My rat kinda rocks back and forth

Question
QUESTION: I just got two pet rats a few days ago. But after I got them home I noticed one of them rocks back and forth when he is trying to stay still. When he trys to freeze or just stop moving he just rocks back and forth like theres a breeze in the tank. He still does it and today I noticed him trembling. Is he sick or is he just stressed out from having a new home? His brother has no problem and is active. They both play fine and have an appetite etc. I did notice that the brother started sneezing today. I really hope their not sick already.

Thank you.

ANSWER: Hi Jennifer


Are you new to rats?  Check out my website and look at the videos on the page that I give you to check out about head swaying and let me know if this is what your rat is doing.

Are his eyes red?  

Also, the trembling he may be doing may be from bruxing. Its when they grind their teeth real fast and also their eyes may vibrate real fast in their sockets like they are going to pop out of his head. This is called bruxing and the eye vibration is called boggling and it is done when the rat is very happy and excited about something.


Anyhow let me know right away if your rat is doing what you see in the videos.   

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/myratswaysherhead.htm

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Yeah I'm really new to rats, and thats exactly what he does! and its kinda funny that the rats in the video are the same color as him, but I doubt that has anything to do with it lol. No his eyes are not red at all. Both of them seem really hyper, they kinda play tag. I thought they were fighting at first but a second later they would be cleaning eachother or drinking with eachother. so I'm assuming there playing. I want to get them neutered, cause I am afraid that they will start fighting or getting aggressive but I just hope they don't get lazy. They haven't been handled much since I did get them at a petstore. I know everyone says not to do that but I heard the lady in front of me saying she was going to come back later in the day to feed them to her snake, and they were the last ones left so I saved them lol What's the quickest way to get them trained to be picked up?

Thank you so much!!!

Answer
There is a page on my website on how to trust train them. Just check back at the same website that had the rats with the head swaying and go to the page on how to trust train shy or biting rats.

You should never force yourself on the rats, but you do need to let the know you want to be friends with them. Also, I do not suggest neutering them. They are not aggressive and usually dont turn aggressive unless they are poorly bred. Some play wrestling etc...is fun for them and they do it often, and end up cuddling and sleeping together and grooming each other etc...
When raised together male rats get along like best buddies!!

As for being lazy, not sure what you mean by them being lazy? Do you mean lethargic when they become ill or something?