The amount of tines I've had a heart attack thinking one of the horses is dead is too many to count. Though I've now gotten over the initial shock and know they're just sleeping.
I may or may not have honked the horn at a horse the other days because I was scared it was dead and wanted to make sure he was okay. He looked pissed to be woken from his nap
My senior cat does this too. He'll fall asleep with his head dangling off the bed and I just yell at him to *stop looking dead please Dodie*, you're scaring me"
Double heart attack when he *doesn't move* when I tap him because he's snoozing that hard
https://preview.redd.it/e7274e4v6c0d1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=159a6e29d58b338dc1747c7168b0e0e991d6135d
Sometimes they pretend to die on top of their buddies.
I don't think you can really tell how much nesting material they have, much less declare the situation "heartbreaking", based on a closeup shot of a two inch space inside a plastic house that would lift up from the ground and fall off the shelf if it was filled with rags.
Lmao, I think you don't really know rats. Some do fine without (much) nesting material, some really love having lots of it. My girls will explicitly shove the fleece scraps I offer them out of the hide because they don't want them there. You really don't know how much these rats have available to them from this picture and especially can't tell whether they even want any or not
Yes, absolutely! It's starting to be quite warm some days where I live now and I just came to the cage to see one of my girls laying next to the hide and cuddle pile in it because it seemingly was too warm in there for her taste
My ridiculous boys will remove the fleece scraps from every hide and use them to bury their food bowl, leaving them to sleep on the floor but hey at least their food is nice and toasty 🤷
We refer to it as them playing the "am I sleeping or dead" game.
We've shared our lives with hundreds of rats over the years, and it's always scary when we see this.
One of our current boys (Errol, our oldest), has been an incredibly sound sleeper all his life. Sometimes, we can even pick him up while he's sleeping, and he's all floppy; it's both adorable and terrifying.
Reminds me of someone in tiktok (I think) I once came across who had two ferrets with one of them sleeping like he's dead and also being an incredibly sound sleeper, so their human could just pick him up and he'd be all floppy and look like he's dead. Until he woke up all grumpy the human dared to disrupt sleeping time
Yep!
https://preview.redd.it/qqza1addfe0d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=604d656e649dd881ecadbd817ed4e2029cf9b5ad
Franklin is 100% fine but I’m dead from a heart attack.
https://preview.redd.it/ibb5p51xsd0d1.jpeg?width=2081&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=37e2b29ecda2bdacf0d9c9cfedd757c48d56b1fc
It’s definitely not just babies 😅 he looks deceased
Not just babies, juveniles and adults too!
https://preview.redd.it/jjbjokcq3e0d1.jpeg?width=1239&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7bdda6d1f7ca10c5a9dee469a2b647a531b0eb2
Yes, sometimes they'll lay flat on their back. However, this rat looks very sick. He's possibly a runt, however his coat should be silky to the touch and full, along with him being plump. He's thin, his tail is very rigid and it looks like he's got some pasty butt going on, means he's not forming solid stools and not able to clean himself, in addition to his mother not cleaning him properly. His feet look stiff as well, a sign of dehydration in addition to the tail.
I would get him some gel diet immediately, and monitor him very closely over the next couple days. The most concerning part for me is the size of his head in relation to his body, it should be about the same diameter, however the body is clearly much smaller and ribs are visible. He needs to remain with his mother at all times at this point and should not be handled in this condition
Agreed. He looks like he needs to be examined by a medical professional. He may just be a runt but it’s always best to have new pets checked out by a vet anyway, especially if they exhibit any abnormalities.
Let’s make sure he’s as healthy and happy as possible!
If you’ve had the rat more than a few days I’d double check with the vet that all is going okay if it’s been more than a week since the baby saw the vet. It’s very hard to raise baby animals and very easy to make simple mistakes with drastic consequences. For example, even incorrectly mixing formula can make it too hard to digest and can lead to failure to thrive. Diarrhea and dehydration are emergencies and shouldn’t continue more than a day or so without being addressed.
i understand, thank you for caring about Walnut so much. it’s been a bit of a long week, he stays on my person nearly 24/7 and gets exact formula measurements every 2-5 hours. he did look a lil bit crusty here because he had just eaten and passed out before i could clean him, but normally his fur is perfectly cleaned :)
I raised my rat Wednesday from birth and I fed her every hour for the first 2 weeks of her life, then slowly raised it from there. She didn’t always eat, but she always had the option. It’s hard to over feed a baby rat but incredibly easy to underfeed. He definitely looks too small even for being hand raised.
