Hi there! I'm new poster. I came to a rat forum to get some ideas from other's experiences about what I should to do to stimulate a rat who doesn't find toys interesting.
Goku is the last of my rats, and is solitary. He has almost always been solitary and has had behavioral problems all his life. I adopted him at a slightly older age because no one wanted to adopt him. We had him neutered and he improved, but aggressiveness wasn't the only issue.
Now that there are no rats in the house at all, he's mellowed out pretty much 100%. But he's still not an intellectual. It takes him longer to pick something out and he rarely plays by himself. He simply has never been like the others.
He's healthy, but it's not enough to place 'interesting' things in his cage and expect him to do anything with them. Sometimes he -walks- on his wheel, but I am concerned about his health that he finds nothing in his cage interesting, no matter what I do. He used to concern himself with the others, but now he seems content to eat and sleep. We take him out daily, and often whenever he's up and about really, but he often explores for 10 minutes or less and then expresses boredom and wants to go back in the cage. Now and then he has fun wrestling with our hands, but most of the time finds pets annoying, like he always has, so we don't push him too hard on that point.
Has anyone had any experience with a rat like this? He's not lethargic so much as disinterested in things. He is willing to run in his cage, and up and down the ramps, but isn't interested in exploring the things I put in there. I put his food bowl as far as possible from his preferred sleeping box, just to get him moving. He has a CN183 all to himself now, so that's pretty far at least. Maybe the space is too large? But he never liked toys. I'm at a loss.
His favourite things so far are boxes. He is not a fan of hammocks for whatever reason, and has never really used them. Sometimes, he pushes his boxes around, or tries to get certain boxes inside other boxes. This entertains him the longest. But most of the time he likes them because he can stay in them with his nose poking out and feel protected, I think. He is also very very happy stealing pieces of paper. I leave things out for him to take back into his cage. But then he's back in his cage, and sometimes he doesn't bother coming back out.
I suppose I'm frustrated! I'm used to rats who like things. Be that water, or treat balls, or climbing on cat furniture. I should be used to his unusual behavior, but I want to make sure I'm doing the most to make him happy. Any insight would be great. Maybe I shouldn't worry about it, but I'd prefer if he played more, and with different things, for his mind and body. Just want to make sure I'm not missing some great idea for him!
Goku is the last of my rats, and is solitary. He has almost always been solitary and has had behavioral problems all his life. I adopted him at a slightly older age because no one wanted to adopt him. We had him neutered and he improved, but aggressiveness wasn't the only issue.
Now that there are no rats in the house at all, he's mellowed out pretty much 100%. But he's still not an intellectual. It takes him longer to pick something out and he rarely plays by himself. He simply has never been like the others.
He's healthy, but it's not enough to place 'interesting' things in his cage and expect him to do anything with them. Sometimes he -walks- on his wheel, but I am concerned about his health that he finds nothing in his cage interesting, no matter what I do. He used to concern himself with the others, but now he seems content to eat and sleep. We take him out daily, and often whenever he's up and about really, but he often explores for 10 minutes or less and then expresses boredom and wants to go back in the cage. Now and then he has fun wrestling with our hands, but most of the time finds pets annoying, like he always has, so we don't push him too hard on that point.
Has anyone had any experience with a rat like this? He's not lethargic so much as disinterested in things. He is willing to run in his cage, and up and down the ramps, but isn't interested in exploring the things I put in there. I put his food bowl as far as possible from his preferred sleeping box, just to get him moving. He has a CN183 all to himself now, so that's pretty far at least. Maybe the space is too large? But he never liked toys. I'm at a loss.
His favourite things so far are boxes. He is not a fan of hammocks for whatever reason, and has never really used them. Sometimes, he pushes his boxes around, or tries to get certain boxes inside other boxes. This entertains him the longest. But most of the time he likes them because he can stay in them with his nose poking out and feel protected, I think. He is also very very happy stealing pieces of paper. I leave things out for him to take back into his cage. But then he's back in his cage, and sometimes he doesn't bother coming back out.
I suppose I'm frustrated! I'm used to rats who like things. Be that water, or treat balls, or climbing on cat furniture. I should be used to his unusual behavior, but I want to make sure I'm doing the most to make him happy. Any insight would be great. Maybe I shouldn't worry about it, but I'd prefer if he played more, and with different things, for his mind and body. Just want to make sure I'm not missing some great idea for him!
