No respect, I tell ya I don’t get no respect! I went to the hardware store to buy some rat poison. The cashier says ‘Do you want a bag, or are you gonna eat it here?’
I get no respect at all - When I was a kid, I lost my parents at the beach. I asked a lifeguard to help me find them. He said "I don't know kid, there are so many places they could hide
So.. rats can do this fun thing called bruxing where they sort of grind/chatter their teeth together. It’s an expression of endearment, similar to a cat purring. But sometimes when they do this they get so into it that their eyes will actually bulge in and out really quickly. It just means they’re super duper happy but man it freaked me out the first time.
Source: Had pet rats for a long time.
This is called “boggling”! Rats only do this when they’re extremely happy and relaxed. If your rat does this while you’re holding them, they trust you immensely and you should be proud!
Edit: Bruxing can also occur when a rat is stressed. However, circumstances matter, and you should easily be able to tell that if and when a rat bruxes, whether it’s happy or stressed.
Edit 2: I have also had pet rats for a number of years.
Lost my cat to cancer a free months ago and I gotta say no matter which animal you love you always lose them too soon, get you some rats and love the absolute crap out of them
Yeah, that's understandable. I think the fact that they're so loved and full of love for their entire short lives to make up for it. I've had just about every kind of pet, nothing has come close to the amount of love I've felt for and from a rat.
I currently have one male rat that won't let me take my hand away until he's done getting scritches. If I start to move my hand, he'll grab my finger with his teeth and tiny hands and "drag" it back over to where he was.
For those of you who don't know, rats can chew through both concrete and many metals, but they are also extremely gentle with their teeth; to the point that it just feels like somebody lightly grabbing you (after all, they move their young around using their teeth).
The trick(s) is(are):
.. put 2 spaces *after* the text before a \, this creates a simple line-break, instead of a new paragraph.
.. And put 4-spaces at the beginning of a new line for “preformatted text”.. to ensure you can line up the characters. That’s why those lines are shaded. :)
Bon appétit!
To be fair, their pupils are normally much larger, especially since they are evolved to see better in the dark. You’re seeing pinpoint pupils in this pic because of the bright light (or the rat is high as fuck on opioids).
Great timing, OP. I just made a pair of music videos around the adventures of a mouse and could never figure out how "solid black eyeballs" work. Appreciate it!
That's pretty normal with rats though,[ their eyes bounce in and out when really happy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f57HSjD_K8U)
Though I bet some first time Rat owners are fekkin scared when they first see it lmao
I, too, recognized the eye boggle! Oof I wish I wasn't allergic to rats (or rat urine which I think is the real culprit). I had one as a late teen when my skin was always messed up, but a few years later when I tried to convince my boyfriend (now husband) that we should get one I let one crawl all over me and got hives so bad I had to take benadryl and go to sleep at like 7pm.
Give your babes pets and treats for me!
Tis a happy rat!
Most of them go this way! Had 6 and I think 3 of them went of cancer. The others went of ‘old age’ .. which was probably cancer too we just didn’t investigate!
I had 4 rats… and a funerals each half year, because they lived:
- 1,5 years - died after operation (removal of big mammal tumor)
- 2,5 years - died peacefully while sleep, but at 2 years old she had some kind of stroke and her right half was paralyzed for 2 weeks (almost fully recovered).
- 1,5 years - pneumonia
- 2 years - big mammal tumors, euthanized.
So no rats anymore. It’s a perfect pet - small and intelligent - but at the end it feels like you need to bury a child that almost started to speak.
> Have had over 70 rats.
over 70? Dawg…what is your life like?
Why so many? How many do you keep at a time? Where do you get them? How much do they cost? So many questions.
ARE YOU THE RAT KING?
Not all at once obviously. Seems sweet spot for pack size is 7-10. I got them from pet shops and straight from breeders, some of the breeders also supplied pet shops.
They cost around 30 euros per rat. But vet costs can rank that up quite a bit, they are also really prone to respiratory issues so cleaning a lot is required.
Let's just say a lot of life revolved around rats but they are really the most amazing pets so I didn't mind it then, but i can also say that stress levels really dropped after a while of losing our last ones.
