# Bizarre Sleeping?



## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

View attachment 77354
Here is Circe. She's got her head flat down and tail curled around her. Other rats do this, some sleep on their sides I've even had some on their backs. Some sleep stretched completely flat others contorted like a cat. Is there a normal way for rats to sleep?

My rats tend to sleep in weird positions, is there anything I can translate from this? What I mean is, is it too bright or too loud when they sleep face down like this? It's cute when they are all piled up and sort of makes sense then, but when they are alone it is bizarre.

Also, when some of them wake up their eyes seem to be "stuck" shut, and require grooming to open. I thought it was an eye infection but when I ran my finger over them I felt nothing. In thirty seconds from opening they seem to be normal. My rats are really lazy and go through a "process" to wake up... Shift position, find out why I am bothering them or where I am, stretch out then groom, then they are awake...then they stretch a bit and run around and are 'up'. I was wondering if this was them being lazy or a serious concern? There does not seem to be porphyrin but I learned from the vet that Caius (their mom) has clear mucus she secretes so.


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## watts300 (Aug 3, 2013)

Normal? Yep. 









Both of my rats sleep alone. They're generally not on the same platform, but sometimes they are. But they definitely never sleep touching each other.


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## Xerneas (Aug 6, 2013)

One of my girls sleeps like this sometimes and a whole other host of strange ways too. I've heard that having the face down can be a way to block out sound but my room and house are very quiet. I think they're just trying to sleep deeply. When my girl puts her face down she looks like a big puff ball and you don't even know which end is her butt and which is her face lol. 

If you have sheltered places for them to sleep I think they would just go there if they wanted to avoid the brightness. I don't know how loud your house is but if it's noisy it could very well be trying to block out noise. If it's not any of those, she's just trying to be comfy, I'm sure. My rats sleep on their sides, on their backs, curled up, face down, upside down (jk ), alone, together, etc... I don't think there is a "normal" way for them to sleep, they are so silly.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

It's noisy, which was my concern. 4 parakeets sleep with us and the parakeets are up at dawn asleep when lights go out...and snore. Rarely a quiet moment. I try to offer bird nests (like the fluffy ones for macaws) to have a quiet place to get to. They destroy all attempts to cover the cage via fabric.

They are so weird. That's definitely one thing that never came up in research. I was pretty sure she was sick at first, thought a stretched out one was dead and even violently shook the male who slept on his back because I thought he was dead so surely. Man. Rats constantly have me on my toes. Most of my rats sleep together so I have to count tails to find rats and sometimes there is still one that pops up in the center.

Any ideas on the eye thing?

(BTW Circe woke up to see me after I took this, ambled off to eat her treat and promptly returned to this position)


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## lalalauren (Jul 3, 2013)

This is Badger in the first week we had him. He's never done this since then :/ 

Thought it might be a comfort thing. Pretty worrying for me though - I have flashbacks to the last time I found a hamster curled up like that >.<


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

I always am concerned they will just pass away. I always count my birds and count my rats and bug them all. When Blueberry (my bird) got injured I took comfort in him sqwaking weakly at me haha.

I thought weird sleeping was a space things and a baby thing but it looks like it's sticking. Their father sleeps like it too. Only ever on that platform. They have a solid-bottom cage that they don't sleep on, only that or hammocks. I feel like...if they need more comfort, I offer 4 hammocks, a nest, a bridge-hammock, and a tunnel not counting the six hide houses they have. Thats more spaces than rats.


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## Chuck (Jul 15, 2013)

2 of my rats sleep like this. I have 4 rats in a DCN so it's not due to lack of space or hidey holes. I think some just find that position comfortable.


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## Laylicorn (Aug 14, 2013)

My three sleep under a blanket, in a pile, curled up like a cat. I've only had them for one night though..


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## Xerneas (Aug 6, 2013)

Lmao... This is how she sleeps. Funny every single time I see it.

(There's no bedding under her because my fleece hasn't come yet, they have a large towel but it's kinda bunched up.)


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