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Playtime and Laughter Brown rats are very sociable animals and playtime in a group of domestic brown rats makes up an important part of their everyday social interaction. Playtime helps to reinforce bonds between rats and their owner, relieve the stress of being caged up, and allows for exploration and fun. Making space for rats to roam freely in a safe area is a simple and necessary responsibility that rat owners should bare in mind before taking them home. In addition, pet rat owners shouldn't even consider getting a rat unless it can be housed with another or better still others.
When rats are playing I'm reminded of nursery school as both rats and young children enjoy their toys, like to explore, and are partial to a little rock, roll, rough, and tumble. After observing my pet rats for decades, I've noticed some very interesting playtime behavioural patterns. The following should not be taken as an exhaustive list of playtime behaviour patterns but more as a look at the most pronounced behaviour that I've observed. For a pair of same sex play mates the pattern is generally sequential as follows: a) After being released from their cage, rats have an initial sniff and feel around before scampering off to other areas that are open to them. New rats will take longer to move away from their safe area but confident rats that are familiar with the neighbourhood will move away very quickly. b) Rats moving around a room will often hug the wall and follow previously laid scent markings. After an initial sniff and feel of the area and some greetings to each other and their owners they begin to move into more open areas of the room. If there's anything to climb up or over they will soon be visited and scent marked. This includes you! c) Once the rats have been around the room and had an initial exploration they may start to play fight. With young rats this is pretty much a given certainly while for older rats it will depend on their mood. Play fighting is often initiated with race and chase. One rat is the chaser and attempts to rub the back of the neck of the defender with its nose. If the defender is in the mood, this will turn into a frantic chase around the room. For female rats, once the chaser catches the defender it will often turn into a rock and roll with both rats locking face on and rolling into a tumble. It's not quite thrashing snakes but then again it's not far off it either. If things get a little heavy one rat may remain motionless and lie on her back while emitting an audible squeak. The other rat then begins to groom heavily. This soon subsides into gentle grooming and the rats may begin exploring again or start play fight round 2.
For males the initial race and chase follows the same pattern but things may go a little differently. Males often stand side by side, shoulder to shoulder, and begin pushing each other with their bulk down by their pelvis. All the while they may attempt to rub their nose on the back of the other rat's neck. As with the females this may turn into a locked roll or they may stand on their hind legs facing each other for some paw boxing. Paw boxing sees both rats pushing each other with their paws while they attempt to reach around and rub the back of their opponents neck. I've never seen my female rats paw box while play fighting although studies have observed this when females are lactating or pregnant. Watching males play fighting is very interesting although you should always be on hand to throw in the towel should things get too heavy.
d) Once play fighting ceases, the rats will begin exploring again. Exploration typically becomes more intensive and rats will attempt to move vertically where possible, 'borrow' things, gnaw, and generally put their noses into everything. Play fighting may occur again here and there but the frequency and ferocity reduces until it becomes more of a token gesture. e) As rats tire physically (and maybe mentally?), they reduce their pace, take more individual or group grooming breaks, rest on your lap and boggle their eyes and grind their teeth, return home for a drink and a snack, or simply have enough and head for bed. Playtime for younglings can continue for as long as you have the energy to supervise whereas you will often outlast the oldies. The following videos display play time behaviour from rat to rat, rat to human, and rat to toy.
Laughter In 1998, two scientists, Jaak Panksepp and Jeffrey Burgdorf, suggested that rats giggled and laughed when tickled. It was long known that chimpanzees and some monkeys displayed a panting noise that was comparable to human laughter but this was a first for other mammals. Jaak Panksepp and Jeffrey Burgdorf, of Bowling Green State University in Ohio, USA, observed that when rats play they emit vocalisations that appear to be the sound of laughter. After a couple of years of playtime research, Panksepp and Burgdorf tickled the rats and obtained a direct response that suggested laughter. Rats emit a short, high frequency, ultrasonic vocalisation during playtime that is inaudible to humans. With the aid of a bat detector it is possible to slow down the frequency to a level that is audible. The following video shows Jaak Panksepp demonstrating and presenting his rat's playtime.
In addition to the above, Rat Behavior and Biology (Anne's rat page), is well worth a look for more comprehensive information on play fighting. |
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