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A shocking bed-making rat
Annabel seems to be nesting.
She always was a bed-making rat, but since Natalie died it's become almost obsessional; she keeps carrying more and more newspaper strips up to her bed until the entire upper storey of the cage is strewn with ones that she couldn't get in. It's a wonder that she can fit herself into the resulting tangle, but she seems to manage.
This evening I gave her a new bundle (as it seems to be her only interest in life at the moment) and then heard strange noises coming from within the room as I passed an hour or so later: she had exhausted the possibilities of pre-torn strips and was busy trying to rip up the papers lining the floor, shaking everything loose around her. I gave her some more strips to keep her busy, but I really think I'm going to have to remove the whole lot, as I can't tell whether the cage needs cleaning or not under all that paper. It probably needs cleaning anyway.
If there were any possibility of the matter I'd have said she might be pregnant, but as she hasn't been in contact with any males since early infancy I'm afraid it's just a manifestation of psychological distress at being on her own (and possibly of colder weather without a cage-mate)...
She always was a bed-making rat, but since Natalie died it's become almost obsessional; she keeps carrying more and more newspaper strips up to her bed until the entire upper storey of the cage is strewn with ones that she couldn't get in. It's a wonder that she can fit herself into the resulting tangle, but she seems to manage.
This evening I gave her a new bundle (as it seems to be her only interest in life at the moment) and then heard strange noises coming from within the room as I passed an hour or so later: she had exhausted the possibilities of pre-torn strips and was busy trying to rip up the papers lining the floor, shaking everything loose around her. I gave her some more strips to keep her busy, but I really think I'm going to have to remove the whole lot, as I can't tell whether the cage needs cleaning or not under all that paper. It probably needs cleaning anyway.
If there were any possibility of the matter I'd have said she might be pregnant, but as she hasn't been in contact with any males since early infancy I'm afraid it's just a manifestation of psychological distress at being on her own (and possibly of colder weather without a cage-mate)...