Question:i have two female rats, i have had them for about 8 months and they are lovely, great natured and very friendly when they are inside their cage. Within the 1st two days of having them they escaped twice and it was a very traumatic experience for them, and it has left them feeling scarred towards me touching them.
If i try to pick them up they will run away of struggle hard. But they won't bite. i rally want to be able to handle them because atm i can only let them run around independently. Any ideas of how i could get to stroke or even hold them?
Answers:
the only thing i can say is just keep getting them out and touching them, they will soon realise that you wont hurt them, thats what happened to ours, oh and another thing, before you try and get them out just open the cage and see if they'll start to roam. try putting some treats in your hand xx
A nice bottle of Chianti, some faver beans and grilled rat; mmmmmmmm yum
You have got to handle them a lot and have them in a room where you spend time so they get used to you
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Shoot them in the head with an air rifle, and your problems will be solved.
you are brave i would shoot them
A little knock on the head with a hammer then you can hold and stroke them to your hearts content.
I had two female rats and they do not like to be held in general. They want to explore and not just inside the hamster ball. If you let them out more often they will get used to being out and eventually want to be around u more.
You shouldn't pick em up if they are scared, With my two girlie's one of em was extra nervous so every time i went to the cage i gave em a treat either a tiny bit of fruit, chicken or a bit of rat food and then they quickly begin to associate you with treats and good things so when they started to come to me when the door was opened i would scoop them up for a couple of minutes and then when i put them back give them the treat as a reward, worked really quickly.
Try putting some food on your hand when their outside the cage see if they will take it off you once their used to that see if they would eat food of you by sitting on your hand and try stroking them at the same.Good luck
we have 2 female rats about 12 weeks old, and we have handled them from the moment we bought them home, try feeding them some grapes or fruit from your fingers get them used to your smell and hands, then let them out, we let ours out every night for 30 mins, let them run all over us, my partner even lets them run around under his t shirt, and they are getting more friendly and braver by the day
-feed them their favourite treat first.
-then gradually, as you feed them, stroke them and
-eventually, put your hand out and see if they come and sniff you.
-once at that step, hopefully they might hop onto you.
-you might have to repeat the steps where you feed them the food and stroke them until they do trust to go upto your hand. gradually, evntually, you should be able to pick them up.
good luck
They are frightened and when you approach them they feel threatened.
Let the come to you, offer tasty bites and wait from them to come close. Let them take the food then go off for a couple of days, then try stroking them whilst they eat for couple more days. The put oyr hand out with some food on and let them climb aboard. It'll take time but if you rush them it will be harder.
they obviously want to be friends, because although theyre struggling theyre not biting, if a rat was truly scared youd be bitten and bitten hard and you'd know it
so lets take it right back and start as if theyre brand new, all of you need to regain your confidence with each other
put your hand in and let them sniff and lick and run all over it, leave it in there for about 30 mins, i know its seems a long time but rats are neophobic and take about 30 mins to get over that fear
get yourself some yoggie drops[ i use the dog ones theyre bigger] and hold them in your fingers for them to come and nibble on, they'll soon love you forever
get or make yourself a little pouch you can have on your lap or round your neck, once they are happy to be picked up, pop them in there and sit with them outside of the cage, maybe on your bed so when they do come out its a confined area. when they start to come out give them a yoggie so again theyre learning coming out to play with you = good things. lay on the bed and they'll be scampering all over and under you you'll be a huge playground for them. let them get used to you, dont try to grab them, unless of course they are in danger of escape, if you do have to grab them put them back on the bed continue playtime, dont put them in the cage and away
do this and by the time youve had them another couple of weeks i bet they'll be just fine
please do not use rat balls or kitten balls every single rat i have had and known have hated them and if theyre already scared then youre only going to make them worse
girls are flighty little creatures all their lifes BUT not scared, they love attention and to play and loads of it
lots of patience, lots of treats, calm and composed slow actions around them and they'll soon be your friends for life
double thumbs up for getting a same sex pair
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