Base Jumping Rat

Question
Hello,

Mango, my rat, will- with reckless abandon- jump off of EVERYTHING. THe couch, the table, the bed, my shoulder, a chair...whatever I happen to put her on.  She just runs up to the edge, sniffs around, and proceeds to climb/fall straight down head first. Her cagemate Curry, on the other hand, will not venture near such ledges.  

Luckily, she has not been hurt by this, as most of my furniture is not too high up or I've been able to catch her..her worst fall has been at about 2.5 feet.  If I put her on a new surface, she will not jump off so quickly, but once she realizes she can jump without getting hurt, she will repeat the action every time.  I'm running out of play space options.  She is able to jump out of the bathtub and I can't let her run around the floor because she could get stepped on.  I'm thinking of getting a critter play pen soon, but I'd still really like to know why she's so "suicidal".  

Interestingly, once she does jump off something, she will run straight back to her cage..not in the cage, but she'll climb around the outside.  Maybe she's a homebody?  It's not for food reasons, since I feed them their fresh and yummy treats on the futon couch with me while I eat dinner.

Any ideas? Or should I just invest in that play pen and forget about having a normal quiet dinnertime ever again?..haha.

Thanks!

Her stats- a little over a year old, female hooded rat with no prior issues other than being a little too happy to jump off ledges.

Answer
Rats LOVE to jump, climb and run as you have figured out.  LOL  Sounds like she thinks its fun and it keeps her entertained. I bet she is nice and lean. No way can a rattie with a thick waistline jump like that. My boys sure cant as big as they are!!  I would keep her from your shoulders for the time being. Not sure how tall you are but that fall, even if your as tall as me (I am all of a whooping 5 foot tall!  LOL!) is too high for  arat to fall from.  As you know, they can break bones, their back and their neck!  I adopted a rat with a broken back. He was a free ranging pet store rat (ma and pa place)
To be honest and more serious, she may have a problem judging depth.  Most rats do have a bit of a challenge with depth perception but she could be an extreme.  Ever notice a rat that sways their head from side to side?  They do this to focus and without all the scientific mumbo jumbo, this helps them focus in and judge the distance and depth of an object in the distance. They often do this before jumping from point A to point B.  Does she do this?

I would get the play pen. I have one and love it! She may climb it though and jump from the top. My boy with one eye does that sometimes once they get bored running around the pen.  I have it extended from one side of the cage to the other and during time out they come out and can go in as they please. I supervise the entire time since my rat room is not rat proofed. I have four hermit crabs in four different tanks and a bunny in the same room so with all the cords to the crabs heaters for their tanks etc...its just too dangerous to let the boys roam free.   I also found a good idea on another site, the dapper rat.  All you need is some big card board boxes or even thick cardboard pieces and flatten them out, fasten them together etc...and spread around the room to contain them too.  They cant scale the cardboard unless they have super duper razor sharp and pointy nails. I shouldnt have said that. Now with my luck she will run right up it.  LOL

Here is a picture of it:
http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j71/sugarfoxx/rats%20nest%20icons/?action=view...

What do you think about the cardboard corral idea?