This is why your rat shakes!! (read me)

This is Clover and she is my first pet rat, I grew up with hamsters, but rats are completely different. I was unaware of a rat's mating ritual, until my rat started shaking violently and arching her back and I thought something was wrong. At first I thought she was afraid of my blanket, or thought she had hurt her back, but rats do not shake when they are scared, they wave their heads side to side, and also my rat has no reason I could find for back problems. Rats go into heat every four or five days, which is why I couldn't figure out what was wrong, because she didn't shake all the time. When rats shake or "buzz" their ears, they are "flirting" and similarly to hamsters, when they are in heat rats also arch their backs. I thought this video and information would be useful to any rookie rat owners.

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Pets & Animals

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• why
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• rat
• shakes!
• (read
• me)

[meganmarie5072]

omg thats so funny my rat looks just like yours so funny to bad she wont look at yje screen she is on my shoulder cleaning herself haha oh i never iknew that when they wave there heads they are scared well mine is like it looks like she is shifting her wieght is that the same thing?

[Boughlogna1]

Yeah shifting it looks like they are shifting their weight when they are scared. they can't see very well so they are trying to figure out if it's safe or if they should run.

[TrIsHyPoOh81]

i use to own 4 males yrs ago and never noticed or knew about that omg kool information and thanks!

[Boughlogna1]

only the females will shake like that

[Tainex007]

uhh that just saved me the urgent trip to the vet..:D

thanks :)

[first time she came in heat i took her to the vet and they said she had epilepsy,so i got rly scared now :D ]

[Boughlogna1]

yeah I freaked out the first time too, and wasn't sure what to do, they come into heat about every four days. Mine doesn't shake as much anymore like she used to.

[SkyeSong777]

@Tainex007 I also took mine to the vet and he didn't even suggest that she might have been in heat. People in the Yahoo rat group that I went to though said she might be in heat.

[SkyeSong777]

Thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!!! My rat Sabine does this also and I was convinced she was having seizures. I even rushed her to the vet.

[meganmarie5072]

omg thats so funny my rat looks just like yours so funny to bad she wont look at yje screen she is on my shoulder cleaning herself haha

[PhantomTreeBeast]

They sway their heads side to side to get a better perception of their surroundings, especially if red-eyed. Things in foreground move faster, things further away move slower.

[colonelkillyou]

even though my rats are well past the age to go into heat theyve never stood still long enoughto let me pet them ever and so ive never seen them do that

[volleyfox4]

i have a naked rat and her name is Clover!!! your rat is soooooo cute!!!! there so funny when there in heat however mine are spayed now so they dont do this anymore :( oh well, no tumors for my little ratties (: and i have videos of it so thats good enough hahaha

[racehorse87]

Also -- arching the back is called "lordosis behavior" in technical terms. :)

And I thought that waving the head from side to side was actually used to see better. Rats have poor vision and see better when the world is moving. At least, that's the reasoning I've heard behind the head movements. Rats with red eyes tend to do it more, presumably because their vision is worse.

[racehorse87]

The ear wiggling is the funniest thing ever. Hahaha. My rats do that too. :D