# Rat afraid of thunderstorms?



## zurfaces (Jan 16, 2013)

So we had some pretty bad storms here last night and I woke up this morning to a mess!!! One of my rats destroyed her cage. I'm not sure if it was because of the storm or not I was just wondering what everyone else thinks? That's the only tthing I can figure because the only other time she has done this was because she was stresssed due to us not being home and handling her. 

Here is a video of the damage lol she looks so guilty rat shaming. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swe2L5z7Lbk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I'll go along with your reasoning. When rats are afraid they want to be cuddled by their pack. When rats get too stressed they can freak out.


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## Camelle (Feb 11, 2013)

That sounds about right. I can tell you though that my rat Loki is terrified of thunder (humorously enough) so it is possible but when he's scared he doesn't tear up his cage in fact he almost doesn't even move. He hides under things and I usually have to get him out and hold him and he huddles under my hair and cowers.


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## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

Wow, she did go a little nuts there! Does it not usually thunderstorm in your area?
My girls love thunder storms. They get very excited and want nothing more than to go by the window and watch it. But I imagine the loud noises and flashing lights can be very stressful, poor girl.


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## zurfaces (Jan 16, 2013)

Well my new place has thinner walls than the old one. This is the second summer we've had her and the first summer at our new place. Also last summer I believe they were on bedding not fleece so I wouldnt have noticed. The thunderstorm we had when she did this was terrible. All night long big booming house shaking thunder. Usually they're not that loud. 

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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Some rats kind of build up pressure... first they get quiet and then they go nuts. I'm working on outdoor training with my girl Amelia. She will sit next to me on the bench for about half an hour and even interact with other people for a while and then she will start to get more and more uncomfortable and eventually she just need to run like crazy. I usually put her on a fence rail and she will do sprints for a few hundred yards, back and forth to burn off the anxious energy before she can calm down again. Otherwise she'll start digging a den or dive into some dark hole to de-stress. I suspect the length of the thunderstorm finally pushed her over the edge.

True shoulder rats tend to get anxious when you take them outside then calm down as they get used to the open spaces and the people... Other rats tend to start out amazingly calm and composed and then build up to a complete freak out. It's just the way your particular rat is wired.


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