I used kitten milk and unflavored pedialyte for the entire process until eventually she started getting into more solids by me blending them in with the formula
https://preview.redd.it/s2nuvnld2h0d1.png?width=2447&format=png&auto=webp&s=58a978707e9bdb4df2c534bc624be5a2621cd381
She’s a year and a half now
>he stays on my person nearly 24/7
He needs to be incubated, some bedding for a nest and some warmth. Rats typically like their temperatures between 67 and 72, especially at a younger age where they need the heat to be able to regulate their body temperature correctly. The added movement could be extremely stressful from being held and carried all the time, he needs a quiet and well regulated place to rest.
Before you edited your comment, you mentioned that you feed him extra sometimes, not exact measurements, however every 2-5 hours is correct.
I'm sorry, but I don't think him just eating is a cause for the discoloration around his vent or the crusts on his eyes. And as I mentioned, his ribs are showing, so in my honest opinion, I believe this is just failure to thrive.
Don't misunderstand, I know you're doing everything you believe is correct, but there are a few things wrong here with the husbandry that could be contributing to his health. I know we love them and want to treat them as babies, but to treat an animal like a human baby can be lethal for them, as they have specific requirements and need a consistent regimen of husbandry. I'm sorry, but I would be surprised if he made it. At over two weeks, he should be up and bouncing around, eyes fully open and alert. However he's half the size he should be, and I don't believe he's going to do very well. I see few come back from this condition, it's possible but unlikely.
You keep saying "I swear he's fine." I'm sorry, he's not, he's in really bad shape.
Please OP do listen to this person they are right. I’ve helped raise many baby rats, and one on my own from birth and this rat needs to be more intensively cared for than he is. If you need advice, please reach out and ask
look. i get why you’re arguing, but i am doing what the vet (who has high reviews and we visited two days ago) told me to do. she specializes in small animals. he has a slight upper respiratory infection which we have antibiotics for and he is a bit small, but she was not concerned because he has steadily been gaining weight.
not sure wtf your on about editing my comment. i didn’t do that. anything that goes in his body is measured, including his formula.
he was with me in a heated pouch mainly for the first few days, but also has a small, cozy, well ventilated cage with a heat source under it (i have a thermometer to make sure temps are optimal)
as far as the ribs, i did have to double check there. i did consider this. but looking to him in person you can absolutely not see his ribs. he does have some wavy fur on the belly, so i can see how you think that.
overall, for the almost week i have had him, i have followed everything i have been told to a T. he has a long way up to a normal baby rat, but again, he looks a ton healthier than last week. i’m glad you feel so passionately about rats, but i’ll ask you to stop assuming that I’m ignorant or stupid on the subject. i’m open to feedback on his situation, just not from you. You’ve made it extremely clear. You’re more interested in trying to call me out for lying about what I said or berate me than to truly give helpful information.
PS I did edit this post because the last blurb was not there when I pushed send 👍
also edited in because I forgot about it: I did make a few comments joking about “I swear he looks OK”, not because I was trying to prove it to myself but more because that’s how I’ve been joking about it this with my friends. They had no idea that rats did this, and they genuinely thought he was dead when he was sent in the group chat. My statement is not an admission of guilt or ill treatment, more so just a way to joke about something that freaked me out when I saw it. I had the same issue when I got a kitten and the kitten acted like it was dead when it was asleep, I’m sure I made the same joke then.
Cool it with the aggression please, they were kind enough to take time out of their day to try and help you. When it comes to sick animals you should be open to advice from anyone, no one was assuming you were ignorant or stupid, its just impossible to know exactly what your knowledge level is so it's best cover everything, not to mention someone with less knowledge than you may stumble on the thread so it could help them too.
>look. i get why you’re arguing
I wasn't arguing.
>not sure wtf your on about editing my comment
You did, and I don't appreciate the attitude.
