heatherton
New Member
One of my rats has quite poor vision (pink-eyed), and has always been more skittish than her cage mates (including her sister-from-another-litter who she’s known since birth). She leans away from pats, and will startle if I move my hand in the cage suddenly, but will hand feed and take treats.
My big issue with her which is very very very slowly getting better, but I’d still like to speed up for both our sakes, is the fact that she often tries to dart when I pick her up.
I’ll often stroke her first, so she knows my hand’s there and she’s comfortable, and I’ve tried picking her up from under her belly, above, facing me and away, and it doesn’t make too much difference. Sometimes she’ll just grab at something as she’s lifted out and let go once she’s balanced herself, but many times she will dart the moment one of her feet lift off: then she either ends up up-turned, rolling off a level, running into something, or with her tail caught in my fingers before I can let go.
She’s a bit easier to pick up outside of her cage, so I wonder if it’s just the smaller space and or busy environment that maybe distracts her attention
I don’t know how much this plays into her poor vision, as I didn’t notice any signs until about 1.5-month-old
Anyway, any info appreciated! It’d just be nice to have her a little calmer to pick up so she doesn’t keep startling herself and then I have to keep re-attempting
My big issue with her which is very very very slowly getting better, but I’d still like to speed up for both our sakes, is the fact that she often tries to dart when I pick her up.
I’ll often stroke her first, so she knows my hand’s there and she’s comfortable, and I’ve tried picking her up from under her belly, above, facing me and away, and it doesn’t make too much difference. Sometimes she’ll just grab at something as she’s lifted out and let go once she’s balanced herself, but many times she will dart the moment one of her feet lift off: then she either ends up up-turned, rolling off a level, running into something, or with her tail caught in my fingers before I can let go.
She’s a bit easier to pick up outside of her cage, so I wonder if it’s just the smaller space and or busy environment that maybe distracts her attention
I don’t know how much this plays into her poor vision, as I didn’t notice any signs until about 1.5-month-old
Anyway, any info appreciated! It’d just be nice to have her a little calmer to pick up so she doesn’t keep startling herself and then I have to keep re-attempting