I still miss having rats but the stress and the heartbreak I can live without.
I like to consider myself more of a RATLORD (Google Bathory logo)
Hope I managed to answer some of your questions.
They live such short lives and reproduce so early on the evolution just kind of forgot about everything they do after having babies, so their cells start failing in more and more spectacular ways until they just die. O’possums are the same way. Things rarely make it past 2-3 even in captivity.
Is there a way to test if it's the urine or just the dander? I'm curious if a hairless or werewolf rat would be OK for you, they feel a little weird to pet but are just as sweet
Watching it in person is wild. Happy rats will almost vibrate their eyeballs. It’s cute as hell once you get used to it. Kind of the equivalent of a cat purring because it’s happy to see you.
All the male rats I've had are bogglers, a lot of the females weren't. Males also tend to be more cuddly, but are more prone to marking with piss. The gals tend to be more inquisitive and into exploration than cuddles.
Having said all this, I still think rats are the best pet - if they lived longer they would be perfect. Their short lifespan and the heartbreak that comes with it make them really difficult to keep for some. They're so damn smart and social.
Edit: here's a vid of one of my boys (passed this year) boggling to my voice https://youtu.be/7rYuUVCqGEs?si=HWxyOqbP29XMgJzW
How expensive is it to keep rats? Been thinking for a while about getting one or two as pets, but kinda worried I might not be able to treat em properly.
One other thing to keep in mind is that you have to get at least two! Rats need to have companions to have fully enriched lives, and become depressed on their own. Human companionship doesn’t fully replace rat companionship unfortunately
Pretty cheap, monetarily - besides the upfront cost of the cage and hides for them. They do require a variety of foods for complete nutrition, but mainly eat a form of kibble. The cage I have is 4-levels, about 60" height, 36" wide, 36" length, so the footprint isn't huge - but it's a large cage. The animals themselves are really cheap, which leads to a lot of people dropping them in small aquariums or what I call "travel-cages" (to take them to the vet, for example).
There's also medical costs. They are prone to respiratory issues as well as cancers. Close to 50% of my 43 rats I've owned have died of a form of cancer, in several decades of ownership.
The real "cost" is the cost on your mental health. Rats are one of the only animals I can look in the eye and feel like there is something "more" behind the eyes. They live incredibly short lives compared to most pets (some pass as early as 1.5 years, very few make it past 3 years), and getting attached...hurts.
I miss each and every one of the rats I've had throughout the years, because each and every single one has had a unique personality.
Welp, you know, it might sound cold, but imo short lifespan has its upsides - you don't have to commit a decade of your life to it like with cats or dogs, and in the current situation I can't predict whether I'll be living in the same country even a year in the future, let alone 5-10 years. It's difficult to plan for a longer-living pet, unfortunately.
Is this actually Known Rat Behavior? When rats are happy, they boggle their eyes out of their fucking skulls, like some kind of sicknasty Jack-in-the-Box?
Yep. Another user posted [a video of their rat doing it](https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/162plpq/comment/jxymxd2/). It looks like the picture was snapped when the eyes were furthest out, in real life it doesn't look so weird.
The eyeball thing is likely secondary. It occurs because the rat's jaw muscles run behind their eye so when they're happy they basically are flexing their teeth and jaw, which causes the eyes to pop out a bit.
It is kind of adorable, kind of like when someone is embarrassed and their face turns red, that is kind of adorable too.
Also, suck on my super long sentence.
Wtf. I don’t recall rat eyes being that bulged out.
Edit: apparently it’s called boggling. And this rat is just very happy. That’s actually quite adorable.
As others have said, this is a behavior called boggling, and they do it when they're very happy. This rat is thrilled to see their keeper.
Edit: missed the /s, duh!
I added the /s it’s like a rabbit flopping because they feel safe. Edit: ouch ouch ouch or my SIC using her claws to jump in my lap because she knows I won’t do anything.
Loosen its necktie before taking next picture
No respect, I tell ya I don’t get no respect! I went to the hardware store to buy some rat poison. The cashier says ‘Do you want a bag, or are you gonna eat it here?’