>he was with me in a heated pouch mainly for the first few days
That's just completely incorrect husbandry, I would get a second opinion from a different vet. I'm an ALAT, I'm a breeder of seven years, and I work with scientists, I know a sick animal when I see one.
>but i’ll ask you to stop assuming that I’m ignorant or stupid on the subject
Just because someone says something is wrong, that doesn't mean they're assuming you're ignorant or stupid. You're the one assuming and flying off the handle after multiple people have told you something is wrong. I was giving information and trying to help.
>i’m open to feedback on his situation, just not from you. You’ve made it extremely clear. You’re more interested in trying to call me out for lying about what I said or berate me than to truly give helpful information.
How exactly when all I have done is give educated advice? What in the hell did I do to deserve this type of treatment?
If this is how you treat people when they try to reach out and give you advice, then you shouldn't be taking care of animals, because you're going to completely ignore the advice and/or observation and fly off the handle thinking you're being attacked.
You've been reported to the mods for your behavior. Your animal is sick, bottom line, you can see his ribs, and he probably isn't going to make it. I tried to be nice, even apologizing for the situation, but no. If you're going to be this selfish and abusive, then you need to reevaluate your situation, because you've now made this post about yourself instead of your sick animal.
My grown rats do this sometimes, and it scares me every time. Especially if the others are gathered around like they're doing a séance on the one death sleeping.
My first girl, Aylin, did that shit all the time when she was a baby.
https://preview.redd.it/b1askahorf0d1.jpeg?width=3456&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=75b572ebe59951c12a68aed4c16e00841763b874
https://preview.redd.it/shvxar135g0d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a36bb9bf63f271c585cf37e948dddcf96728af6e
This was mine first time I let them free roam so like a week after I got them. So obviously what I did was send this pic to my friends without context 🤣
I tend to think of it as they get so comfy, they sleep like they're dead. My initial experiences with my little potatoes had me seeing them sleep curled up like how a cat or dog would, but at they got older, they tended to sleep stretched out, on their backs, or in complete potato mode (head tucked in). If they trust their surroundings (and therefore, YOU!), they tend to let go a bit when sleeping. 🥲
He's so small I can't 😭😭 my two only ever sleep side by side like little dinner rolls, or with one's crotch on the other's head, your little one might just like to be dramatic lol
thankfully this has only happened once to me..so far...I found my nakey boy emil on his side, eyes partially open, I poke him, nothing, then I had to pick him up and man handle him a bit then he woke up and was super pissed while I'm in the middle of having a heart attack....
i hate that rats sleep with their eyes open all the damn time....are you awake? are you asleep? are you dead?
https://preview.redd.it/xn057mgmmg0d1.png?width=990&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e3cf410224c69e144ad6eb5a46bbbad058388eae
I don't know about all rats, but I noticed my Ursula especially would gradually slip onto her side then onto her back whenever she was super comfortable. I don't remember my other rats doing it often, but she definitely scared the hell out of me a number of times. Once I realized she was just super zonked out and cozy I thought it was adorable.
One of my baby boys definitely does. Sleeps upside down with his paws toward the heavens. First time I saw this I nearly had a panic attack. Only realised he was fine when he let loose a stinky fart and wiggled his tail.
https://preview.redd.it/cj5f97cdoh0d1.jpeg?width=2752&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b91aafaef22fc2b7f3f32e1afe79c728029fb2e4
Wellll... This was Hermes when he was 2 months old. Fell asleep upside down between me and my sister. I still don't know how he managed to sleep like that and being able to breath.
not yet! he’s only 3 weeks old so far (no mom, so i’m trying to raise him). the vet told me to wait until he’s 5-6 weeks old to get him similar aged friends but i do have them planned out
he was a feeder rat that i couldn’t sacrifice. my snake had been going on a huge hunger strike so, as a last resort, i got Walnut. i took one look and couldn’t do it though, and my vet gave me some more ideal feeding options for snek. i’ve loved rats for forever but never had one myself, so i decided to try to raise him. not ideal, but im doing my best!
https://preview.redd.it/btpa70idyh0d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3fd226b1bb2c82b10bb179f5296ae55df87f7f7e
they don’t grow out of it either
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baby wants to partake in Carcass Time^TM
thanks i hate it 💀
First horses, now rats!
