Do rats "clean up" after their dead cagemates?

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rhapsody

rhapsody

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Messages
1,288
Location
California, U.S.
Its not uncommon for hamsters to "cannibalize" their dead cagemates - since they are prey animals, its one of those "don't attract predators" instincts.

I was wondering if this also happens with domestic rats under normal circumstances? Or do rats leave their dead alone? Rats seem to walk a fine line between being prey and a predator. I know the rescue has found evidence of cannibalization with some of the hoarding cases they worked with, but those rats had limited access to food and water.
 
It happens...probably for the same reason hamsters do. The wild instinct to clean up dead bodies before a predator is attracted by the smell and endangers the rest of the colony. In a small enclosed territory like a cage in some rats that instinct probably kicks in.
 
I was actually thinking about something like this the other day.
What is the best thing to do when a rat dies?
Should you remove it from the cage ASAP?
Or if it dies not in the cage (as most of my past ones have been held in their final moments), should you put it back in the cage for the others to see/sniff?
 
*Sigh* Except for one, none of my crew have gone naturally so far - they had sharp declines in health, and I was able to have them put to sleep before they suffered further. And as for Odin, he passed away while I was driving on the freeway trying to get him help.

Now that the majority of my crew have hit (and surpassed) the two-year mark, I'm starting to worry that I'll find them gone when I come home from work.
 
I have had a few die in the cage, and they were left alone. I try to put mine to sleep before death happens in the cage. I generally take them out of the cage when I know the end is near and I dont let them go back to them even after death. I had some rats really take death hard so I prefer to keep them away towards the end and after.
 
I've had quite a lot of ratties (mostly boys) that have passed away in their cages (we lost Rory unexpected on Sunday, found him in the morning). None of them have ever been touched by any of the other ratties. With one of the girls (Mae), her sisters put bedding on top of her and then went back to sleep in front of her... :/
 
I have heard of it, but it has never happened to me(only one has died in the cage tho)..
With Edward who passed in the cage, the other rats refused to go down to the lower part of the cage(DCN type cage) until after I had washed it..
 
They sometimes do and sometimes don't. If there is the smell/health issue, they will drag the body away- but if they can't do that, they don't have a choice. If the rat was sick when it died, they won't eat it, and I don't think they would in a cage where they don't really have predator risks.
 
when my girl squiggle died, my sister (who was looking after it while I was on a trip) said that kiki (my other rat.) was lying on top of her body protectively.so sad
 
I have had a couple of rats die in the cage. The other rats became quite upset and scared, and were noticably affected for a few days. I won't put a rat back into the cage if they die in my arms - I would rather they wonder what happened to them than to be sad and scared. They were never touched by my other rats.
 
mustloverats said:
when my girl squiggle died, my sister (who was looking after it while I was on a trip) said that kiki (my other rat.) was lying on top of her body protectively.so sad
Click to expand...

Just had my first rat death. All 4 of her sisters were laying in same box as their dead sister. Been looking all over for someone who had also experienced this behavior and you have been it! My girls weren't protective of her when came to cage but all were laying with her.
 

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