# Share your rats' odd (funny) behaviors



## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

I just love the way rats have different personalities and quirky behaviors. Let's share some funny stories!

1. Two of my girls, Freyja and Nimh, always run on the wheel together, never alone.
2. Whenever I'm sitting on the floor during free range, my boys will come shooting out from wherever they're hiding/playing and popcorn into and all over my lap before racing off again.
3. My husband has a drawer on his desk that he'll occasionally open to find 2 or 3 rats camped out in.
4. While moving things I found my rats' secret lair which just happened to be filled with my mechanical pencils...which they pulled out of my school bag. I kept wondering how I was losing all my pencils lol


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## sarasmithhh (Oct 8, 2014)

My girl louise LOVES sleeping in the litter box, she has hammocks, igloos, little beds, a hanging tube, a bunch of places she could sleep but that little stinker chooses the litter box lol 

And my girl Thelma she will just sit there and then randomly jump up straight into the air and I've never seen a rat just jump straight up, she looks like a little rocket ship


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## Grotesque (Mar 19, 2014)

All mine have their quirks and antics but Wafer drives me crazy with hers. She takes the litter out of the litterbox piece by piece and puts it in the igloo house until she has a pile big enough to sleep on. She also tears a hole in the fleece so she can crawls around under it and harass the other rats. 

She used to camp the water bottle to wrestle with any other rat who was thirsty and trying to drink, but now that I have two water bottles, she tends to do the same thing at the bottom of the ladder. She likes to ambush her unsuspecting sisters.


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## Sabatea (Aug 23, 2014)

Dela will only ever boggle when there is more than one person playing with her. 

It's also hilarious to watch them fight for the wheel. When Dela's in heat she likes to run on it, but it annoys Neera because Neera runs faster, so when they're both on it she's practically climbing up the wheel trying to go faster. XD There was also one time Dela shoved Neera out of the wheel and apparently she wasn't done, so she grabbed the outside of the wheel and let it turn until she got to the top and she jumped into the basket hanging on the side of the cage. XDD


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## zmashd (Dec 25, 2013)

Stig loves taking all the blankies out of their cube bed, then immediately going inside it and pulling everything back in, blocking his way out, pushing everything back out with him as he leaves. He does this all the time. It's so funny! Then Pop goes behind him and puts everything back in, and the cycle continues. x)


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## LilCritter (Feb 25, 2014)

Devi likes to tell me when to clean the litter box... be it the day it has been changed, or when the time really comes to change it... She shoves all the litter out of the litterbox and then stares at me like she's saying "I got it out, now you clean it."

Denna is my fatty and likes to stash her food in plain sight, so the other girls will often take her stash... then when she notices that her food is gone, she jumps into the air in surprise and frantically looks for it... then she eats it all when she finds it.

Fela is my troublemaker; whenever I am giving out treats, she has to try to take it from one of the other girls... Even when I'm obviously holding a treat out and calling her.

Auri can only be pet on her terms. You touch her when she doesn't want to be, she's gone... but then she comes back... It's like she can't decide - she has to be where the action is, but the action is getting touched.


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## Ratsinmybeard (Dec 27, 2014)

Chloe is a mail theif. The desk their enclosure is where we lay our mail when we walk in the door. She drags it backwards and up the ramp into her enclosure. Mystery is a little bit shy but still very friendly. She does steel treats from Chloe b<<<Chloe just typed that b as I was writing this lol.


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## VeeVeeLa (Dec 24, 2014)

During play time on my bed, Remy loves to stare at my door whenever there's any activity going on outside. Its like he's waiting for someone to come in lol. But when someone does come in, he runs away.He also likes to initiate play with my upper arm sometimes. Like, I can't reach you right there xDAnother thing I just noticed; when he yawns, he yawn REALLY big and sticks his little tounge out on the side like a little derp xD


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## ponderosa (Oct 13, 2014)

When Marburg was still alive, I saw him and Odin running on their Flying Saucer wheel at the same time, in opposite directions. They were spinning each other off, and then climbing back on. Now that Marburg has passed, only one uses it at a time; but I'd love to see that again and try to get it on video. 

Odin is a "bodybuilder." He likes to run on the wheel a lot, and climb on the cage, even climbing upside down like a monkey. A while back, we were holding him, and realized, "He has a chest like a pit bull!" Also, he has the nickname "Pinhead" because on the day we got him, he immediately started climbing around looking for weaknesses in the cage, and my fiance said "that one is going to be a little hellraiser." The nickname stuck. He makes chasing him a game if you try to get him out of the cage. 

