[thedogsmother]

I think George hoards his food , he always covers the bowl up within minutes of me putting it in his cage, it doesnt matter where I put it, if its on the shelf he will carry his bedding up the ladder to do it . Ive never had a rat do this before, its not a problem at all, Im just curious as to why he does it.
For anyone who doesnt remember him George is my lone rat who cant be introed due to behavioural problems where he seriously attacked rats both times Ive tried to into him, and he shows none of the usual signs of anger, just goes straight in for the kill . He lived for his first 10 months in a carrier sized cage till Niki87 spotted him and brought him to me. Hes a timid boy but he is very loving with me, and he is pretty content on his own, even if I hate it . He has never had an empty food bowl since hes been here and he wasnt a thin rat when he arrived either.

 

[polishrose]

Klaus does that too.He covers his bowl with bedding or the t-shirt that's in his cage.Maybe it's a lone rat thing?

 

[thedogsmother]

Klaus does that too.He covers his bowl with bedding or the t-shirt that's in his cage.Maybe it's a lone rat thing?

I wonder if it is to do with him being alone . At least Klaus has some hope of company in the future :crying:

 

[polishrose]

Yes that's true.Has George been neutered?Would that maybe calm him down so he can be with other rats?

 

[Guest]

I'm gonna say it is most likely a lone rat thing, my previous lone rats have done similar things until they were intro'd into a group. So maybe it is their way to protect their food because they don't have the safety of friends

 

[mices4]

Sometimes, when I hand-feed millet seeds to my mice, one or two of them will try to bury my hand in the bedding. At first, I thought my shy mouse was trying to push the hay up in front of her as a shield to hide behind, as if she felt safer taking the food from through the hay. But they will sometimes scrabble the cardboard pellet bedding up and kick it over the food as though they want to hide it for later!

 

[thedogsmother]

Yes that's true.Has George been neutered?Would that maybe calm him down so he can be with other rats?

He had been neutered, the worst attack was actually after he was neutered and hes even gone for girls who were showing no dominance whatsoever . If he was showing dominant behaviour to my two other boys (also neutered) Im pretty sure they would back down, but he doesnt show any warning signs, he just goes in for the kill. Ive shown videos of his behaviour and the attacks (I was videoing the intros, Im not into video nasties ) to a lady who runs a rescue, shes got years of rat experience and she said shes only once come across a rat like him, apparently his previous life had left him so damaged that he wasnt able to live with rats again, unlike George he wasnt happy on his own though and had to be pts. George seems pretty chilled alone, if I thought there was a rat out there that he could get on with I would love him to have a friend but there just isnt

 

[polishrose]

Oh that's so sad Poor George

 

[thedogsmother]

Oh that's so sad Poor George

I do think it bothers the humans in his life (me included) far more than it bothers him, he hasnt lived with other rats since he was a pup and he is so happy just to have a nice cage and with lots of toys, hes got a whole section of the explorer to himself and as long as I dont move his toys around hes a happy boy . He is a one person rat though, he is scared of everyone but me, he wont even take treats off other people, he sniffs all over their hands then walks off in disgust . Hes lucky I love him so much, despite all his awkwardness

 

[polishrose]

he's very lucky to have you

 

[thedogsmother]

he's very lucky to have you

Thanks hun, but Im the lucky one, hes not your average rat but hes does make me laugh and I do get a kick out of being his special human

 

[polishrose]

You're a star A lot of people would have given up on him.

 

[Tomskrat]

my sisters roan girl Trudy would do this a lot and sometimes Clanger would as well. i think its just an instinctual thing to hide food to protect it rather then hoarding. My boy Tomsk was a hoarder though, he would collect every piece of food out of the bowl and hide it in a basket, guarding it from other rats.

 

[kat04kt]

I have two rats, together - very happy, loving, outgoing, none hormonal, still pretty young - they cover their food.....I think it's just a rat thing I hadn't noticed but actually they had a secret stash of food that they collected during free range - they hid it under tissue and my socks behind my washing basket! hehe. Luckily it wasn't anything too minging!

They cover their dried food too! I've found they cover the food they really want to eat but maybe are just too full to finish it - it's deffo the food they want to eat later that gets covered

xx