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robinowits

Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2011
Messages
10
Location
Lexington, KY
Hello everyone!

My name is Robin, I'm about to graduate from University of Kentucky in the spring, and I just adopted 2 ratties! The rats are sisters; Nibbler is black on top with a white belly, and Sprinkles is white with a grey hood. They live in a large 3 story home complete with ramps, an igloo, a hammock, running wheel, a bed, and lots of toys and munchies.

I wanted to get a rat, so I convinced my boyfriend that I'd let him have one of my two if he would help me pay for everything :wink:
So "my" rat is Sprinkles and "his" rat is Nibbler. They were about 6 weeks old when we got them, and we've had them for 1.5 months (so they are almost 3 months old).

They are still both pretty timid and jumpy around us, and they don't really like being picked up or hanging out with us. And Nibbler has taken to biting us (aggressively) when we put our hands in the cage/near her. She also seems a bit territorial; whenever I walk up to the cage she will run over and sniff around and try to bite me through the bars...
I will make a separate post about the biting...

Thanks, I look forward to meeting more ratty lovers :D
 
Welcome to the shack!

We have a lot of people who can help with getting your girl to play nice in the sand box. Just post away!
 
welcome to the shack.....one thing to help baby rats to bond with you is the wear a nice comfy sweatshirt and put the babies in it with you....great to do while watching TV....I also like to feed mine baby cereal off my fingers......encourages licking and gets them to like your hands more.....
 
Welcome!
How old are your girls?
Lots and lots of socializing will snap her out of her biting. If she's young, it's probably nibbling at this point and not full on biting. When a rat bites, you'll know it, you will be left with a mark and lots of blood.
 
t-shirt time....get a super baggy top...and you can have them go into your top and hang out. i would suggest having at least a tight tank top on under cause the nails can hurt a little..lol. with the biting, try to put your hands in there often a possible...and dont be tense or nervious...they feel it!!! lol. use treats as a way to help them come out of the cage...over time, she wont be bothered with coming out...shes still getting use to you, as you are with her...patience is key..and im sure the love will be returned in no time! :)
 
thanks for the warm welcome, everyone! :cuddle:

my two rats are sisters, about 3 months old. I get them out at least once a day, usually more than that. I let them run around on the couch while my boyfriend and I are sitting with them. Nibbler will sit on my boyfriend's lap, and Sprinkles will run to a corner and stay there. They'll just kind of sit and sniff around, sometimes nibbling our hands or fingers to test them out. Then, Sprinkles will usually pee on me or the couch... she has peed almost every time I bring her out. Is she scared or can she just not hold it?
And then Nibbler will go crazy! She will run, run, run and climb over the pillows and our shoulders and try to escape from us. So after the peeing and crazy escape attempts, we will put them back in the cage.
I think the suggestion of "wearing" them in a shirt or sweatshirt is a great idea, but I know Sprinkles would pee on me... should I just do it anyways?
And to clarify, Nibbler really does bite hard (draws blood).. it's not the investigating kind of bite.

looking forward to more posts and thoughtful words! :dance:
 

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