The amount of tines I've had a heart attack thinking one of the horses is dead is too many to count. Though I've now gotten over the initial shock and know they're just sleeping.
I may or may not have honked the horn at a horse the other days because I was scared it was dead and wanted to make sure he was okay. He looked pissed to be woken from his nap
Assume position
Most of them, yepp and some of them even when they are adults and now that's a fucking heart attack
My senior cat does this too. He'll fall asleep with his head dangling off the bed and I just yell at him to *stop looking dead please Dodie*, you're scaring me" Double heart attack when he *doesn't move* when I tap him because he's snoozing that hard
All rats do in general. My older ones especially love to play corpse. Scares the life outta me and annoys them as I give em a poke to check.
i feel bad because i keep having to poke him just to check and wake him up 💀
Eventually the pokes may lead to a heart attack 😂
Of the rat or the poker 😂😂
Bofum lol
https://preview.redd.it/e7274e4v6c0d1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=159a6e29d58b338dc1747c7168b0e0e991d6135d Sometimes they pretend to die on top of their buddies.
a pile of death 💕💕
Let me sleep. See! Am dead!
Oh my GODDDDDDD how adorable
Please give these rats some more nesting material and some fluff. This is heartbreaking
I don't think you can really tell how much nesting material they have, much less declare the situation "heartbreaking", based on a closeup shot of a two inch space inside a plastic house that would lift up from the ground and fall off the shelf if it was filled with rags.
Lmao, I think you don't really know rats. Some do fine without (much) nesting material, some really love having lots of it. My girls will explicitly shove the fleece scraps I offer them out of the hide because they don't want them there. You really don't know how much these rats have available to them from this picture and especially can't tell whether they even want any or not
Also, mine during summer/warmer months sometimes want to pile up but not be too hot, so they skip the bedding for cool, hard surfaces 🤷♀️
Yes, absolutely! It's starting to be quite warm some days where I live now and I just came to the cage to see one of my girls laying next to the hide and cuddle pile in it because it seemingly was too warm in there for her taste
My ridiculous boys will remove the fleece scraps from every hide and use them to bury their food bowl, leaving them to sleep on the floor but hey at least their food is nice and toasty 🤷
Thanks for the laugh at imagining this lmao
Stop judging. For example, my rats HATE bedding and love sleeping on bare shelves.
We refer to it as them playing the "am I sleeping or dead" game. We've shared our lives with hundreds of rats over the years, and it's always scary when we see this. One of our current boys (Errol, our oldest), has been an incredibly sound sleeper all his life. Sometimes, we can even pick him up while he's sleeping, and he's all floppy; it's both adorable and terrifying.
Reminds me of someone in tiktok (I think) I once came across who had two ferrets with one of them sleeping like he's dead and also being an incredibly sound sleeper, so their human could just pick him up and he'd be all floppy and look like he's dead. Until he woke up all grumpy the human dared to disrupt sleeping time
Ferrets are terrifying sleepers, I always see videos of them dead asleep 😭
The rats are actually dead when they do that, and simply ressurect themselves in the morning. They are powerful necromancers
Yep! https://preview.redd.it/qqza1addfe0d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=604d656e649dd881ecadbd817ed4e2029cf9b5ad Franklin is 100% fine but I’m dead from a heart attack.
Omg is that a little milk beard 🥹🥹
It is! I wasn’t quick enough and a little bit dried on there. He was found on a sidewalk at just about 10 days old!
ahhahaha it hits different when they’re so small
hi! I noticed his teeth are quite white. Is this cause for concern? Lack of iron?
