# carries her tail weird?!



## renay (May 30, 2007)

Okay so my new little adoptee Monkey always walks around with her tail up in the air, like it is never let just sit on the floor of the cage or whatever surface the rest of her body is on, I'm thinking that maybe shes in heat? I've only had her for a day now but I noticed it right away.. any ideas?


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## amandahoney (May 14, 2007)

one of mine does that as well. i've heard before that rats who run on wheels will adopt that kind of posture. mine has never been on a wheel in her life, and she still does it. my theory is that mine does it because she really likes wading in trays of water, and she's gotten into the habit of keeping her tail dry. just a thought.


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## renay (May 30, 2007)

oooo.. I hope she likes water, none of the others do, I'll have to test that theory out later  YAY!


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## Lellen (Aug 11, 2007)

lol try to get a pic of her running around like that, ive never seen a rat run with their tail up. sounds kinda cute actually lol


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## renay (May 30, 2007)

it actually is, but getting a picture of her at a good angle is hard enough since she runs around a lot, so no guarantees, but i'll try my best


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## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

Sounds like wheelie tail to me. Comes sometimes in rats that love the wheel and have been given a wheel too small. If you don't have one, you might get one for her!


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## Mana (Apr 22, 2007)

Does the tail curl over her back? I love my ratties' wheelie-tails ^_^ And mine like getting their tails wet, but maybe that's just because it's been so hot this summer, it keeps them nice and cool ^_^


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Actually wheelie tail can be just from learning to carry their tail on any size wheel. A rat with wheelie tail doesn't necessarily have been in one too small for them.

I have a wheelie tail girl, she is a very very avid runner. The others will carry their tails in the appropriate wheelie fashion but it will relax back to normal once they stop and get off.


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## renay (May 30, 2007)

Hm I don't have a wheel, but my aunt is supposed to give me hers that she bought for her guinea pigs.. which is no doubt too small for them anyone... has anyone actually seen a pig run in a wheel? :? I will definately put a wheel in her cage, its lacking in the toy department anyway


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

renay said:


> Hm I don't have a wheel, but my aunt is supposed to give me hers that she bought for her guinea pigs.. which is no doubt too small for them anyone... has anyone actually seen a pig run in a wheel? :? I will definately put a wheel in her cage, its lacking in the toy department anyway


Pigs will not use wheels, they are very very earthbound animals. Just not built for it.


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## renay (May 30, 2007)

im not surprised... my guinea pigs have become my dogs guinea pigs, when they free roam they're practically supervised by maggy, but they probably weigh more than maggy does anyway. She isn't let play with them as much as she likes though because we're scard she'll smother them with all of her kisses.


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## Whiskers (Jun 29, 2007)

[align=center]One of my rats runs in the wheel a lot.
Her tail goes up when she runs on it, but when she gets off the tail goes back down.
How come it doesn't stay up like Renay's rat's tail does?[/align]


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## Mana (Apr 22, 2007)

If you watch her when she's out of the wheel, and compare how she carries and holds her tail to the other girl's, it will probably curl more easily. Sometimes my wheel-rats' tails look normal, but they do tend to get curlier ^_^


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## OnlyOno (Apr 4, 2007)

hey lellen! here's a pic of picasso running around with her tail held straight up, sometimes she does this when she's tracking down a wierd smell, lol.










wheelie tail is different though, that's when the tail is held actually curled over (like a husky tail) in a loop over their back.


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## aquabutterfly13 (Aug 20, 2007)

My Brown dumbo Kaluha always runs around with her tail in the air I'm thinking it might from a wheel I can't really be sure since we adopted her but I know that in the wheel we have in her cage now she barely goes in it at all. Also my blond dumbo likes to go around and hump the other rats I though this might be a heat type thing but she does it all the time so I guess shes just trying to assert herself


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## renay (May 30, 2007)

its not wheelie tail, it doesn't curl over her back, she holds her tail exactly like your picasso.


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## Matt (Jun 14, 2007)

Whiskers said:


> [align=center]One of my rats runs in the wheel a lot.
> Her tail goes up when she runs on it, but when she gets off the tail goes back down.
> How come it doesn't stay up like Renay's rat's tail does?[/align]


I have one male who LOVES the wheel and is always on but his tails goes back down when he gets off.


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## OnlyOno (Apr 4, 2007)

i'm not sure why picasso carries her tail up like that, but it's not all the time that she does that. i know that wild rats run with their tails and their whole body low to the ground, so maybe it's just a kind of scampering they do when they feel safe? maybe it's a dominance thing? wheelie tail is a completely different look, so even though picasso runs in her wheel a lot, i don't attribute her upright tail to the wheel at all. picasso kind of always carries her tail above the ground, though not always as high as in that picture, and she is definitely the more outgoing of my girls. maybe it's just a perky personality thing?


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## renay (May 30, 2007)

Lol it sounds exactly like what your picasso does, and you could very well be right about the dominance thing since she is housed with her two 5 and a half week old babies.


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## Lellen (Aug 11, 2007)

lol OnlyOno, that is too cute, thanks for posting that pic. it looks so funny since their tails are soooo long!


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## rattikins (Jun 12, 2007)

This is kind of off topic, but I find it so funny - only one of my girls like to run in her wheel, but she does love it, does it everyday. 

Here's the funny thing though, she makes me laugh because she'll just stroll along in there like she's shopping or something! 

It's so funny because we used to have a hamster who would almost fly out of the wheel she went so fast, and now with our ratty she just strolls along like it's a walk in the park or she's on a treadmill! LOL


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