[CaptainFlow]

Tonight I noticed something veery odd going on with Sevilla- when I try to pet her on the back/butt area (actually, it's kind of a scratchy/grab-y thing), she stops still in her tracks, and postures in this weird way. It's like she's flattening out her back, but leaving her head high.

I saw rats mating a long time ago, this sort of reminds me of it. There aren't any males in the house, but could she be in heat? I know they go into heat every four days or so, but this is a new thing.

She hasn't done this before, and she only does it when I touch her from about midsection on back, or on the base of the tail. She also pops her eyes out a little, which freaked me out. It's not boggling, I've seen videos of that. She just bugs out and leaves them there.

The really creepy part is that she'll hold this position for a little while, a couple seconds at least. If I touch her on the back while she's doing this, she kind of hops forward while holding the position and then is still for a bit longer. It's usually when I start talking to her, and she sees my hand that she'll relax.

Otherwise, she's acting totally normal, moving totally normally. She hasn't fallen recently, so I don't think she's hurt anything. Is this just a horomone thing? And will she keep going it?! Cause it freaks me out, makes me wonder if she's going to jump around and sink her teeth into my hand, she looks so intense...

 

[DFW_Rat_Luvr]

the only thing I know about females in heat is the weird ear vibrating.
Does she vibrate her ears when you scratch her back?

 

[bubsybob]

my Maggie did this posture/behaviour when i scratched her rear. its part of being in heat, as she did it after/while her ears were vibrating. no worries

 

[SamsterAndRocky]

i remember when i had a girly hammy, flash, she'd do the posturing thing, i never noticed any other signs, but she wasnt a rat

 

[GracieBaby]

my girl does the same thing i always thought that she just did not like me on some days but she would never fuss about getting picked up so w.e.

 

[Mana]

She's just in heat

 

[CaptainFlow]

Oh good, I'm glad it's something normal! Thanks for the quick replies. She has stopped doing it, as far as I can tell. And I didn't noticed any ear vibrating, but that might not mean it wasn't there. How long does being in heat last, anyway?

 

[Mana]

Out of my 6 girls, only once have I ever seen vibrating ears (unfortunately - it looks so cute!)

I'm not exactly sure how long they stay in heat.. I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere it lasts about 12 hours, but I don't know how reliable a source that was.

 

[jorats]

The posture is called lordosis. Touching the back will trigger this poster when the female is in heat. This position is the only way a male can mount the female.