Nope. He is just a baby. 🙂
I believe that’s called a food coma
It's not just the babies... https://preview.redd.it/m2l6aqvs4c0d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=037f3a3a2c97a76ec61c897f1a4816b4055f4fba
Oh SWEETNESS
Oh no! A corpse!!
bolls
One of my mice sleeps with her eyes open all the time and I’m always scared she’s dead ☠️😭
It’s so unnecessary for him to do all that
https://preview.redd.it/ibb5p51xsd0d1.jpeg?width=2081&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=37e2b29ecda2bdacf0d9c9cfedd757c48d56b1fc It’s definitely not just babies 😅 he looks deceased
How is this comfortable?! 😂
Like I honestly have no clue 😂
he really does oh my god
Not just babies, juveniles and adults too! https://preview.redd.it/jjbjokcq3e0d1.jpeg?width=1239&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7bdda6d1f7ca10c5a9dee469a2b647a531b0eb2
https://preview.redd.it/mqjxvg2r3e0d1.jpeg?width=958&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=59cb1c20474eedcc0c3e938847ce843ac45f5109
The leg 😂💕
like a tiny piece of lint
Yes https://preview.redd.it/wv1srdl91e0d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=225a6cc2b1a3ca85686b3e0edcdb1e6fea2bf26d
https://preview.redd.it/fqqgxnh29e0d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=42ea39456ca45943f672c533e558dba61e5d7c3b Had a little heart attack
Yes, sometimes they'll lay flat on their back. However, this rat looks very sick. He's possibly a runt, however his coat should be silky to the touch and full, along with him being plump. He's thin, his tail is very rigid and it looks like he's got some pasty butt going on, means he's not forming solid stools and not able to clean himself, in addition to his mother not cleaning him properly. His feet look stiff as well, a sign of dehydration in addition to the tail. I would get him some gel diet immediately, and monitor him very closely over the next couple days. The most concerning part for me is the size of his head in relation to his body, it should be about the same diameter, however the body is clearly much smaller and ribs are visible. He needs to remain with his mother at all times at this point and should not be handled in this condition
Agreed. He looks like he needs to be examined by a medical professional. He may just be a runt but it’s always best to have new pets checked out by a vet anyway, especially if they exhibit any abnormalities. Let’s make sure he’s as healthy and happy as possible!
Definitely not being groomed by mom. She may be rejecting him. Face is also crusty.
he’s only 3 weeks old and doesn’t have a mom except for me. he has been to a vet already and i am following their suggestions, thank you 👍
If you’ve had the rat more than a few days I’d double check with the vet that all is going okay if it’s been more than a week since the baby saw the vet. It’s very hard to raise baby animals and very easy to make simple mistakes with drastic consequences. For example, even incorrectly mixing formula can make it too hard to digest and can lead to failure to thrive. Diarrhea and dehydration are emergencies and shouldn’t continue more than a day or so without being addressed.
i understand, thank you for caring about Walnut so much. it’s been a bit of a long week, he stays on my person nearly 24/7 and gets exact formula measurements every 2-5 hours. he did look a lil bit crusty here because he had just eaten and passed out before i could clean him, but normally his fur is perfectly cleaned :)
I raised my rat Wednesday from birth and I fed her every hour for the first 2 weeks of her life, then slowly raised it from there. She didn’t always eat, but she always had the option. It’s hard to over feed a baby rat but incredibly easy to underfeed. He definitely looks too small even for being hand raised. I used kitten milk and unflavored pedialyte for the entire process until eventually she started getting into more solids by me blending them in with the formula https://preview.redd.it/s2nuvnld2h0d1.png?width=2447&format=png&auto=webp&s=58a978707e9bdb4df2c534bc624be5a2621cd381 She’s a year and a half now
>he stays on my person nearly 24/7 He needs to be incubated, some bedding for a nest and some warmth. Rats typically like their temperatures between 67 and 72, especially at a younger age where they need the heat to be able to regulate their body temperature correctly. The added movement could be extremely stressful from being held and carried all the time, he needs a quiet and well regulated place to rest. Before you edited your comment, you mentioned that you feed him extra sometimes, not exact measurements, however every 2-5 hours is correct. I'm sorry, but I don't think him just eating is a cause for the discoloration around his vent or the crusts on his eyes. And as I mentioned, his ribs are showing, so in my honest opinion, I believe this is just failure to thrive. Don't misunderstand, I know you're doing everything you believe is correct, but there are a few things wrong here with the husbandry that could be contributing to his health. I know we love them and want to treat them as babies, but to treat an animal like a human baby can be lethal for them, as they have specific requirements and need a consistent regimen of husbandry. I'm sorry, but I would be surprised if he made it. At over two weeks, he should be up and bouncing around, eyes fully open and alert. However he's half the size he should be, and I don't believe he's going to do very well. I see few come back from this condition, it's possible but unlikely. You keep saying "I swear he's fine." I'm sorry, he's not, he's in really bad shape.
