Doesn't like to be touched

[simonsmom]

My younger male (really rough guesstimate 18 months) is a bit of an odd boy. When he first came to be he hid in the corner of the cage from other [dominant] rats, bolted away from hands, tried as hard as he could to get away from hands holding him, wouldn't take food from people, etc. A very shy boy.

Flash forward a year and he finally will:
-take food from me, sometimes a bit hesitant
-come to the front of the cage when I'm there
-climb on me
-let me pick him up, though he doesn't like it
-play with toys and use his wheel
-brux on occasion

But he still:
-shakes when I hold him
-if he's out exploring and having fun and I touch him he goes back into his house and won't come out
-only comes out to explore, wheel, etc. when the lights are off. He stays in his house poking his head out until I turn them off.
-is scared of dominant rats, or at least very uncomfortable around them

I keep him and his mate out with me 90% of the time, we're basically cage mates. The only time they are locked in their cage is when I'm not home and some nights. Otherwise they are always on the couch/coffee table area or bed with access to their cage. So there is no lack of socialization. But with him, I never forced holding, petting, etc. He just seems to hate it so much that I feel bad doing it. Every other rat I've had will go back to doing what they were doing, but one touch and he's done and back in his house and doesn't come out any time soon.

I don't mind, he may just not be a cuddly, pet-me rat. But I want him to be comfortable to and at his full potential. Is this a situation that you would push touching or leave him be?

 

[Sheldon]

I don't know if my take on it is useful or not as I have only had one rat similar to that. I don't know where she came from but she was terrified when I first got her and several months later the only progress we had made was belly creeping near me and snatching food from my hand.

I was telling a ratty friend of mine and she grabbed the rat, rubbed all over her and made a bunch of goofy noises and just generally (non-predatorily) harassed her. I think my jaw fell to the floor, but low and behold if she didn't start letting me hold her for short periods. (She still hates it though and stares daggers at me until I put her down).

Anyway that was my experience with it but I don't know if that was ok or not.

 

[jorats]

I think letting them be who they are is ok. It's sad though that their start in life caused them to be that way. I have two girls like that. I don't over do it with them, but I still interact and will pick them up when they weren't fast enough to escape me. lol A year later, they still don't like being picked up and petted but they do climb on me and will sit on me for a bit and will allow me to pet them for a small amount of time. I enjoy every bit I can get.

 

[dspch911]

I had two boys that came from a hoarding situation that were like that. I used to have to tell them "Mommy is picking you up now" before I picked them up. I would give them a yogie every time they let me pick them up and hold them so they knew that was a good thing. I repeated the process over and over. I found that when we went to the vet they loved having attention and me holding/petting them so I took advantage of that. They came to love me rubbing the top of their heads. Sadly they left us in the past couple months so they never got all the affection they deserved, but they did come along way from when I got them and they lived happy spoiled lives.