Hi there, I was hoping someone could help me with this. I've been keeping ratties for some years now and so have seen a few generations.
My cages are lined with newspaper to protect delicate feet and legs from the bars and where it sits under a water bottle, the water will often drip on the paper, creating a wet spot. I've noticed that when a rattie gets very sick, one thing they do is start to eat wet newspaper. I first saw this in a girl with a pituitary tumour and assumed it was pressing on the brain and distorting their taste or something, but I've noticed several others do it since, such as a girl who had congestive heart failure.
Now one of my current little ones, quite an elderly man at 2 yrs 7 mnths old, and despite his age, he is still quite spritely and gets around fairly easily. However, I've noticed him start to eat the wet newspaper too.
Has anybody else noticed this habit and do you know what it means?
My cages are lined with newspaper to protect delicate feet and legs from the bars and where it sits under a water bottle, the water will often drip on the paper, creating a wet spot. I've noticed that when a rattie gets very sick, one thing they do is start to eat wet newspaper. I first saw this in a girl with a pituitary tumour and assumed it was pressing on the brain and distorting their taste or something, but I've noticed several others do it since, such as a girl who had congestive heart failure.
Now one of my current little ones, quite an elderly man at 2 yrs 7 mnths old, and despite his age, he is still quite spritely and gets around fairly easily. However, I've noticed him start to eat the wet newspaper too.
Has anybody else noticed this habit and do you know what it means?