Naked Rat Hand Scoot Dance...

[Rodentist]

My first naked rat, Julian, when out of his cage does this peculiar little thing....he takes his front paws...(hands?) and starts rubbing them quickly on the carpet....sort of like he has something one them when he doesn't. He'll go to a new spot and do it again. He can keep it up for quite a while and is very intent on it.

Its pretty humorous, actually. None of the other rats do it, and I chalked it up to individual odd behaviors.

Then, two weeks ago, I adopted the Naked Sisters....and lo and behold....they both do it!!! Since they are younger, it is even faster!

Has anyone else seen this before and know what they are doing? Any other behaviors that seem specific to hairless ratties? I don't think this is a harmful behavior...just interesting....

Thanks! Catherine

Julian Rodentdoodle

Lursa and B'Etor Rodentdoodle

 

[Fidget]

That's very strange and very cute and OMG What Darling Babies you have! Look at the wink on that hot boy :cheeky: ! And those lovely little ladies! (You're not breeding him to those sweet ladies are you?)

I've never had nekkeds on a carpet, and never seen them do the hand-thing on my bed. (there we go, paws/hands? hair/fur?) In my experience my nekkeds have been the worst of all my kids for sneaking between my bedsheets the minute I leave the room and chewing great holes in multiple places in the time it takes me to go to the kitchen and bring them a treat. Ungrateful Little buggers!
I'd shave holes in their hair/fur to show them how it feels to have perfection sullied but they have that covered, don't they? :laugh4:

 

[Rodentist]

Heh....my main hole maker was a dumbo....

Julian, alas, like all my boys, has been to the vet and robbed of his testicles, so no worries about litters....I have heard that nekkid females don't make good mothers? I'm going to have to get a video camera so I can record the hand scoot dance.

 

[mamarat]

They're rubbing their scent on your carpet. Lots of my rats do that.

 

[jorats]

Yep, they are being dominant. If they ever try to do it on you, don't let them!

They must be communicating through the carpet. lol

 

[Rodentist]

I should also mention that the girls aren't living with Julian yet, so they couldn't have learned it from him.

 

[Rodentist]

When pee just isn't enough....add a hand scoot? I've had 14 rats...and I swear I've only caught the nekkids doing this! Its pretty funny....and I suspected it might be a dominance thing because they put so much energy into it...like foofing! As for me, I've been so thoroughly peed on and marked, a little more won't make a difference.

 

[Fidget]

Yup! Need to see a video of that!
I've never noticed any of my kids do it, but then only a couple were ever on the carpet. It's right odd tho that the girls would do it too without Julien's influence. It's got to be some reaction to the carpet or something in it (unless you want to stick with an esp kind of thing) Maybe there's something there they consider a grooming aid. Do you use that powdered pre-vaccuum carpet fresh stuff ? Has the carpet been cleaned with something recently? (Long as they're not trying to lick it off...) Maybe you need to roll your joints over a tray instead of the carpet? :laugh4: (Kidding) ?

Yep, they are being dominant. If they ever try to do it on you, don't let them!

So are you saying this rubbing their hands is a dominating attempt that needs a proper reaction from us Jo?
How about when one always makes a point of coming to you and poising on your hand and leaving a wet spot? Or when that same one actually had less attention for a few days and ran out of the cage straight to you and did a full-bore flood on you and ran back to the cage and stood in the doorway looking at you with eyes boring into you and ears wiggling? Is that dominance? Or an expression of hurt or dissatisfaction?

The one thing I know for sure is that they have logical reasons for everything they do. We'd do better to emulate them than question them I think

 

[KristyR]

Ok, now I'm quite intrigued. The night Simon died, and I had everyone out later, they were all acting a little odd. But Justin and Ryan (who are both Simon's brothers and cagemates) were both doing this thing with their hands. Justin was doing it most, and not just on the carpet - he was doing it on he bottom shelf of the bookshelf that's in the room. It almost looked like a digging motion, but yeah, could also easily be described as looking like they were trying to wipe something off their hands. They were both doing it and then leaning/rubbing their neck/chin and walking along the wall this way. Neither are hairless boys, and Cyril is still the clear Alpha of that cage.

 

[jorats]

Getting peed on is nothing, they are marking their way, reminding themselves that this thing/person is safe to return too.
But when they rub like that, they are starting to get upset. I've had it happen to me when they start with the rubbing on my hand and it ended with a big bite. So if they start to rub on any part of your body, grab them from the shoulders, say no and remove them away from you.

 

[Rodentist]

The girls do it to other things, too...I have these two carpet covered scratching post thingys for them to climb and play on and they do that to the vertical surfaces as well....and it looks a little like digging, but its a circular motion...that make me think

"Can't get them clean!!! Must be clean!!! Invisible dirt!!!"

 

[jorats]

A little Mcbeth going on... "out, out damned spot" :lol:

 

[Godmother]

Interesting! I've never seen this, so would love to see a video.

My Edith had the most interesting dominance behaviour I've seen in my gang. She would go around an "enemy" territory puffed up like a porcupine, sidling and digging as she went around the perimeter.

 

[Pauley]

Rabbits do this too. It's definitely a dominance thing, or aggression. Whichever it is, it means playtime is over.

 

[Vanessa]

I have had a handful of boys do it, it is a dominance, aggression, territory marking thing. Hades did it the most, especially when out in the freerange area. It would usually be accompanied by furious haunch rubbing.
If one of his cagemates came across him while he was doing it, they would flee very quickly in the other direction. I think many rats know not to mess with a marking adult male.
The problems occurred when Hades went looking for a fight after the rubbing and they couldn't get away from him quickly enough.
I have never had them do it to me, and I have never tried to interrupt it. That was an injury just waiting to happen.

 

[Rodentist]

Hmmmm.....the sisters are fairly aggressive....they are in the same room with the others, but not in the Big House yet....I guess that is what I get for naming them after the Klingon warrior sisters. But Julian.....he is one mellow dude. Go figure....

Jo....I thought of the "Out, out....!" as well.....he looks more like he is rubbing something off his hands....the sisters look like they are trying to mark everything.

 

[allykatt]

My rats will do that after they get baytril, since they will go to wash their faces and get teh sticky mixture on them. THen they go aorund rubbing their hands on absolutley EVERYTHING doing what I call the "Sticky hand dance". I have definetly seen them do it for doninance/marking though, especially with the added chin rubbing on the floor. It is very funny to watch though.