I have pet rat and ever since I first got her, she's been making noises A LOT in her cage and she's never quiet when I sleep. During school I had a hard time in classes because I couldn't get to sleep because of my rat being so noisy. Even though I graduated now, she is still noisy and I still can't get to sleep whenever she is being active at night. I play and play with her during the day so maybe she'll sleep at night but that doesn't help. I feed her and give her more water before I go to bed and that still doesn't help. I've had a rat before so I know how to take care of them but this rat I have currently is more noiser than the last one I had. She likes to climb on the water bottle and knock that down, which is loud in a big fish tank. My parents say I should get rid of her but I don't want to. I bought her some chew toys but even that doesn't satisfy her. What can I do to make her quiet, or less noisy at night so I can get some sleep?
2007-06-27 10:29:55 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Rodents
Most pet rats are crepuscular, that is, they are most active during the cool twilight and dusk hours of the day, and they sleep off and on during the day and night. Are you giving her the time she needs to sleep during the day so that her sleep cycle is balanced?
Female rats are very active for their entire lives, so busy all the time. I understand that you play with her to try and tire her out but she's got more energy then you do, and that's to be expected in a female rat. Give them an inch and they want a mile. She's not getting enough time out of her cage as far as she's concerned.
Is she grooming you, licking and nibbling your hands? If not then it means you are not a member of her mischief and she's a rat's rat. She prefers the company of other rats rather then humans.
I believe that there are a couple of things going on in her life that make her unsatisfied. First, the aquarium condemns her to living in a bubble, depriving her of using all of her senses of smell, taste, and touch. Second, she's never has another rat to disapline her in ratty fashion to calm her "bad" behavior.
May I suggest that you get a barred cage for her and a cage mate to wear off her excess energy.
Rats like the company of their own kind
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=Rats+like+the+company+of+their+own+kind&ei=UTF-8&fr=ks-ans&ico-yahoo-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAmrLvrRZp8SXPzB.OHL0vAIazKIX%2FSIG%3D11ige762k%2FEXP%3D1183091966%2F*-http%253A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch&ico-wikipedia-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAjxFo9BLape1bXCUKlhunhIazKIX%2FSIG%3D1215l6cov%2FEXP%3D1183091966%2F*-http%253A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSpecial%253aSearch&p=Rats+like+the+company+of+their+own+kind
If you are unable to do these things, then the only thing you can do is to put in another room so you and your family can sleep.
spazrats
"my life has gone to the rats"
2007-06-27 17:57:45 · answer #1 · answered by spazrats 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Rats are most active during the night. If you can't sleep, just put her cage in another room.
Also, please consider getting another rat. Two rats are no harder to take care of than one and she is probably very lonely and bored, especially if she is knocking down the water bottle They will spend time grooming eachother and will not be as loud.
Also make sure she has a nice blanket or old article of clothing that she can snuggle up with. If you want, you can add soft materials to her cage right before you go to bed so she is busy with that
2007-06-27 11:19:00 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Main point: rats are nocturnal animals. They are awake during the night. There is very little that you can do about that.
Your rat may be bored, but getting another rat will not cut down on the night-time noise factor. When we got our second rat, the noise actually doubled because they were playing with each other so much.
Try keeping the cage in a room where no one sleeps or even in a closet at night. Also try getting a wire cage to cut down on the water bottle clunking noise.
good luck!
2007-06-27 10:58:00 · answer #3 · answered by harold137 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
We have both of them. My daughter has a albino lavender king snake plus we have 11 rats. Some however rats are up for adoption. We don't live feed her (snake) and mice or rats only frozen fuzzies we get from a pet store. We also have mice, Syrian hamsters, dwarf hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, cats, dogs, cockatiels, a few fish, a tarantula, an iguana, a wolf hybrid, a Pygmy goat and a red sheep. They are kept at my home and not in a shelter or pet store.
2016-05-17 17:39:13 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
She's probably bored & lonely. I agree, get her another rat girl to hang out with. Toys are a good idea, but as you've discovered they're not enough, and our rats enjoy throwing them around their habitats, which can be noisy. When she knocks the water bottle down, do you 'reward' her by immediately putting it back (which gives her some of the interaction that she's looking for)? You might want to give her a dish of water @ bedtime & replace the bottle in the morning. Good luck & congrats on graduating.
2007-06-27 10:47:46 · answer #5 · answered by Catkin 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Weird that people say they are nocturnal - mine sleep at night!
Does she have a place she can hide in - you know one of those rat domes - she can go in there and might be more comfortable. All my rats have a dome (or cave) to go in - they love it. Or you can take a large dark plastic bowl and make a opening in the side (rat size) and turn it upside down and place it on the floor or if there is a shelf place it on there.
Try to change the type of water bottle too.
I have a female in a cage on her own, but she can see my birds and me during the day. At night every room is dark and she goes in her dome.
2007-06-27 11:52:50 · answer #6 · answered by Paula G 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Rats are mostly nocturnal so it's expected for her to be more active at night. But yes, she's probably bored and wants someone to play with--rats are very social, if you can get her another female friend she'll be happier and probably less noisy at night.
2007-06-27 10:47:15 · answer #7 · answered by Scout 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Move her into another room
2007-06-27 12:55:52 · answer #8 · answered by kristine755 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
get her another female. she's trying to get your attention so that she can be with you.
2007-06-27 10:36:39 · answer #9 · answered by MommyCaleb 5 · 4⤊ 2⤋