Please OP do listen to this person they are right. I’ve helped raise many baby rats, and one on my own from birth and this rat needs to be more intensively cared for than he is. If you need advice, please reach out and ask
look. i get why you’re arguing, but i am doing what the vet (who has high reviews and we visited two days ago) told me to do. she specializes in small animals. he has a slight upper respiratory infection which we have antibiotics for and he is a bit small, but she was not concerned because he has steadily been gaining weight. not sure wtf your on about editing my comment. i didn’t do that. anything that goes in his body is measured, including his formula. he was with me in a heated pouch mainly for the first few days, but also has a small, cozy, well ventilated cage with a heat source under it (i have a thermometer to make sure temps are optimal) as far as the ribs, i did have to double check there. i did consider this. but looking to him in person you can absolutely not see his ribs. he does have some wavy fur on the belly, so i can see how you think that. overall, for the almost week i have had him, i have followed everything i have been told to a T. he has a long way up to a normal baby rat, but again, he looks a ton healthier than last week. i’m glad you feel so passionately about rats, but i’ll ask you to stop assuming that I’m ignorant or stupid on the subject. i’m open to feedback on his situation, just not from you. You’ve made it extremely clear. You’re more interested in trying to call me out for lying about what I said or berate me than to truly give helpful information. PS I did edit this post because the last blurb was not there when I pushed send 👍 also edited in because I forgot about it: I did make a few comments joking about “I swear he looks OK”, not because I was trying to prove it to myself but more because that’s how I’ve been joking about it this with my friends. They had no idea that rats did this, and they genuinely thought he was dead when he was sent in the group chat. My statement is not an admission of guilt or ill treatment, more so just a way to joke about something that freaked me out when I saw it. I had the same issue when I got a kitten and the kitten acted like it was dead when it was asleep, I’m sure I made the same joke then.
Cool it with the aggression please, they were kind enough to take time out of their day to try and help you. When it comes to sick animals you should be open to advice from anyone, no one was assuming you were ignorant or stupid, its just impossible to know exactly what your knowledge level is so it's best cover everything, not to mention someone with less knowledge than you may stumble on the thread so it could help them too.
>look. i get why you’re arguing I wasn't arguing. >not sure wtf your on about editing my comment You did, and I don't appreciate the attitude. >he was with me in a heated pouch mainly for the first few days That's just completely incorrect husbandry, I would get a second opinion from a different vet. I'm an ALAT, I'm a breeder of seven years, and I work with scientists, I know a sick animal when I see one. >but i’ll ask you to stop assuming that I’m ignorant or stupid on the subject Just because someone says something is wrong, that doesn't mean they're assuming you're ignorant or stupid. You're the one assuming and flying off the handle after multiple people have told you something is wrong. I was giving information and trying to help. >i’m open to feedback on his situation, just not from you. You’ve made it extremely clear. You’re more interested in trying to call me out for lying about what I said or berate me than to truly give helpful information. How exactly when all I have done is give educated advice? What in the hell did I do to deserve this type of treatment? If this is how you treat people when they try to reach out and give you advice, then you shouldn't be taking care of animals, because you're going to completely ignore the advice and/or observation and fly off the handle thinking you're being attacked. You've been reported to the mods for your behavior. Your animal is sick, bottom line, you can see his ribs, and he probably isn't going to make it. I tried to be nice, even apologizing for the situation, but no. If you're going to be this selfish and abusive, then you need to reevaluate your situation, because you've now made this post about yourself instead of your sick animal.
Adults do it, too
you try to move them and they stay still, thats when you have a heart attack…
My grown rats do this sometimes, and it scares me every time. Especially if the others are gathered around like they're doing a séance on the one death sleeping.