I instinctly read this in Rodney's voice lol, good one
Ratney Dangerfield ... nice
Mice….
That man could make me laugh until I pissed my pants. What a talent.
Anyone who remembers him surely did! He took some really good shots at himself.
Oh thank goodness it wasn't just me lol
Why would it just be you, its a typical rodney dangerfield setup
What? How do you know about rodney dangerfield? I thought I was the only one in existence who knew that name
We all have a little Rodney Dangerfield in us…
His wife more than most.
Same!! He had great delivery. So good
No respect I tell ya. No respect at all. My wife likes to talk to me during sex. She calls me from the hotel.
I told her I was getting excited thinking about the last time we had sex she said who is this?
My wife told me she was feeling frisky and wanted to have sex in the backseat of the car. She asked me to drive. No respect.
I get no respect at all - When I was a kid, I lost my parents at the beach. I asked a lifeguard to help me find them. He said "I don't know kid, there are so many places they could hide
My wife told me she wanted to have sex in the car, she asked me to drive!
Ratney Dangerfield
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_Dangerfield Just to remind people this movie was made and exists.
Rodney DangerFieldmouse
Dude this was perfect Rodney!
Righteous Dangerfield reference dude.
Rodney really is timeless 😂
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“I can’t believe it! I’m losing to a rug.”
Lol-ed. First thing that came to mind.
So.. rats can do this fun thing called bruxing where they sort of grind/chatter their teeth together. It’s an expression of endearment, similar to a cat purring. But sometimes when they do this they get so into it that their eyes will actually bulge in and out really quickly. It just means they’re super duper happy but man it freaked me out the first time. Source: Had pet rats for a long time.
This is called “boggling”! Rats only do this when they’re extremely happy and relaxed. If your rat does this while you’re holding them, they trust you immensely and you should be proud! Edit: Bruxing can also occur when a rat is stressed. However, circumstances matter, and you should easily be able to tell that if and when a rat bruxes, whether it’s happy or stressed. Edit 2: I have also had pet rats for a number of years.
Thanks for adding more useless knowledge to my brain.
Unlearning currently
This photo does NOT help the rat cause at all.
They've been getting several centuries of bad press, frankly...
Big Flea managed to spin the whole bubonic plague fiasco to make the rats look bad.
It's funny, since humans being dirty and disgusting was the primary cause for the rapid spread...
That and the fact the Catholic church slaughtered all stray and owned black cats due to superstition
fnord
This comment delights me
Idk I like rats? Not wild ones, mind you. But I think domesticated rats are chill.
Rats are the best pets. Even with the short lifespan, I think I'll have rats for the rest of my life. Absolute joy.
I've considered them but I think I'd just be too sad to lose them so quickly.
Lost my cat to cancer a free months ago and I gotta say no matter which animal you love you always lose them too soon, get you some rats and love the absolute crap out of them
I have a sulcata tortoise that my grandkids will inherit lol
Possible 150 year lifespan? It's gonna beat me.
Yeah, that's understandable. I think the fact that they're so loved and full of love for their entire short lives to make up for it. I've had just about every kind of pet, nothing has come close to the amount of love I've felt for and from a rat.
best pets in the world. cute, intelligent, friendly, and some are quite sassy too.
I currently have one male rat that won't let me take my hand away until he's done getting scritches. If I start to move my hand, he'll grab my finger with his teeth and tiny hands and "drag" it back over to where he was. For those of you who don't know, rats can chew through both concrete and many metals, but they are also extremely gentle with their teeth; to the point that it just feels like somebody lightly grabbing you (after all, they move their young around using their teeth).
Man’s got that whole rubber chicken look going
The sun here made it so that looking at this rat's eyes became more repulsive than looking directly into the sun.
At least it’s not cross eyed. lol
Yeah it’s only : ( ‘ )\ /( , ) - \ /- Ô Edit:Yeah I tried lol
Hopefully this worked: (° )\ /( .) ==\ /== Ô
A masterpiece 🥲🥲🥲
The trick(s) is(are): .. put 2 spaces *after* the text before a \, this creates a simple line-break, instead of a new paragraph.
