Social interaction with conspecifics (own kind) is very important. Rats display a wide range of social behavioursSocial behaviour The gamut of behaviours displayed by an animal in the presence of other animals that are either not displayed when solitary, or are not displayed in the same manner. in which pheromonesPheromones Scented substances that have a signaling function for the animal species that secretes them. play an important role (see movie 1). Social ranking among rats is indicated by the degree of submissiveness an animal displays towards a cage mate during a conflict (i.e. lying flat on its back, see movie 2).

Preserved wild rat behaviour

Shortly after having been placed in a semi-natural environment, laboratory bred rats will start to show much of the behaviour of their wild counterparts, indicating that wild rat behaviour is preserved in laboratory rats. An interesting documentary on the subject named “The Laboratory Rat: A Natural History” by Dr. Manuel Berdoy is available on YouTube. The documentary’s central question is: “We may have taken the rat out of the wild, but have we taken the wild out of the rat?”.

Natural rat behaviour

Rat cages should be adapted to essential aspects of their behavior, such as rearing up on their hind legs to explore their surroundings and, if it does not interfere with the experiment, the provision of gnawing material.
Young rats are more active than older animals and females are generally more active than males.
Rats groups are hierarchical and this must be kept in mind during restrictive feeding, because dominant animals will take more food than submissive ones.