possessed weaving? (and a couple other ?s)

[ADEE]

miss big ears is the only one doing it right now.. we had all three of them out to "play" and she would stop periodically to weave, i dont know if its her red eyes or what but she gets this blank stare on her face and starts weaving.. goes on for a minute or two and shes fine. it happened several times tonight.


also, is jumping over one another a dominant thing or just play? they arent biting while they do it i just found it odd (and cute of course)

i think remy might be preggy shes gotten pretty fat since the last time we played with her, they all three have gotten fatter looking, but her mostly.. i think part of it is having food every day normally.. im sure they had to fight for food at the pet store, any insight to the situation?

if one of them has babys will i need to seperate them? i suppose i should have a bin ready for her right? how would i know when to "expect" babys or even to confirm pregnancy??


thanks!

[ADEE]

:bump:

[frankykeno]

Here's a link to help understand the head weave.

http://www.quite.co.uk/rats/#Head-weaving

As long as she's just doing that weaving thing, it's no biggie. If it's a constant head tilt, it can be a health issue. Here's an excerpt from the link (you might want to head up on wry neck and head tilt to make sure she's not showing these things)....

Head-weaving is often seen in rats with pink or red eyes. The rat will usually stand still and weave its head from side to side for a while. This is perfectly normal; all rats are short-sighted (although they can sense movement from some distance, they can only focus for a few feet), but any animal with pink or red eyes has worse eyesight than those with dark eyes. Moving the head from side to side helps the rat to judge distances and the depth of objects by making them appear to move. This should not be considered a fault or problem - rats sense smells, sounds and movement (by feeling vibrations on the floor) much more acutely than humans, and can cope perfectly well with limited eyesight. Note that there is a different, unrelated condition called head tilt or wry-neck, where the rat holds its head on one side permanently. This can be caused by a inner-ear infection, or a brain tumour; it needs urgent veterinary attention.

I've seen it occasionally with some of my red/pink eyed rats though not often, just here or there with a few of them.

Pregnant rats generally develop a distinct pear shape about a week or so before giving birth and will nest build around 24-48 hours before delivery. If you believe her to be pregnant you can leave her in with the other two females, they won't bother her or you can seperate her out, which is a bit easier on her to not have to jostle for food or water and get a bit more quiet rest before the pinks arrive.

As far as jumping on each other, that's just play and some establishment of who is boss rat in the group. Rats are very social and like most social animals use play as a way to sort themselves out. Rats will often stand upright and box, wrestle and so forth. One of our biggest males has always settled down the irritating younger males by simply stomping over and sitting on them/flopping on top of them LOL.

[ADEE]

thanks so much for the info on weaving.. it is in miss big ears whos our red eye rat.. we were freaking out wondering wtf she was doing. she was standing behind the leg of a chair and it almost looked like she was playing peek-a-boo (think it could be a americas funniest home video?) lol good ole' miss big ears, glad its nothing more.

as for remy, she is getting fatter in her belly faster then the other two, sadly they were kept together with males (yeah, they "tried" to seperate them and the rats woudl just go under the divider) is there any worry that shes too young? i might put together a bin like yours (i need material list hehe) so i can seperate her, she woudl then at least be in the room where the kids dont go, lower traffic, calmer, exc.

thank you thank you your great jo

[frankykeno]

Ashely if she's preggers the absolute easiest thing to do is just grab a ten gallon tank and a good mesh lid. You can find them for about $10 at WalMart (don't buy the lid there though...those plastic lids suck for rats). Mesh lids that have a metal frame for about $10 can be found at most pet stores plus a couple of the metal lid clips (sold seperately 2 to a bag, rated by size of tank...about $4 I think). Better yet check yard sales and call friends...usually you'll find a lot of used 10 gallon fish tanks laying around for a couple of dollars. I've never had to buy a new 10 gallon yet LOL.

Then all you need is a bit of aspen bedding, a food bowl and a small water bottle and you're set with a perfect maternity tank. The side benefit is if you don't need it for that, you always have a spare small tank around if one of the rats is sick or you are quarantining a new rat.

Which bin did you need a materials list for hon?

[frankykeno]

Pics of preggie rats...

[littleindiangirl]

lol, i thought my girl was pregnant when I got her. She just SHOT up with her weight. Thats why we named her big mama. But, she hasnt gained anymore weight, and she is actually not the biggest mama we have. They were also being kept together with one male [we brought him home too, Lil pimp ] so it was possible. But she has just hit the 4 month old this past 2 weekends ago. I think... lol

[ADEE]

ok, shes not that big yet.. thanks for the pic it really helped, she is progressively getting bigger though, they all three are thanks to good food but it seems like she is more so (shes also a bit of a loner most of the time sleeping alone while the other two snuggle all the time) so is it better to use a bin or a 10gal? im a bit confused by the message you left.

a shopping list similar to what i got when starting the snakes was awesome, i know i saw an advertisement on craigslist for 2 10gal tanks for 10 total.. could always contact that person too. speaking of craigslist, that lady with the nice big rat cage has dropped off the face of the earth, not even a message stating its been sold poowee

ill post pics of all three of them holding them up like that to show you