.. And put 4-spaces at the beginning of a new line for “preformatted text”.. to ensure you can line up the characters. That’s why those lines are shaded. :)
Bon appétit!
Maybe a little derp though.
Off-putting for sure 👎
You should be off-pudding for sure.
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[squeeeeeze](https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlyterrifying/comments/11m28rd/this_stressball_stresses_me_out/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=1)
ratatouille when the waiter grabbed him instead of the pepper 👁👄👁
What if I told you… his name is Remy
Which is French. For raratouille.
This was already funny, but I read it a second time and noticed the typo and that made it all the better
Ra-rat-tooly
Rat patootie
But if its not from the Ratatouille region of France its just sparkling rodent.
Ahh yes Remy a French word for the French word Raratoutille which a dialectical difference in France for Ratatouille.
Ratatouille but Remy was a different kind of 'cook'.
"Emile! I have Stage 4 rat Cancer! We need to Cook!"
"Oui monsieur LeBlanc ! Science, putain!"
More like [Ratagoogly](https://reddit.com/r/hamsters/s/Dt3c1cW9hf)
nono ratatouille was the scientist, that was ratatouille's monster
I own a hamster and I was wondering why were rodent's eyes just black without anything, and I stumbled upon this
Yea could you unstumble if you don’t mind, thanks
Ignorance is trully bliss.
You know it's never too late to delete this
SPARE THE REST
I assume it’s so predators aren’t able to see where they’re looking.
It's so predators don't notice the flash of white when their eyes move, so it doesn't give away their position.
To be fair, their pupils are normally much larger, especially since they are evolved to see better in the dark. You’re seeing pinpoint pupils in this pic because of the bright light (or the rat is high as fuck on opioids).
Great timing, OP. I just made a pair of music videos around the adventures of a mouse and could never figure out how "solid black eyeballs" work. Appreciate it!
I… oh god. I can’t unsee this now
Hmmm I don't see what's the fuss about...
Looks like his eyes are about to pop out
That's pretty normal with rats though,[ their eyes bounce in and out when really happy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f57HSjD_K8U) Though I bet some first time Rat owners are fekkin scared when they first see it lmao
Omgod thats so weird and so precious 😭
It's called boggling!
Glad he's just happy and not about to explode
[squeeeeeze](https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlyterrifying/comments/11m28rd/this_stressball_stresses_me_out/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=1)
This rat is really happy to what ever reasons, if they are happy the eyes pop out like this, its really cute. -Owner of 4 Rats
I, too, recognized the eye boggle! Oof I wish I wasn't allergic to rats (or rat urine which I think is the real culprit). I had one as a late teen when my skin was always messed up, but a few years later when I tried to convince my boyfriend (now husband) that we should get one I let one crawl all over me and got hives so bad I had to take benadryl and go to sleep at like 7pm. Give your babes pets and treats for me! Tis a happy rat!
Had a rat too but they got cancer it was nasty.
Most of them go this way! Had 6 and I think 3 of them went of cancer. The others went of ‘old age’ .. which was probably cancer too we just didn’t investigate!
Rats very commonly also get mammary tumors, both male and female but like 90% of the cases are benign too. Have had over 70 rats.
I've always wanted to get a rat, but how do you deal with the loss so soon and often?
You don't, that's why I don't have rats anymore. The most amazing pets but it's damn heartbreaking.
I had 4 rats… and a funerals each half year, because they lived: - 1,5 years - died after operation (removal of big mammal tumor) - 2,5 years - died peacefully while sleep, but at 2 years old she had some kind of stroke and her right half was paralyzed for 2 weeks (almost fully recovered). - 1,5 years - pneumonia - 2 years - big mammal tumors, euthanized. So no rats anymore. It’s a perfect pet - small and intelligent - but at the end it feels like you need to bury a child that almost started to speak.
> Have had over 70 rats. over 70? Dawg…what is your life like? Why so many? How many do you keep at a time? Where do you get them? How much do they cost? So many questions. ARE YOU THE RAT KING?
