How do you tell if a rat is over stimulated?

Question

i had my oldest rat out tonight. he's six months old. he was shaking while sitting in my lap. well more like vibrating.

ok i had the emergency vet come and take a look at him and he did it again. she said from what she saw it wasn't a seizure. she took some blood and said she'd call me with the results. what else could it be? she also told me not to let him get to worked up until she calls. how do i tell if he is getting to worked up?

Answer 1

Your boy is at that age, 5 to 6 months old, when hormones (testosterone) could be starting to make him testy. If he were getting sexually over-stimulated by your petting he would be acting out a lot more then just vibrating.

Some males get very upset when you pet their bums because it feels to them like another male trying to mount them. In their disagreement as to who is boss the mountee will turn and bite the mounter, and he would do the same to your hand if this is what he is feeling. He would not sit still and vibrate.

How do I describe this? Do you see him physically vibrate, or is it a buzzing that you can feel through your skin while he is sitting on your lap? This buzzing has been described by many rat-keepers as a sign of contentment, like a cat purring, or a sign of fear. I can't imagine that it would be fear because you've had him for so long and he has settled into your home. People talk about this fear buzzing when they are handling rats at the pet store.

spazrats
"my life has gone to the rats"

Answer 2

There could be several reasons for this. He could have been chilled, frightened, or far worse having a seizure. My rats sometimes tremble when my 4 yr old dog is near, he's a bit hyper and it scares them. The more they spend around him, the less they are scared. Call the vet and just ask what could have caused him to do this. I have a mouse that suffers from seizures and lost a hamster I was taking home during a rescue pick up from a seizure.

Answer 3

My rat only shakes if he's scared of the vacuum. Rats like interaction and variety but can be frightened easily, and a study was recently done that said rats can become depressed after being subjected to fearful situations.

A link, in case you were interested in where I got that from:

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2007-03-13T230731Z_01_N13185334_RTRIDST_0_SCIENCE-STRESS-BRAIN-DC.XML

Answer 4

take him to the vet, there might be something wrong like diabetes