Background: Earlier, we have reported that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-like behaviors developed in rats that witnessed their cage mates undergo repeated traumatic stress. More recently, we published that early life physical traumatic stress leads to later life depression-like behaviors in rats.
Upon similar situational reminders, rodents exhibited behavioral responses comparable to human PTSD intrusion symptoms, such as crouching against the chamber wall, as well as increased freezing, respiratory rate, and fecal boli25,26,27.
A shriek or scream indicates strong distress or pain, such as when its tail is pinched. ▶ Occasionally, rats may hiss. Hissing is usually a sign of distress and is given at times of stress.
Anxiety and fear produce similar behavioral responses, including increased vigilance, freezing and/or hypoactivity, elevated heart rate, and suppressed food consumption.
Rats can cry tears just like humans, and, like humans, they do so when they are sad, upset, stressed, or sick.
The past decade dramatically deepened our understanding of the biological origin of this capacity. We now understand that rodents robustly show emotional contagion for the distress of others via neural structures homologous to those involved in human empathy.
Both mice and rats are also highly social animals. They become attached to each other, love their own families, and easily bond with their human guardians—returning as much affection as is given to them.
Rats are afraid of human activity, mostly because humans are so much larger than they are. Rats also fear predators such as hawks, eagles, and other birds of prey. Other animals that rats are afraid of include your cat as well as rat terriers and other dogs that hunt rodents.
If they urinate or defecate when they're in a new place, it means they're frightened or distressed - if this happens, return them to their familiar home-cage. Different rats behave differently in similar situations, as they each have different personalities and may have been reared differently.
Rats are social animals. They love sleeping in piles, squabbling over crumbs with their cage mates and wrestling together playfully. Your pet may be happiest with other rats, even though most rats are “people pleasers.” They learn to trust humans and actively seek out the attentions of their owners.
Putting your rat's favourite blanket or toy in the travel carrier will calm him. As mentioned above, a blanket will provide your rat with something to nestle into. To calm your rat further, use your rat's favourite blanket.
Quivering/Vibrating
It can be a sign of nerves, but can also be a sign of intense excitement or apprehension. To try and judge what exactly your rat is feeling so intensely you have to look at it's overall body language.
While you pet them, it is a good idea to talk to them in a quiet, friendly-sounding voice so they know you're not a threat. If your rat begins to seem scared, put them back in the cage and give them a treat. Repeat this process every day until they feel comfortable with you holding them.
Carbon dioxide at higher than normal concentration is one way of experimentally inducing panic in animals as well as in humans. Rats whose orexin-synthesizing neurons are activated are also more prone to panic.
Trauma can also manifest as “shaking, hiding, urination and/or defecation when the trigger attempts to interact, howling, pacing, excessive vocalization, and panting,” says Pia Silvani, director of behavioral rehabilitation at the ASPCA's Behavioral Rehabilitation Center.
Ways Rats Show Sadness
Lethargy: When depressed, rats often become unmotivated by life; because of this they will become lethargic and sleep most of the day. Lack of appetite: Depressed or sad rats will often begin to have a decreased appetite due to their bodies releasing stress-induced hormones.
Offering Treats
You let your rats come to you for treats. Because this can be a vulnerable situation for your pet, make sure you start by letting them come to your hand while they're still inside of their cage. Hold a treat between your thumb and forefinger and offer it. Keep trying until they accept.
2.6.
Mice and rats have a preference for water with sucrose dissolved in it over regular water. When a rodent shows a lack of interest in the sucrose solution, it is said to be exhibiting anhedonia which is a classic attribute of depression (Klein, 1974).
Rat sounds
Chirps and squeaks are common in mice, but rats tend to communicate at a pitch which is undetectable to humans. If a rat is afraid or in pain however, you may be able to hear squeaks or hissing sounds.
Rats and rodents in general are very sensitive to sound, since it's one of their main tools for survival. Any new or unexpected noise will frighten them and send them scurrying. However, once rodents get used to a sound, they will no longer fear it.
Even this scent of a cat can make rats scatter. Neighbors say they haven't seen rats since the cats got to work. When the cats are put in place, they'll kill off a lot of the rat population, “the other rats will get a whiff of (the cats') pheromones and bug out and leave the area,” Nickerson said.
So, for example, from the human audiogram you can see that people hear pretty well at 1,000Hz; here, the threshold of hearing is a scant 2 decibels. For rats, however, the threshold is more like 24dB. That means that a 20dB sound at 1,000Hz would be easily audible to you but would be entirely inaudible to the rodent.
In a study involving hundreds of rats, investigators found strong evidence of animal empathy. They found that a free-roaming rat will usually rescue a trapped rat, apparently motivated by empathy.
They'll be able to detect the scent of large birds, cats, and even humans when it matters the most. Scents are also important when it comes to reproduction for rats.