Weight: 0.5 kg, length: 25 cm body + 25 cm tail. Dioecious reproduction. Monogamous. Adult males are always colourful, in pink and light blue. Adult females get colourful when the offspring leaves the nest, until it's about to lay eggs again. Juveniles and nesting females have a dull brown and green colour. Lays 3-8 eggs in a nest high up in a tree. Both parents prepare incubation by collecting seeds which will provide the bulk of food during incubation, and until the juveniles can jump or climb down from the tree.
The rat can rapidly climb up a tree, but it's unable to climb head down, so it prefers to jump down, jumping to branches, tree trunks etc if the drop is more than 3 m, since it will be very slow and vulnerable climbing down. Some rats descend trees by running in circles around the trunk. On the ground it prefers to move in long jumps, unless it's moving with offspring unable to jump like that.
Brown and green neon rats will always try to hide when threatened, only attacking if cornered, or in case of female, if majority of offspring is threatened. Colourful rats are more likely to be aggressive, either to protect offspring, or to attract partners through feats of courage.
Both parents are very involved in gathering food and protecting the offspring, both seeds and small animals which get paralysed by a weak poison in the saliva of a colourful rat. The poison is too weak to cause more than a rash and temporary pain for someone human sized (and is non-existent in a dull rat), but rat bites are very likely to cause infections which lead to fever and other complications. When hunting, it sits very still, and suddenly jumps up to a meter at its prey.
Rats held in captivity lose their bright colours, and stay dull.
Hits: 2
Speed: 5m
Skills: Athletics (dexterity) 3, Recon 3, Stealth 1, Survival 2
Attacks: Bite (1)
Traits: Small (-4), Infection (Routine, 1D-2, 1D days), Camouflaged (in natural habitat, unless colourful)
Behaviour: Omnivore
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