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Curiosity and Caution The brown rat is intensely curious but at the same time cautious. This inquisitive/careful nature benefits the species and gives it a survival advantage in the wild. A keen motivation to explore and discover new things (neophilia) ensures that the brown rat seeks out and learns about the rules of its colony and the resources and dangers of its environment. It has been observed that the motivation to explore even appears to take precedence over hunger and fear. Hungry laboratory rats that have been placed in new surroundings were seen to ignore food until they have first investigated.
In contrast to curiosity, brown rats display an almost paranoid caution to 'strange' objects in familiar places. This response is called neophobia. Brown rats in the wild display a greater avoidance to strange objects than their domesticated cousins. A pet rat in a cage that is offered food from a strange food holder will approach the food relatively quickly and then continue to eat as normal. A brown rat that is taken from the wild and placed in a similar situation may back away from the strange object and refrain from eating for numerous days before it ventures towards the food. Curiosity and caution are not viewed as fixed instinctive behaviour patterns but rather as basic emotions that can be expressed in many flexible ways. A wild brown rat living in an ever changing environment such as the boundaries of a block of flats will adapt to a constant flow of new items and display a less severe degree of caution associated with another colony of rats living in a stable slow changing environment. Curiosity and caution are an important part of a rat's intelligence to the degree that those given the task to control a rat population have described the relationship as "a veritable battle of wits and composure". Where humans may try to find solutions in imaginative and abstract ways, a rat will stick to what it does best and simply apply the most rational and logical approach of better to be safe than sorry.
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Curiosity in
pet rats can appear as an insatiable restlessness. After a pet rat is
released from its home, it may continue to explore (especially if it's
young) until it's returned to its cage. Even after being returned to its
cage it may express its appetite to roam by pacing frantically and biting
at the cage bars. Sometimes, this curiosity can be very testing if your
pet rat is adamant on exploring within a room that is closed and lets you
know about it by gnawing at the door frame. It's important to understand
that pet rats can be compulsively curious and the more it has at its
disposal to satisfy this need the less frustration there will be all
round.