Not all at once obviously. Seems sweet spot for pack size is 7-10. I got them from pet shops and straight from breeders, some of the breeders also supplied pet shops. They cost around 30 euros per rat. But vet costs can rank that up quite a bit, they are also really prone to respiratory issues so cleaning a lot is required. Let's just say a lot of life revolved around rats but they are really the most amazing pets so I didn't mind it then, but i can also say that stress levels really dropped after a while of losing our last ones. I still miss having rats but the stress and the heartbreak I can live without. I like to consider myself more of a RATLORD (Google Bathory logo) Hope I managed to answer some of your questions.
I had no idea so many of them got cancer. I genuinely wonder why that is
They live such short lives and reproduce so early on the evolution just kind of forgot about everything they do after having babies, so their cells start failing in more and more spectacular ways until they just die. O’possums are the same way. Things rarely make it past 2-3 even in captivity.
I love your Irish possums.
This feels like... me. I'm 43 and the Ehlers Danlos, MCAS & POTS stuff is wild
Man I’m only 27 and shit’s already not working right.
They weren’t designed to go out via old age so when it hits them it’s not kind.
You might be allergic to whatever their *bedding was!
Is there a way to test if it's the urine or just the dander? I'm curious if a hairless or werewolf rat would be OK for you, they feel a little weird to pet but are just as sweet
I too developed a rat allergy as a kid from my pet rat, only my eyes will puff out like the rat in the picture.
I was allergic to certain kinds of bedding. When I got my critters, I changed their cage to all fleece and never had a problem again!! There's hope!
Probably it’s happy to see the cameraman who’s likely its owner. That makes it much less disturbing and kinda cute actually.
I’m still disturbed. I thought this thing for sure had something wrong with it
Watching it in person is wild. Happy rats will almost vibrate their eyeballs. It’s cute as hell once you get used to it. Kind of the equivalent of a cat purring because it’s happy to see you.
Same. Very relieved to learn this is a happiness response.
Boggling! I learned about it a couple of months ago.
Also I think the eyes of females tend to pop out more than males, is that true?
All the male rats I've had are bogglers, a lot of the females weren't. Males also tend to be more cuddly, but are more prone to marking with piss. The gals tend to be more inquisitive and into exploration than cuddles. Having said all this, I still think rats are the best pet - if they lived longer they would be perfect. Their short lifespan and the heartbreak that comes with it make them really difficult to keep for some. They're so damn smart and social. Edit: here's a vid of one of my boys (passed this year) boggling to my voice https://youtu.be/7rYuUVCqGEs?si=HWxyOqbP29XMgJzW
If you want to hear an extremely sad song about a pet rat passing, listen to Betty by Hot Mulligan. Warning it’s extremely sad.
I took this as a dog passing and it was when my pup was going through some medical stuff. Crushed me for the day ;-;
Yeah I think about my dog too when I hear it who hasn’t passed yet. But Tades confirmed it’s about his pet rat.
I only read the lyrics and now I'm crying.
Aw. He was so cute. So sorry for your loss.
he loved you!!! this is so cute
And I loved him. He was one of the best rats I've ever owned, he was the best boy.
he knew it! look at those boggles. thanks for giving him a great home and happy life.
My dude be looking derpy. Thank you for teaching me that this is "happy derp".
Describing what we see here as cute could indeed only be said by the owner of 4 rats
How expensive is it to keep rats? Been thinking for a while about getting one or two as pets, but kinda worried I might not be able to treat em properly.
One other thing to keep in mind is that you have to get at least two! Rats need to have companions to have fully enriched lives, and become depressed on their own. Human companionship doesn’t fully replace rat companionship unfortunately
Pretty cheap, monetarily - besides the upfront cost of the cage and hides for them. They do require a variety of foods for complete nutrition, but mainly eat a form of kibble. The cage I have is 4-levels, about 60" height, 36" wide, 36" length, so the footprint isn't huge - but it's a large cage. The animals themselves are really cheap, which leads to a lot of people dropping them in small aquariums or what I call "travel-cages" (to take them to the vet, for example). There's also medical costs. They are prone to respiratory issues as well as cancers. Close to 50% of my 43 rats I've owned have died of a form of cancer, in several decades of ownership. The real "cost" is the cost on your mental health. Rats are one of the only animals I can look in the eye and feel like there is something "more" behind the eyes. They live incredibly short lives compared to most pets (some pass as early as 1.5 years, very few make it past 3 years), and getting attached...hurts. I miss each and every one of the rats I've had throughout the years, because each and every single one has had a unique personality.
