I noticed something VERY strange

[Ewa]

I hope I can explain this correct , I found this to be really strange and kind of scary. I was playing with Sophee, and I had her in my two hands one hand around her bottom and one wrapped around the top. ( kind of like when you are going to twist something ) And i picked her up closer to my face(still holding her like that) , and she froze. Her whole body stiffened , her eyes closed , and she gave a little shiver , like that movement paralyzed her. It didn't seem to hurt her and she didn't seem to care so i wanted to make sure that i did it and it wasn't a coincidence , so i did it again , and she did it again. Now , i don't know if rats are supposed to do that or if that is a fact that that will happen when you do that with them but it was kind of scary . Does anyone know anything about this?

 

[rat.charmer]

When she shivered...did her ears wiggle?

 

[Ewa]

no , her ears went back completely .... i don't know if your familiar with harry potter , but there is a movie where people get " petrified" it looks like that... scared.. i don't know she didn't care. :sad3:

 

[rat.charmer]

I want to say she's in estrus and is 'soliciting' you - esp. since you say you were touching her bottom.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 231AATRYKG

 

[eagle]

I would agree with rat.charmer.

 

[jorats]

Not all rats flutter their ears when in estrus. That could be it.
But try again a couple of times in the next few days and see if she still does it.
My Rocher freezes when I pick him up but not in one particular position.

 

[Ewa]

interesting ... I don't think she is doing that , i showed my grandfather this after noon and he says it looks like that position scares her . It just makes her freeze. i don't know though her ears don't wiggle at all!

 

[melon_mayhem]

I dont know if this will help or not but i found a website full of different rat behaviors.
This was one of the behaviors that sounded similar to what is happening to your rat

Tonic Immobility (also: cataleptic immobility, paroxysmal inhibition): Freezing behavior seen when pressure is applied to the upper back/nape of a rat (Grant and Mackintosh, 1963; Lehman and Adams 1977; Meyer 1990; Tikal 1991; Webster et al. 1981).

Tonic immobility may be seen when a rat performs a belly-up roll during an agonistic encounter. In this position, when the rat is completely prone, his upper back may contact the floor and the pressure may trigger a tonic immobility response which keeps the rat immoble for some time. Tonic immobility tends to last longer in subordinate rats (Tikal 1991). Tonic immobility may also serve to reduce the probability of an attack during a conflict, as animals prefer to attack moving targets (Thor et al. 1981). Immobility will not, however, inhibit all attacks as Blanchard et al. (1977) has shown that a motivated resident rat will attack an anesthetized intruder.

Tonic immobility can be artificially triggered by humans who apply pressure to the upper back. Tonic immobility may be related to dorsal immobility, in which a rat freezes when picked up by the scruff.

Tonic immobility may be related to "playing dead" or "animal hypnosis" in other species (e.g. guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens, quail etc.). For example, chickens who are manually restrained by a human may go limp and stay that way for some time.

Here's the link
http://www.ratbehavior.org/Glossary.htm

 

[jorats]

Oh ya, the tonic immobility. I had a few rats do that... each time I would hold them standing up with my hands on her sides, touch slightly the back and they stand up erect and freezes. That could be it.

 

[melon_mayhem]

It made sense to me, the back seems to be a sensitve place for many animals.
Like with cats if you lay them on their backs sometimes they freeze up because they have so many nerves in their back that it causes some kind of freezing reaction, it's very weird!

 

[Ewa]

Yes , that makes the most sense to me also , what you are describing is what she did

 

[melon_mayhem]

glad i could help

 

[dogsnbears]

I dont know if this will help or not but i found a website full of different rat behaviors.
This was one of the behaviors that sounded similar to what is happening to your rat

Tonic Immobility (also: cataleptic immobility, paroxysmal inhibition): Freezing behavior seen when pressure is applied to the upper back/nape of a rat (Grant and Mackintosh, 1963; Lehman and Adams 1977; Meyer 1990; Tikal 1991; Webster et al. 1981).

Tonic immobility may be seen when a rat performs a belly-up roll during an agonistic encounter. In this position, when the rat is completely prone, his upper back may contact the floor and the pressure may trigger a tonic immobility response which keeps the rat immoble for some time. Tonic immobility tends to last longer in subordinate rats (Tikal 1991). Tonic immobility may also serve to reduce the probability of an attack during a conflict, as animals prefer to attack moving targets (Thor et al. 1981). Immobility will not, however, inhibit all attacks as Blanchard et al. (1977) has shown that a motivated resident rat will attack an anesthetized intruder.

Tonic immobility can be artificially triggered by humans who apply pressure to the upper back. Tonic immobility may be related to dorsal immobility, in which a rat freezes when picked up by the scruff.

Tonic immobility may be related to "playing dead" or "animal hypnosis" in other species (e.g. guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens, quail etc.). For example, chickens who are manually restrained by a human may go limp and stay that way for some time.

Here's the link
http://www.ratbehavior.org/Glossary.htm

hmm, never heard of this before but it would explain whay my one male stiffens when i hold him a certain way.