sleeping a lot more than usual

[ChrisK]

can't seem to find much information on this. The past week, both my girlies have been sleeping LOTS more than usual and have less interest in coming out. They still want to come out at some point each day, but used to stay out for hours and now maybe 20 minutes and they go back into their cage and go to sleep. They don't otherwise appear to have any new illnesses (Lollipop has a tumor, but not Skittles). They are eating okay. The oldest is 2.

Each day I think maybe today they'll be their old energetic selves, but not yet, so I wanted to pose the question if this is something to be concerned about / to see a vet about ? It's not so much the amount of sleep that concerns me as the fact that this is a notable change in their behaviour.

 

[DadRat]

We have only had boys...who are usually lazy to begin with, but we noticed between 18 and 24 months their activity levels started declining. Some have been slow and others just seemed to turn into squishes almost overnight.

 

I have heard that when rat's reach the age of two, they usally start to slow down.
You could try adding new toys and stuff to their out time area, maybe they are getting bored with the ones they have? have you lost any recently? that could also cause them to be depressed and slow down.

 

[jorats]

I've noticed that with my rats, when they near 2 years old they start to slow down. But... has there been a change lately? Sometimes rats become depressed if their routine has changed.

 

[ChrisK]

I've noticed that with my rats, when they near 2 years old they start to slow down. But... has there been a change lately? Sometimes rats become depressed if their routine has changed.

There has been a change lately. Because the weather has cooled off, the temperature indoors is a bit cooler (but still around
70 F) and the blinds in the room they're in are open during the day, because we don't have to shut out the hot sun anymore. So maybe there's too much daylight for them and they're actually just tired.

I will try closing the blinds again during the day to see if that helps...

 

[jorats]

Or you could leave them open and wait for her to adjust. They usually do.

 

[ChrisK]

Just thought I'd update this post. Not sure what did it -- but my girlies have been back to their old selves again.. wanting to come out and play morning and night. It looks like maybe their schedule just shifted. They seem to catch their step a bit later in the morning now... about the time I have to leave for work :emb:

 

[jorats]

Rats adjust accordingly. I wish I could that way. lol