# When are your rats most active?



## Cookie34 (Dec 7, 2017)

Just out of interest do you notice if your rats have their own routines? I noticed mine become active from 9pm sharp most nights lol


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## Shadow <3 (Jan 25, 2017)

In my experience, their activity correlates with free-range time. I usually let my girls out at 10pm, so they'll wake up around 9:50 or so then stretch, eat a bit, and then wait by the bars to be taken out. When I was on thanksgiving break and was letting them out at 12am, they began to wake up then instead of at 10pm. And when I went back to the usual scedule, so did they.

Otherwise, thy do wake up at certain intervals a throught the day to eat, drink, groom, and potty, but otherwise they stay pretty inactive until it's play time.


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## Steffy (Oct 6, 2017)

Mine do that too, correlate their activity with free range time that is.
Waking up at 5 pm, waiting at the door and then running around for an hour or so, getting feed, stashing food and then having a good long nap somewhere. Then Blazy runs around for a bit and goes back home at 9:30-10 pm to sleep, while Monsterchen never goes home on her own and always wants to explore more. 
In the morning they are usually already up when we get up just before 7 and they get about an hour of free range time then.


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## athenianratdaddy (Dec 20, 2017)

Wild (e.g. woodrats) and commensal rats (_R. norvegicus) _are active mostly at night because that's the safest time for a small mammal to be moving around in the forest. Domestic rats (still _R. norvegicus_, but quite different behaviorally--though not different enough to give rise to a different species--yet) retain some of that nocturnal life rhythms (I sleep with earplugs for that reason) but hey can also adjust to the habits of their human caretakers. Especially when there's food involved. The major play time for my rats comes between 7-9 pm. Sometimes, if it's getting too late, I have to get them going so they get their play time before I have to go to bed. But they're also getting used to having a treat in the morning when I wake up. If I'm not going anywhere that morning, maybe the rats will also come out for a short play session. I say 'maybe' because I've noticed that one of them (Mabsy) generally avoids coming out during the day. She's perfectly fine all curled up by herself while the other two endow in their usual climbing routines. So, yes, they could have their own routines? The evening play session is usually much longer and involves all three. I assume a major change will come when I start taking them out with me when I leave the apartment. At this point I'm just getting them used to being inside the carrying pouch. I think one of them (Zoe, the trooper) is ready, it's just a matter of days. I remember taking rats with me for up to 3-4 hours and something like that is definitely going to change their life's clock since they're usually asleep during those hours. But rats are very adaptable and they will happily accommodate your schedule! This having been said, I think it's important to provide rats with several hours of absolute darkness and quiet (which is not hard to do, since most of us go to sleep at night).


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## Cara (Jul 5, 2017)

My rats usually wake up in the morning around the time I wake up (around 9-10am) then they sleep until my partner gets home from work (4pm) then they sleep until free range time (7-10pm, depending), then they stay up until... I dunno, I'm usually in bed by 12am and they stop playing by then but I don't know if they are awake or not. So, not only do they wake up for free range time but also when they know mom and dad will be home or waking up.


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## Lunchy (Aug 28, 2017)

My boys kind of wake up a bit when me and my partner get up for work (ranging between 6am-9am depending on shifts). They don't get any treats around this time, but they usually get quick cuddles in the cage and sometimes my partner lets them out for a few minutes to say hi. After that they sleep for what seems like forever, waking up for the occasional snack and drink, then right back to sleep. Their hour free-range time is usually after 8pm, so around 7-8pm they start waking up, eating and grooming to get ready, and once they're back in their cage they're normally quick active until sometime after midnight when they'll go back to sleep. A couple of times when I've slept on the couch next to them, I've heard them fight around 3-4am so that must be part of their routine top


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