[carlylox]

Our 1 year old boy Tonks has recently started making a lot funny noises, he's always made the bruxing noise, chattering away all over the place but he's started making different noises.
The only way I can really describe it is like a Jibber Jabber (I don't know how many people remember these toys) :?

He's very vocal and I just wondered if anyone else has experienced this with their rats. If so, have they always done it or did it start suddenly like Tonks?

I was a bit worried there was something wrong with him when we first heard him do it but he seems ok and even went so far as to groom my OH's hair last night. He's never been the friendliest out of our bunch so this really suprised us. 8O

Also, he seems a bit mood swingy. Some days he'll come and climb all over you (he's never been one for cuddles) and then other days he'll run away from you.

 

[Pixie]

Also, he seems a bit mood swingy. Some days he'll come and climb all over you (he's never been one for cuddles) and then other days he'll run away from you.

I can't say I know much about the noises, but I swear rats DO have mood swings. One of my girls is the exact same way. Some days she'll be more curious and want to come out and play (I'm still getting them used to handling) and other days she'll run away and not want to come out at all. Usually I have to take their house (where they always hide) out before I can even get them to consider playing.

 

[twitch]

i don't remeber the jibber jabber toys but the rats i've had that suddenly changed their noises always ended up sick and so i'm thinking this might be an early sign of illness. rats do have mood swings, just like humans, some days are boring and you get into everything trying to relieve the boredom and other days just too much is going on and all you want to do is hide. the difference is that rats are small enough that they can actually get away with hiding. but if the mood swings only started with the extra noises then i'm more likelyto lean towards illness. some days he feels better then others. it may not be illness of course, he may just be getting more comfortable around you or going through "the change" (much like human change of life temperment changes) and it could be nothing but better to play safe then sorry. go get him a check up at the vet to rule out illness. if you catch respiratory infections early then there's a high survival rate but the longer you let it wait the less chance your rat has and it can become fatal. i hope it nothing more then "the change" and that you'll have a long happy healthy time left with your tonks

 

[carlylox]

Well, just to update you. Tonks is still wobbling on like a broken record (he just won't stop) and it now seems to get louder when he gets excited 8O

We have taken him to the vets, who couldn't see anything majorly wrong with him but he has gone in today to get his teeth burred (poor thing)

I'm sure he'll be fine as he doesn't seem ill and his breathing sounds fine. He's still always the first to the food bowel so eating isn't a worry