Bruxing is when rats grind their teeth together. It's generally a sign of contentment or happiness, kind of like a cat purring. They grind their teeth and then their eyes boggle around like crazy. It's cute to watch and it's a good way of keeping their teeth at the right length, along with gnawing whatever toys they've got.

Your rat jumping around is being playful. If he had a friend he would certainly go jump on him and try to wrestle. If you tickle his bum when he's doing this he might try to wrestle with your hand. Most male rats will not be very playful when they get older.

 

Hee hee! thats cute! I hope my guy does that when he gets more comfotrable with me! :>

Ive tried to gently act like another rat with my hand and wrestle or play with him, he doesn't really respond.

 

the crazy hop thing is called a binking most of the time

 

I thought it was only called that when rabbits play?

Well, ok. So i did get a 'reaction' when I tickled his bum this time.
He turned around, grabbed my finger with his paws and at first only had his teeth lightly around my finger but then quickly he began to put pressure down.
If i hadn't jerked away he would have broken skin. :C

Im continuing to try to play with him and I notice this, he uses his teeth for everything. How do I tell him when hes playing TOO hard?
Im starting to think the minute he was barely able to eat blocks they pulled him away to be sold and he hasnt had a friend since!

On a good side though, hes taking food from my hands and when he gets scared he runs under me. :>
Ive had him loose in my room without worry because hes a mommas boy for sure! He will wonder about 7-9 inches away and scurry back under my pant leg.
Im hoping by doing these little session in the middle of room will help him feel brave. I put tons of toys and treats out to draw him out from a hide hole box i put out too.

 

I think your rat is probably being playful and wants you to look at him and say how cute!

 

he knows im around his little finger. Oh he knows! Haha.
But the biting if not stopped early WILL become a problem.

I did a rescue of a rat that bit constantly, I wore gloves covered in bitter apple. There was nothing that could really be done for him because of his extent of abuse and his age. I teamed up with Any Rat Rescue for help and getting him neutered sort of cooled him down but his FIRST reaction to anything is still to clamp down.

Because of this I never really learned how to help a rat understand that biting is bad and methods of telling him so without using gross tastes!
Is there any methods I can use?

 

teeth grinding when a rat is happy, relaxed and content is bruxxing. There IS stress bruxxing but its much louder and the rat's body language is tense.

Wait until you see a boggle, you'll love it!

When they bounce around like that its called popcorning. Depending on your boys age, I would NOT poke, and scritch their bum. This is an aggressive move on another male's part and if your boy is going into the hormonal phase it could set off a bite or at least huffing/puffing and rubbing.

If your boy is young he just needs to learn teeth are not acceptable during play..."Eeeep" when he nips you or uses his teeth too hard...this is rat language for "stop, that hurts, I don't like that!"...they often stop and look at you, and it may take many times but often works eventually

With girls you can poke rumps and they just bounce more

For playing I find the safest and easiest way to initiate play with both sexes is put your hand (from the front) over their head and shoulders and give a gentle shake, use a happy voice and say something like "wheee" or whatever that they will associate with playing eventually. they often will bounce forward and thats a great sign! Once they have done that they will shake their head, popcorn, run away and then come back for more

Here are 2 playing videos I have...the first I did up to show a girl how I play with my baby girl rescues. They didn't cooperate enough to show the hand over head much, but you'll get the idea.

The other was my beloved orphan Dilbert, who was the best handwrestler in the world and started when he was 3 weeks old!

You MAY laugh at my commentary, everyone else does LOL

Girls


Dilbert

 

Ooops forgot the link...this is an awesome site!

http://www.ratbehavior.org/WhatIsMyRatDoingFAQ.htm#Bruxing

 

Ratties love to test things with their teeth to see if they are good to chew or not. Like lilspaz said, when he puts pressure behind his teeth make a high pitched "eeep!" noise. This works!! Two of my rescues were constant nippers but after about a week of doing this consistently they did not bite at all.

Lilspaz, I think my Squid would have given Dilbert a run for his money in the best handwrestler competition!

 

Dillylicious handwrestled from 3 weeks to 27 months old, a week before he passed. You touched him and he threw himself onto his back...I miss him

 

I would agree with lilspaz -- the hind end is where serious rat fights target, less serious fights tend to target the front of the rat. They're naturally pretty defensive of that area.

 

I guess you're right, I never thought about it that way. My rats (at least the playful ones) have always seemed to enjoy it.

 

Thanks for advice! But uh whats a boggle? XD;;
I need to learn all this lingo~

HIS NEW MARTINS TOWER CAGE CAME TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ITS PERFECT! I bought a sugar glider set that fits him perfectly right now! It's REALLY thick fleece and only cost $17.00.
Id suggest it to any one, plus if you contact the makers they can sew custom sets.
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All the other 'rat' toys were too big.
I accidentally made everything into a green theme. Haha. Even the towels that my dad randomly threw out for me to cut were green. Its really cute. Here are some pictures....:>

Full View
Run Away!
Level1
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Well ive been playing with him more doing the butt tickle and he seems to find it to be a riot. I didn't know that it could be taken as aggressive. Right now hes only about 5-6weeks so i dont think **** care much, but ill keep in mind what you said! Ill try out doing what you suggested too.

 

When they're really happy and brux very quickly, their eyes will vibrate in their sockets, and that's called boggling.

 

XD;;; thats so cool!
I hope I can get Bishop to do it soon.
Im trying really hard to be the best mommy I can.

What toys would be nice for him to have?
he doesnt like wood toys.

 

One thing my rats love that keeps them busy for a while, is I take empty papertowel rolls and bend in the ends like a package and fill it up with different kinds of treats, like Total cereal, unsalted peanuts and sunflower seeds, some dried fruits, etc, and then fold in the other end so they have to chew it open to get to the goodies. When first introducing this I would leave one end partially opened so they got the idea of what was in it.


Another thing my rats love is getting a full box of tissues. Or just plain empty toilet paper/paper towel rolls or even an empty box of tissues.

In the summer I give them a bowl of crushed ice. They love to play in and chew on the ice on hot days.

You can also buy or grow some Wheatgrass. My ratties love to eat it and also make a mess digging in the soil, lol. Lots of fun though.

 

my girls like it if you make a little ball pit type thing for them
fill a box up with either balls or smaller boxes. when you fill the box up with boxes they get bored of climbing around in it and turn it into a nest. really cute

 

Hee hee thanks. Im trying to go"eep" every time he bites or tries to but I dont think its having an effect.

 

Also, are these food ok?
cherry (no pit)
spinach leafs