03/08/2020
Rat myths #1
Since adopting 3 rats this week I have been so surprised by the reactions of friends and family members regarding rats. I honestly didn’t think there was a huge amount of stigma surrounding them and well, I was wrong! Due to this, I have decided to do a series of posts addressing common myths about rats.
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Myth #1
Rats do not have bladders/ rats do not have bladder control
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This statement was one of the first things I heard from family when I began to mention that I was considering adopting rats, multiple people stated that rats ‘urinate everywhere and have no bladder control’ and upon research I found that it was a common misconception that rats do not have bladder control or that they don’t have bladders at all. This however is not true, rats do have bladders, they also have full control over their bladders, in fact pet rats are often very particular in where they urinate, frequently sticking to one corner of their cage so to keep everywhere else clean. This makes pet rats exceptionally easy to litter train, many owners find it helps to have a corner litter tray filled with paper based pellets.
This myth appears to stem from the fact that rats ‘scent mark’ as they roam around their environment. This is where they release a small amount of urine as a means of chemical communication, generally one rat will release a drop of urine and another will identify this and respond by leaving further urine. A rats urine contains information regarding the rat including its age, species, s*x, stress levels, s*xual availability, social status and reproductive status.
In general scent marking is s*xually dimorphic, with males being most likely to take part in the behaviour; in females scent marking tends to follow their 4-5 day reproductive cycle, they scent mark most often the night prior to ovulating, this alerts nearby bucks and lets them know that the doe is s*xually receptive.
Both Male and female scent marking is heavily influenced by hormones, with does scent marking during proestrus, correlating with the increased oestrogen and progesterone. In males scent marking is dependant on testosterone, increasing in frequency when they reach puberty.
Reasons why rats scent mark include: habitat labelling, indicating territory (this provides comfort to the rat that their habitat smells familiar to them); s*xual advertisement (telling bucks that a doe is ready to mate).
Both bucks and does may scent mark other rats, this often is a method of selecting a preferred mate.
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I hope that these posts will contribute towards removing the awful stigma rats get, they really are loveable, intelligent and clean creatures!
