Sneaky pooper!

[SqueakingJellybean]

We know every rat has their quirks. One of Oleksii's is that he very deliberately poops behind our pillows 9/10 times when he's out. He has access to his home-- with litterbox-- so this is not a lack of access problem. We remind him that poos go in the poo-box, and usually put the bed-poos in his litterbox. If we can't be arsed, we just pitch them. WHen we see him using his litterbox, we praise him for putting his poos in the right place.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any idea why he seems to think this is a good plan? I'm interested to see if that behaviour changes now that James Bean has passed and Oleksii doesn't need to perform dominance displays any more.

 

[limon&ruffles]

it might be a territotial move. my rats tend to pee on my gf rather than in their cage after being out on my bed for a while, they also poop on the bed when out for more than 20 mins. Maybe limit their time of play on your bed?

 

[SqueakingJellybean]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's territorial. With one exception, he stopped sneaky-pooping until last night. The new ladies have arrived, so he left two little poos at the head of the bed. (It was to no avail-- I removed the poos before the ladies came out to play.)

Hopefully once he's neutered next month and the three are living together, he won't feel the need to express his dominance in quite such a... fragrant way.