Many years ago, my sister brought over her two new tiny little kittens. The rats i had at the time were super friendly and were always out when i was in the room, wanting to come hang out with me and get attention. At the sight of these two tiny kittens on the other side of the living room, they hid in their houses and boxes and wouldn't come out. It took me a while to realize why they were acting so terrified. Instinct told them cats are predators.
Funny thing is, when my other sister brought her two small puppies over another time, the rats were fine, hanging out on the top of the cage as usual, completely unfazed. I was very impressed these domestic rats knew the difference.
This has been years, and of course i have different rats now. My sister lives in the same apartment building as me, though we rarely visit each other. Last night, i was at her apartment for 10 minutes, and i pet her cat almost the whole time. When i came right back to my apartment, i took the rats out, 2 groups of 3 each, onto their play areas. They started acting strange, very uncharacteristic. Normally at night the adults want to explore and smell and snuggle, and the babies want to run around like crazy and play. All 6 were hidden and i could not see them at all. (The 2 groups are seperate for now, pending neuters, so they didn't just copy each other's reacions.) I tried to call them, get them to play, but they would not come out. I was so worried, until i finally pieced it together. The only things i did differently that night was go up to my sister's and pet her cat and come right back down. I KNOW that's what it was. I washed my hands and changed my clothes. The rats were terrified and completely immobile for an hour, wouldn't even take treats from me. Then they started moving. And by the time i went to bed, they would come out enough that i could pick them up.
I felt SOOO bad that i caused them this stress. I don't want them to be terrified in their own home. I want them to trust me.
This morning they were, i'd say, back to normal.
I found it interesting and amazing that they recognized even just the smell of a predator, even though it might've been the first time in their lives, just by the instinct they were born with. I will be very conscious of that from now on, and will never EVER do that to them again.
Funny thing is, when my other sister brought her two small puppies over another time, the rats were fine, hanging out on the top of the cage as usual, completely unfazed. I was very impressed these domestic rats knew the difference.
This has been years, and of course i have different rats now. My sister lives in the same apartment building as me, though we rarely visit each other. Last night, i was at her apartment for 10 minutes, and i pet her cat almost the whole time. When i came right back to my apartment, i took the rats out, 2 groups of 3 each, onto their play areas. They started acting strange, very uncharacteristic. Normally at night the adults want to explore and smell and snuggle, and the babies want to run around like crazy and play. All 6 were hidden and i could not see them at all. (The 2 groups are seperate for now, pending neuters, so they didn't just copy each other's reacions.) I tried to call them, get them to play, but they would not come out. I was so worried, until i finally pieced it together. The only things i did differently that night was go up to my sister's and pet her cat and come right back down. I KNOW that's what it was. I washed my hands and changed my clothes. The rats were terrified and completely immobile for an hour, wouldn't even take treats from me. Then they started moving. And by the time i went to bed, they would come out enough that i could pick them up.
I felt SOOO bad that i caused them this stress. I don't want them to be terrified in their own home. I want them to trust me.
This morning they were, i'd say, back to normal.
I found it interesting and amazing that they recognized even just the smell of a predator, even though it might've been the first time in their lives, just by the instinct they were born with. I will be very conscious of that from now on, and will never EVER do that to them again.
