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Cage rubbing and distressed squeaking??

730 views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  Talkingbackwards 
#1 ·
So this will be a bit long. I currently have five rats. All of which are wild and female. My first and oldest rat Moishe is about to be 6 months. I work at a pet store and she was dropped off at a week old so I bottle fed her. She had severe malcolusion in her early months and had to have her teeth trimmed about every week and a half to two weeks for months which resulted in her inability to be released it has since begun to fix itself as she has become prone to chewing. She's very sweet and docile at this point and cannot be released. As for the other 4 they are all of the same litter that was found and brought to me just before there eyes were opened and don't have any health complications, thankfully. They are due for release once fire season has settled in the area of California I live in. I have not socialized them and they are coming up on about 1 month and three weeks. The babies don't fight with each other and are in a large cage to practice climbing. Now Moishe my 6 month is completely free range in my room and she doesn't really bother any of my other pets but within the last week she has become aware of the babies existence and will not leave them alone. She will run along the cage and sniff the areas they frequent. Which I had assumed was fine as I keep a close eye and she doesn't try to interact directly with them. However it seems to be distressing one specific baby as they will hide near her and make these high pitched squeaks repeatedly whenever Moishe is with eye line in addition to that Moishe began rubbing her body against the cage all along the front. I assume this was a territorial thing but Moishe gets very freaked out whenever this baby squeaks and seems highly concerned rather than aggressive. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts into their behaviors. These are not my first rats, far from it but I've never hear one of my rats make a noise like this before nor have I witnessed the cage rubbing. I keep Moishe from the cage as much as possible but its not fully possible as I cannot move either from my room and Moishe has proven capable of climbing everything in my room. I do not wish to stress the babies out nor do I want Moishe lock in her cage all the time as she is use to being out from the moment I am home to the moment I go to sleep. She hasn't gotten to be out as much because of this and is clearly upset. Answers are much appreciated. I am simply looking into insight on their current behavior. Thank you.
 
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Discussion starter · #3 ·
Do the babies have a lot of hide outs to get a chance to escape from Moishe if they feel threatened?
Yes they do have four diferent hides on different levels of the cage and the base has fleece for them to hide under as well. I also remove Moishe from the area of the babies cage and place her in her cage anytime she gets too close. The specific baby that seems distressed has places to hide she just seems to choose to hide just barely out of sight and make noise but she never fully runs away.
 
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