Samantha has a lot of funny habits. When a person walks by, she loves to mug for attention by climbing on the cage bars and staring with puppy-dog eyes. She will also chew on the cage bars. Loudly. So, it's hard not to take her out. But she doesn't want to be held... she wants to crawl on your shoulders. And your head. And burrow into your hair. So your hair literally becomes a rat's nest. 

My girls have taken up the habit of sleeping in their litterbox too. I haven't been too successful at litter-training them.


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## hrl20100 (May 1, 2013)

Roxi will let me know when she wants to get up onto my bed by standing on her hind legs and pawing at my leg. As soon as I pick her up, she runs over to my pillow and immedietly starts cleaning herself. Every time!

Ebby will constantly store things. I will have the cage open and she has a place where she stores loads of stuff (socks included) and she will take food out of her foodbowl (thats in her cage) and put all the food under their cardboard castle. Shes running backwards and forwards between the cage and castle constantly moving her food! Incredibly annoying.

Rosie is funny :') she hates it when her paws are dirty, or wet. So when she fishes for peas, she sticks her whole head in the bowl (she hates water so this is weird of her) she refuses to get her paws wet. Even when she holds the pea (that will be slightly wet) she will flick her paws around and wipe them on the fleece to dry them, then clean her paws XD


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## Jess <3 (Jan 23, 2014)

One of my girls, Bonnie, will literally jump on to or off of anything no matter how high. She climb onto my head to jump off and escape the cardboard i use to rat proof my room. She also has an obsession with climbing to the top of her cage (liberta explorer) and then from there getting onto the top of my wardrobe, she's slowly leading the other girls astray too! Oh, and she also has made a habit of walking along the top of the open cage door to sneak up on me and jump onto my head! 

One of my boys, Tyrion, loves cuddles and chooses to climb into the same position on my lap every time i get him out. He lies across one of my legs when i'm cross legged and rests his head in the crook of my arm.

Another girl Thea, is obsessed with licking fingers and more recently ears. 

I had a male rat going back about a year called Albie, a couple of times i caught him lent against the wall in a hand stand position to pee! 

My two hairless boys (RIP Gaius and Merlin) loved water unlike the rest of my rats. I think maybe it's because they didn't have to worry about their fur drying off. One quick shake and they were dry! I'd fill a cat litter tray with water, pebbles and frozen peas and sweetcorn in the summer and they'd spend hours bobbing for the veg in the water and splashing about. 

Another rat, Maisy (wayyyy back when i was eleven years old!) would run straight to me no matter where i put her in the room. I'd also let her perch on the side of my plate when i was eating and share food with her, and her sister Miley would nibble skips that we held in our mouths. 

I could go on all day so i'll stop there haha!


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## Dan203 (Jul 10, 2014)

Durring free time Buddy likes to grab 2-3 pieces of food (Oxbow) then runs up and eats it sitting next to me on the couch. Every time Nibbler hears him eating he'll dart up here too and steal a piece of the food. Even though they have a big bowl in their cage and the door is always open and ramp up. He only gets hungry when he can come steal a piece from Buddy.  

Buddy is the only one of the 4 that likes to run on the wheel. But when he does he'll run for a few seconds, then stop and sniff around, then run for a few more, stop and sniff. It's like he's expecting to be somewhere new everytime he runs.


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## relken0608 (Jul 11, 2013)

I love how Auri is skittish but affectionate, just like her namesake! And interesting to see Fela as a troublemaker rather than Devi...In any case, I love the names! In a few years when I have my own place and get new rats, they'll probably be Wil and Sim 



LilCritter said:


> Devi likes to tell me when to clean the litter box... be it the day it has been changed, or when the time really comes to change it... She shoves all the litter out of the litterbox and then stares at me like she's saying "I got it out, now you clean it."
> 
> Denna is my fatty and likes to stash her food in plain sight, so the other girls will often take her stash... then when she notices that her food is gone, she jumps into the air in surprise and frantically looks for it... then she eats it all when she finds it.
> 
> ...


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## relken0608 (Jul 11, 2013)

My boy likes to have his face buried? If he's cuddling with me, he has to tuck his nose into a crease of my clothes somewhere. His favorite spot is in the crook of my elbow, where he stuffs his entire face in my elbow and bruxes. Sometimes he has to peek out for a few seconds before diving back in, I wonder if he's catching some fresh air?


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## Tao.and.Laughter (Jan 24, 2015)

One of my girls, Meeka, is a nail biter - Specifically, my nails! She'll hold onto the tip of my fingers and try to chew my nails. Nothing excessive, but just like she's testing them out. My big girl, Clover, has taken to sleeping in the wheel. My husband jokes that, since she's the oldest, it's the only place that she can use to hide from the other three kids running around the cage.


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