People are horrified after seeing close-up photo of a rat’s eye

Social media users have been left baffled after discovering what a rat’s eye actually looks like.

While most people wouldn’t dream of having a rodent in their home as a family pet, a small few welcome them with open arms.

But a post on Reddit has left users truly baffled, questioning how they have lived this long without knowing what a rat's eye looks like… and we don’t really blame them to be honest.

Oxana Golubets on Unsplash

The picture shows the user's pet rat popping its head out of a cage during golden-hour, which revealed the two ballooning eyes.

While the rat is seen to be staring straight at the camera, both eyes are looking in opposite directions.

One user joked: “Loosen its necktie before taking the next picture.”

Some came to the rodent’s defence, saying: “This photo does NOT help the rat cause at all.”

However, some people pointed out that there is a scientific explanation as to why the rats' eyes were like that.

One user explained that the bulging eyes can be a result of something called ‘bruxing’, which is where a rat grinds or chatters their teeth together.

They said: “Sometimes when they do this they get into it and their eyes will actually bulge in and out really quickly.

“It just means they’re super duper happy but man it freaks me out the first time.”

According to PetMD, bruxing 'is a soft but repetitive grinding of the front teeth, which can cause bulbous eyes to pop out of the socket even more'.

So even though it is a horrifying trait, it could actually mean that your pet rat is comfortable with you if you see some outrageously big eyes popping out.

Reddit/alexand3rl

Rat revelations seem to be doing the rounds on Reddit, with another rodent-parent sharing how quickly their rat can scurry up a toilet bowl.

However users weren’t quite as fascinated, with one person writing: “New fear unlocked.”

A surprising study by the RSPCA revealed that around 200,000 rats are kept as pets across the UK, but less is known about their day-to-day wellbeing.

Topics: Animals, Weird, Reddit

Mia Williams

Mia is a freelance writer for LADBible, and an award-winning trainee journalist at the UK’s No.1 journalism school, News Associates.

@mia_francessca