# Afraid of heights?



## morgang23 (Jun 25, 2010)

So I have a rat who seems to be afraid of heights.. If their DCN is open and he happens to look over the edge he will run backwards until he hits something solid, he also freaks out if you place him on your shoulder and will walk backwards down you until he once again hits something solid, he prefers to be flat on the ground!!

Is this normal?

Also another weird thing about him, to get from a higher level down he won't climb the bars he just throws himself off 


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Rats have poor eyesight and rely on touch. They also are bad at climbing down and often just sort of fling themselves down. 

He probably grew up in a tank?


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I haven't seen any fear of heights with my rats.. Natural brown eyes or black ruby...









Fuzzy Rat had remarkable eyesight for a rat though and also liked to run along high chain link fences etc... Max also climbs trees as did my part wild all had brown eyes. Amelia really never did well outdoors and prefers to stay under things, indoors I found her on the top closet shelf, she has the black ruby eyes. My part wild loved to climb as high as she could using extension cords or electrical wires and leer down at people from the top of the fridge or tall cabinets.


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## Dragonsflame (Dec 8, 2013)

My rats will skirt the edge but never jump off. They peer intently over the edge of the bed or couch & scurry backwards if they are startled. The one time we placed them on the floor they scrambled like crazy to get back on the couch. We joked the floor must be made of lava. 
They have no fear of climbing up their cage, just going down. 


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## morgang23 (Jun 25, 2010)

He lived in a cage before I got him, he lived alone and I don't think he was socialized at all.. When I first got him and I'd go to take him from the cage he'd grab onto the bars and hold on with all he had just so I couldn't remove him from his cage.. 

I've got a homemade bonding pouch for him and if I'm not careful he will climb out and then drop down to the floor... 


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Is he blind? My blind rat will walk straight off my shoulder without a thought. It's different from the intentional throwing down.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

nanashi7 said:


> Is he blind? My blind rat will walk straight off my shoulder without a thought. It's different from the intentional throwing down.


Actually, I've had rats that have learned that if they walk off me I will catch them and have gotten really confused and annoyed when I was distracted and didn't.... 

It looks a bit like the human trust building exercise where the person is supposed to let himself fall backwards and the person behind them is supposed to catch them and doesn't... Splat - Oops... It's a sad kind of funny...


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Rat Daddy said:


> Actually, I've had rats that have learned that if they walk off me I will catch them and have gotten really confused and annoyed when I was distracted and didn't....
> 
> It looks a bit like the human trust building exercise where the person is supposed to let himself fall backwards and the person behind them is supposed to catch them and doesn't... Splat - Oops... It's a sad kind of funny...


She was my aggressive rat, who I doubt was ever handled before being dumped at the shelter in a 5 gal. I'm not sure even after owning her for 4 months she knows what's going on when I pick her up -- she has only learned not to bite me when I try. I doubt it helps her trust me when she suddenly falls, regardless of catching her.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I suppose a lifetime in a fish tank doesn't prepare a blind rat for a multi-level lifestyle. It's like not telling a blind person they are on a roof... Ouch!


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## morgang23 (Jun 25, 2010)

Nope he can see fine!! 


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## Gannyaan (Dec 7, 2012)

Your rat just May have a fear of heights? I've never heard of that, but maybe it's possible .... 

I just thought I'd warn you, a couple months ago another user poster on the forum that her rat jumped from the top level to the bottom and eventually broke her back .... Is there a way to encourage him to climb down? More ramps...? Or maybe jut make sure there's tons of squishy bedding to fall on? 

My rats always jump from their last rampto the bottom, but that's only a few inches... Maybe 4 or 5?



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## morgang23 (Jun 25, 2010)

It's a DCN so not much of a fall for him 


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

When Fuzzy Rat got old and had large tumors, she couldn't climb down from my desk... she pretty much just rolled herself off the edge onto the floor, believe it or not she never got hurt but she did usually did try to fall where something would slow her fall before she hit the floor. I'm 6'2'' and I've had rats fall off my shoulder lots of times onto all kinds of surfaces and never get hurt. It's not to be encouraged, but most rats are pretty durable.


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