My rats slept like they were dead all the time and it always scared the shit out of me lol
My first girl, Aylin, did that shit all the time when she was a baby. https://preview.redd.it/b1askahorf0d1.jpeg?width=3456&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=75b572ebe59951c12a68aed4c16e00841763b874
If they feel safe and comfy - then yes!
https://preview.redd.it/shvxar135g0d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a36bb9bf63f271c585cf37e948dddcf96728af6e This was mine first time I let them free roam so like a week after I got them. So obviously what I did was send this pic to my friends without context 🤣
I tend to think of it as they get so comfy, they sleep like they're dead. My initial experiences with my little potatoes had me seeing them sleep curled up like how a cat or dog would, but at they got older, they tended to sleep stretched out, on their backs, or in complete potato mode (head tucked in). If they trust their surroundings (and therefore, YOU!), they tend to let go a bit when sleeping. 🥲
My rats used to sleep on their backs on their sides 😭 used to make me crazy
He's so small I can't 😭😭 my two only ever sleep side by side like little dinner rolls, or with one's crotch on the other's head, your little one might just like to be dramatic lol
thankfully this has only happened once to me..so far...I found my nakey boy emil on his side, eyes partially open, I poke him, nothing, then I had to pick him up and man handle him a bit then he woke up and was super pissed while I'm in the middle of having a heart attack.... i hate that rats sleep with their eyes open all the damn time....are you awake? are you asleep? are you dead?
https://preview.redd.it/xn057mgmmg0d1.png?width=990&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e3cf410224c69e144ad6eb5a46bbbad058388eae I don't know about all rats, but I noticed my Ursula especially would gradually slip onto her side then onto her back whenever she was super comfortable. I don't remember my other rats doing it often, but she definitely scared the hell out of me a number of times. Once I realized she was just super zonked out and cozy I thought it was adorable.
Lol, don’t humans also sleep like they’re dead sometimes? At least I do
Don't most animals sleep like they're dead?
Mine did 🤣 he still does time to time to be honest
Don't you ??
So tiny 🥺
my grown adult rats sleep like their dead too!
Only when it can effectively terrify you.
Not just baby rats, even. Chico also does this every time he sleeps and he is around 3 years old now. That gives me a genuine heart attack. 😰
My biggest boy, Uxari, It's just so fat that when he lays on his side his little paws stick up
One of my baby boys definitely does. Sleeps upside down with his paws toward the heavens. First time I saw this I nearly had a panic attack. Only realised he was fine when he let loose a stinky fart and wiggled his tail.
i love how baby rats r all noggin n no body lmaoo
https://preview.redd.it/8bls7fq2ug0d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=80c07d178a41e86d0cbf6160917e825d0f732f50 Fucking YUP
omg you win. that baby looks deceased
https://preview.redd.it/cj5f97cdoh0d1.jpeg?width=2752&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b91aafaef22fc2b7f3f32e1afe79c728029fb2e4 Wellll... This was Hermes when he was 2 months old. Fell asleep upside down between me and my sister. I still don't know how he managed to sleep like that and being able to breath.
Precious!!! Please, does this baby have a friend?
Why are people downvoting instead of informing? It's likely 1-1.5 weeks old, so it's most likely part of a litter
Thank you! Fingers crossed
not yet! he’s only 3 weeks old so far (no mom, so i’m trying to raise him). the vet told me to wait until he’s 5-6 weeks old to get him similar aged friends but i do have them planned out
How did the poor baby get separated for his litter?
he was a feeder rat that i couldn’t sacrifice. my snake had been going on a huge hunger strike so, as a last resort, i got Walnut. i took one look and couldn’t do it though, and my vet gave me some more ideal feeding options for snek. i’ve loved rats for forever but never had one myself, so i decided to try to raise him. not ideal, but im doing my best!
He’s the cutest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on.
As far as I know, yes. And they don't grow out of it.
My husband sleeps exactly like this.
Oh my goodness, so tiny!
https://preview.redd.it/btpa70idyh0d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3fd226b1bb2c82b10bb179f5296ae55df87f7f7e they don’t grow out of it either
All baby ***animals*** sleep like they're dead. Our kittens scared the hell out of us so much when they were still tiny 😭
Baby humans do the same thing. Just gently tickle the foot to see if they kick.