounds, but a really loud harsh noises that sounded like an actual person grinding their teeth as opposed to a tiny rat.

Since I've typed this, he actually seems to have stopped now...but does anyone know why he was doing this and for so long? Have I upset his routine or woken him up when he was fast asleep? He's normally very lazy, and will happily go a day without play time. I hesitated as to whether I was going to bother getting him out or not because he's so lazy, but I did because he got out of bed for me. 

Any thoughts would be appreciated!


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## roaringsnail (Aug 1, 2013)

More often than not, bruxing is a relaxed sound. Chattering is a noise more associated with stressful situations. If you look at this link, you can hear them both and compare. There are also some cute sounds to listen to. Very useful page. http://ratbehavior.org/norway_rat_vocalizations.htm


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## lalalauren (Jul 3, 2013)

I should also point out that, once in the play room, Athos was acting completely normal in every way apart from the noises. If you'd have taken away the noises, I wouldn't have even thought anything was wrong. He was happily roaming the room and climbing on me and my boyfriend, and crawling right underneath me whenever I lean forward preventing me from being able to sit back (that's a favourite trick of all of the rats, actually).

He was completely Athos, just with a scary noise that I didn't understand. 


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## lalalauren (Jul 3, 2013)

Thanks for the link! Doesn't work great on a phone but I will definitely check the noises out (I found myself on YouTube trying to find something similar).

My boyfriend has been saying its stress all night - he's been woken up at a time when he doesn't normally come out to play and he's been carried a fairly long distance in hand, which I don't think he's ever had before (always goes in the box). 

I feel so bad :/ I normally give the boys a treat each after playtime. Thaddius and Badger took the treat but Athos didn't, and once when my hand went near him, he made the sound again.

Here's hoping he forgives me :/


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