Idk why it surprises people everytime they prove animals have emotions.
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Iirc this (or a study similar to this) also found that rats apparently can exhibit racism, with rats raised only around rats the same color as them being far less likely to help rats of a different color when they are in distress
I once had a pet Rabbit and a Guinea pig when I was a teen. When we moved to a smaller house we got a bigger cage and put the 2 in one. They were best friends already but rarely saw each other. But now they spent every day together. Some days I would see them cuddled up with each other asleep.
My Guinea pig passed away about 2 yrs after they became bunk mates. We found her laying on her side my rabbit was laying next to her nuzzling her.
After we got her out my rabbit wouldn't eat he didn't want to play he just wanted to sit in his cage. It broke our hearts seeing him like that so we took him out and we spent days where each of us took turns just holding him and petting him and giving him his favorite treats. He was addicted to turnups and parsley. It took some time but he got better.
I never seen an animal be so depressed from losing another animal. We had dogs and cats who lost babies but never get that depressed.
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Iirc this (or a study similar to this) also found that rats apparently can exhibit racism, with rats raised only around rats the same color as them being far less likely to help rats of a different color when they are in distress
My Guinea pig passed away about 2 yrs after they became bunk mates. We found her laying on her side my rabbit was laying next to her nuzzling her.
After we got her out my rabbit wouldn't eat he didn't want to play he just wanted to sit in his cage. It broke our hearts seeing him like that so we took him out and we spent days where each of us took turns just holding him and petting him and giving him his favorite treats. He was addicted to turnups and parsley. It took some time but he got better.
I never seen an animal be so depressed from losing another animal. We had dogs and cats who lost babies but never get that depressed.