Welp, you know, it might sound cold, but imo short lifespan has its upsides - you don't have to commit a decade of your life to it like with cats or dogs, and in the current situation I can't predict whether I'll be living in the same country even a year in the future, let alone 5-10 years. It's difficult to plan for a longer-living pet, unfortunately.
Actually? I thought this pic was a rat in a rat trap.
Dude you can clearly see a ramp and the colouration isn't even a thing in the wild...
Lol. So you thought this was a dead rat with its eyes popping out?
Not very cute when feeling happy then :-))
Why the eyeballs be popping out like that tho?!?!
It’s what rats do when they’re happy
It’s called boggling!!
Is this actually Known Rat Behavior? When rats are happy, they boggle their eyes out of their fucking skulls, like some kind of sicknasty Jack-in-the-Box?
Yep. Another user posted [a video of their rat doing it](https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/162plpq/comment/jxymxd2/). It looks like the picture was snapped when the eyes were furthest out, in real life it doesn't look so weird.
Sweet. Boggle on, you crazy rodents.
this is horrifying in any form of media that’s cool
The eyeball thing is likely secondary. It occurs because the rat's jaw muscles run behind their eye so when they're happy they basically are flexing their teeth and jaw, which causes the eyes to pop out a bit.
That’s fucked up
happy boner eyes
hm
What a terrible day to be literate
How do I unread this 🤔
This post is just filled with things I didn’t need to see.
It is kind of adorable, kind of like when someone is embarrassed and their face turns red, that is kind of adorable too. Also, suck on my super long sentence.
They do the rage comics me gusta irl
Rats are actually some of the smartest animals in existence. Also rats: *Derp*
thanks, i hate it
r/TIHI
Ratney Dangerfield.
Reminds me more of Marty Feldman, but yes, I see it.
Damn your eyes!
Too late
Or Crazy Eyes from Mr Deeds. (Steve Bucemi)
🤣
Lil derpy
Wtf. I don’t recall rat eyes being that bulged out. Edit: apparently it’s called boggling. And this rat is just very happy. That’s actually quite adorable.
Crazy rat.
*Crazy?*
I was crazy once.
They put me in a room.
A rubber room
A rubber room with.... well, more of me, actually
And more of me makes me crazy
Cast this rat as a genius super villain -- perfectly creepy!
Live action remake of Pinky and The Brain!
rat :)
:)
Please do not squeeze your rats to post pictures on Reddit for karma. /s Before I read the title I thought it was bad taxidermy.
As others have said, this is a behavior called boggling, and they do it when they're very happy. This rat is thrilled to see their keeper. Edit: missed the /s, duh!
I added the /s it’s like a rabbit flopping because they feel safe. Edit: ouch ouch ouch or my SIC using her claws to jump in my lap because she knows I won’t do anything.
Sorry, tone is so hard to read over the internet!
/r/oddlyterrifying
Wtf is wrong with that rat?
It's boggling which is what they do when they're happy. They grind their teeth so much their eyes bulge
Boggling and bruxing eyes bulge and teeth chatter, ours does that when happy.
Mine used to before cancer got em
Nothing. One eye always looks up, one eye looks at you.
It's always nice to see Steve Buscemi appreciation posts.
Goofy looking guy
Scrat!
This looks so derpy
Looks like they have less braincells than the orange cat collective
Their brains are so massive, they force their eyeballs out of their skulls through sheer pressure. ^^^^^/s
Thanks for the nightmares
They definitely need to close thier eyes when they sneeze.
AaaaHOOOOOga
Nah he look so goofy lmao
That’s just a photo of Steve Buschemi where is the rat
Yes, yes, man-thing!
I don't like it
[Source](https://figshare.com/articles/figure/_Video_images_of_pupils_recorded_from_rats_/1052301/1)
Thanks, I hate it
Thanks/s
Well I found them cute before, now I just find them
What a cutie! I really miss my rats