grinding noise

Question
i have 2 male rats at home and just recently one of them has starting to make a noise which sounds like its grinding its teeth its like a chatter sound sometimes its stops but then he starts again and he doesnt seem to be as hungry do you know what it is?

Answer
Hi


Are you new to owning rats?  Your rat is doing what is called bruxing, and he is doing what you think, grinding his teeth. Bruxing is the rats natural way to keep their teeth ground down to the proper length so they do not need any special chew toys to help them with their teeth.

However, bruxing also has another meaning which I think you will like:
It means they are happy and content and they do this kind of like how a cat purrs! It can get super loud and also one more thing occurs: When the rat bruxes, the vibrations from the grinding of the teeth also makes the eyes vibrate in and out of their socket. This is called boggling. Check it out next time he bruxes. It looks so funny!

Everything is normal.  Check out my website for all sorts of ideas on playing with your rat to training etc..


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