anyone with experience with pet rats?

[Jennyhaschicks]

I have 3 pet rats and one of my little girls is doing something and I can't for the life of me figure it out.
When I talk to them she keeps picking up shavings in her mouth and then putting her mouth up to the bars on the side of the cage. Then she takes her paws and shoves all the shavings from her mouth and out onto the floor. She keeps doing this and I don't know if she is trying to play or maybe she is offering me something??

 

[Aneesa's Muse]

She is either making an offering ..or your breath smells funny to her

Try taking some of the shavings from her and see what her reaction is. You may want to offer her something in exchange ..like a strip of paper towel or tissue. I play this game with some of my girls ..just be aware that it can go on for a lonnng time, if they are so inclined

 

[Epona142]

Rats think that pushing shavings out of their cage for you to clean up is fun.

 

[kelliepulido]

I am not sure about this behavior but maybe she wants some attention.I had pet rats growing up and would let them run around my room while I did my homework.They usually ran around for awhile then would come and sit on my books and then repeat.I had a big room with a shelf that ran around the whole room high up near the ceiling and louver doors that they would climb up and then run along the shelf.My son has a rat and it would chatter its teeth which is similar to cat's purr.

 

[CochinLover]

could the cage be dirty in any way? could she possibly be pregnant? She could be nesting and moving dirty shavings she wants out of the cage. or like the others said she could just be palying an annoying game with u and that could not be fun. u may not want use shavings anyway as that could cause a prob with upper respiratory try use fluff, cotton, old towels that u can wash, ferret sleeping bags and hammocks. u can use kaykob as litter which is just dandy to clean. just some tasty tid bits.

 

[Jennyhaschicks]

I thought she was trying to play as well because her movements were kind of quick and playful if that makes sense. She has never done this before so it caught me off guard and made me think.
She is not pregnant. Her cage was just cleaned so it's not dirty at all.

 

[Aneesa's Muse]

I thought of this just now..

I have a few rattie kids that like to feed our tortoise... so they offer her "trinkets" by tossing them out of the cage onto her head ..or in her path.. as she walks by. Joob thinks this is the next best thing to romping in a sunny backyard with all the Hibiscus in bloom ...she likes poo ..err, I mean, "trinkets".

Could your girls be trying to feed someone that's under their cage ..a dog, cat, etc. ??