Activity
The rat is a nocturnal animal. The rat engages in exploratory behavior for orientation in its environment (food, threats). Rats prefer to eat when it is dark and they are in their most active phase. They are gnawers and they will chew at and destroy materials like wood and plastic.
Rats are social animals. Single housing can lead to boredom and potentially result in stereotypic behavior. When animals are fed ad libitum, they can easily become overweight.
About 40% of a rat's time is spent keeping coat and body clean, usually after feeding, drinking or exploring. Decreased grooming quickly becomes apparent and can be seen around the anus, and in the form of a reddish-brown secretion around the eye and sometimes the nose, produced by the Harder gland and known as 'red tears'.
An unkempt coat and the presence of ´red tears´ are frequent early signs of health problems. An unkempt coat is normal in older animals,
Exploratory behavior of a rat
