[Sabatea]

Me and my step-mom went to Petsmart yesterday because her dog has an abscesses tooth and she wanted the bets there to look at it. So, I wandered around the store for over an hour. I couldn't help but spend most of my time watching the three female rats they had. XD However, there was a really cute active female in the cage that was doing something odd.

She would suddenly see her tail, chase it around in a circle, and then grab it in her mouth and drag it back into her "nest". I have heard of this behavior but I never really got an answer on what it was... Was she just bored and entertaining herself or does it have something to do with a false pregnancy? I got a video of it here:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XI6iwgwUvCw

 

[Malarz]

Please change seeing of this video to "public". It won't load.

 

[Sabatea]

Sorry... This is messing up for me and saying I can't watch it on mobile (?) but I tried again... I don't understand uploading on Youtube at all >.>
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=szyDm3ljU_w&persist_app=1&app=m

 

[MOA]

I heard something about it before but it involved a pregnant rat needing to nest or a rat who recently gave birth doing that like it would a kitten..but I'm not sure what else it could be unless it's just a quirky girl!

 

[Malarz]

Could she be trying to clean the tail?

 

[Sabatea]

I don't think so... She did this multiple times in succession and she never licked it, just grabbed it and ran into the hut. At first I thought she was chasing her tail because she was bored but then she started pulling her tail around... She always went back to that same place to grab her tail and she would then pull herself back in the hut and let it go. It was rather cute. XD

 

[Crazyratlady94]

Idk what she might have been doing but she was absolutely adorable!

 

[nanashi7]

It can be a neurological problem or a neurosis from the past

 

[ponderosa]

It can be a neurological problem or a neurosis from the past

That was my thought too. I've seen a few animals in pet stores that had odd, repetitive behaviors that looked like they might have been stemming from neurological problems.

 

[Sabatea]

Is there anything that I should have done for her? Sadly I can't take her myself however much I would like to... Should I call the petstore and inform them that she may take some special care or something? I would really like to get her some help if it's possible for me to.

 

[Isamurat]

I've seen similar in slightly neurotic rats who have very strong maternal instincts (not neccsarily a phantom pregnancy but they can have something long term that mimics it a fair bit). I've also seen those rats picking up and dragging younger rats around the cage in a similar way. Poor things are just very confused and tend to go on to have problems relating fully with other rats in the future.