Deaf or very sleepy rat

I have two little female dumbos that are approximately 6 weeks old. One of them has a personality to die for but I've noticed that when she's asleep and I go into check on her she doesn't budge when she hears me. Her sister wakes right up but this girl is sound asleep. Today she didn't even budge when I touched her and I thought for sure she was dead or dying but after I rubbed her for a few seconds she popped right up and acted perfectly normal.

You think something is wrong with her or is she just a very sleepy baby?

Some are just very heavy sleepers. When I was breeding rats as a hobby, I would get some babies (pups/weanlings) that were such heavy sleepers that you could pull them from the nest and dangle them over your finger or gently play with them for up to five minutes before they actually woke up.

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Originally Posted by Bettacreek

Some are just very heavy sleepers. When I was breeding rats as a hobby, I would get some babies (pups/weanlings) that were such heavy sleepers that you could pull them from the nest and dangle them over your finger or gently play with them for up to five minutes before they actually woke up.

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That makes me feel better because I really like this rat. She is just so sweet and friendly.

Thanks

my dumbo is the same way just got used to me pokin around i guess,she,s so docile i can reach and and handle pups without gettin bit her mate phatbasterd is the same way has never bitten
the other witch though is a diffrent story, she,s snake food as soon as her pups are weened! and this time i mean it lol

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Originally Posted by rishnack

my dumbo is the same way just got used to me pokin around i guess,she,s so docile i can reach and and handle pups without gettin bit her mate phatbasterd is the same way has never bitten
the other witch though is a diffrent story, she,s snake food as soon as her pups are weened! and this time i mean it lol

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Thanks for the reply . . .LOL! I know what you mean about Snake Food. I had one I named SnakeFood but unfortunately, I didn't have anything big enough to eat her so I kept her as a breeder and was super careful when I went near her.

These are my first Dumbo's so I'm anxious to see if they stay as sweet as they are now. I heard Dumbo's don't breed as well?

Heck Laurie my Dumbo's breed and mother just as well as any of my regular rats. One was such a stellar mother that when she reached the end of her breeding life we've "promoted" her to caring for the future female breeders. We laughingly call it our "finishing school for female rats" LOL. I find letting them go from their momma's to a tub with Dee the Dumbo in it helps them pick up her nice ways and makes for easier handling down the road for me when I'm working around them and their litters.

I have found, and this may be just my own experience, that Dumbo's seem to have a sweeter nature to them. I can't think of the last time a dumbo eared rat in our colony nipped me. They do seem to be just a bit less hyper, more lazy natured and easy to manage. Could just be my own colony though but I've heard that from others about their Dumbo eared rats.

We finally have a dumbo in our colony. After years of breeding rats, none ever popped up in the breedings and I could never find any at stores. Amy and I went to Petsmart one day to get dog food and saw a dumbo male there. He was so sweet and she somehow got me to spend $14 on him. Ridiculous...But Dumbarrio is extremely sweet and has just fathered his first litter. Hopefully I'll have dumbos in my colony for years to come. Of course now the question is whether I can feed them off!

Well to be honest Jamie, I find it a bit harder to feed them off than I do the regular rats but I figure after dealing with it enough, I'll get past that just like I had to with the top eared rats.

We never could find a dumbo for sale around here either. Then one day I start getting dumbo eared babies. Apparently I had some adults that were carrying the genetics for that and just stumbled on the right combination to produce them, purely by chance really. Now I have quite a few of them in a variety of colors and patterns.

one of my mice is like that... I wondered the same thing

I might just end up with a crapload of pet dumbos... :)