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whoknew

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 27, 2009
Messages
260
Location
Pickering&Ottawa
Who knew Cheese and Crackers could be so gosh-darn cute?! Not I, my friends!
Cheese and Crackers are the two lovely girls I adopted today from the Ottawa Humane Society.
Cheese is a little wee smeezer and Crackers is a light gray (blue?) berk! These two also mark my first adventure into female rats!
Right off the bat I can tell you that they are about 100x more active than any boy rat I have ever had or met. Holy moly they ZOOOM. Both are very very skittish and afraid of almost everything, and I assume they really had not been handled much. Or if they had been, very roughly.

I'm at a loss of how to deal with these two, so I'm open to all suggestions. They nip a little, so I "eep".. and this seems to be working out. I'm just not sure what to do about socializing and making them less petrified of hands. I can't pick them up or touch them really because they squeek and squiggle away. Right now they've been running around on my desk like it's a motor speedway and I've been giving them little treats from my fingers, which they accept. I was thinking of starting "down the shirt" tomorrow but am afraid that picking them up and stuffing them somewhere odd may be even more frightening. So- suggestions welcome!

Right now I can't tell you too much more about their personalities, not having enough time to fully see them emerge yet. But these are two sweet, active(!), girls that I am fully looking forward to spending a lot of time with!







 
Yay! They're so cute! :shock:

How'd the app process go?

I suspect the nibbles will go away shortly.
General handling and being near you and talking to them should get them socialized pretty well.

Females are usually more active and explorey than males (that's what I hear, at least. I've never had males) so sometimes it can be hard to tell if they're afraid of/hate you or if they're just like "ooo what's this!? ooooh what's THAT!? Oooh over here! oooh there's stuff over here too!"
I thought Badger disliked me until I caught her sleeping in her hammock and put my hand in there. She rolled her head over to use me as a pillow and began to brux. :cheeky:
 
:thud: they look so much better there then at the OHS today wow i think in time they will understand your home is not so noisy and no gloves and no hard grabs like today.

I am pretty disappointed in the OHS of what they said to that girl (more info here from whoknew viewtopic.php?f=4&t=22831 )

On another note the last girl it says "adoption pending" so she should be getting a good home i hope with another buddy.
 
Female rats are pretty crazy when it comes to energy levels, lol

I've had both genders - first two males, then two females, then two males, and now one male from that remaining two males and three overactive little Pips. :)

What's really interesting about the different genders is you can get effeminate males (Chance had a propensity for nesting, redecorating, and more energy than anything!). Haven't met a masculine female yet (more snoozy laprat type), but I'm sure they're out there.

The girls will I'm sure settle down a bit once they realize they're in a forever home and that you're always gentle with them (no more fear of gloves squeezing the poop out of them!). Down the shirt is really fun with girls - if you're just using one shirt, get ready to be cleaned!
 
Awww thanks guys! I think they're pretty adorable too, and happy to have been browsing the adoption website at the right time!
So I have a question. With "down the shirt", I havn't been able to pick them up.. but they have kind of explored inside my zip-up sweater and stuff, so i sort of zip it a little further up to try and contain them in there, but they just slip out the bottom or top (I'm sitting on a chair at my desk). Do I need to contain them, or is exploring around on my the same sort of idea.. or how do you guys keep them contained?
Also, I was wondering if there is anything I should be doing specifically for their intense fear of hands. They honestly completely freak out if I try and pick them up. And then if I manage to grab them (say to move from cage to desk) they huddle away from my in fear for a long time afterward. Is there something anyone can suggest.. or is it just a matter of time?

Thanks everyone for your kind words and help! :)
 
Bribe them with a lot of treats from your hand. I'm sure people who have had jumpier rats would have better ideas, but I think getting them used to your hand is good first (rather than focusing on picking up right away). Maybe gently cover them with your hand, but don't pick them up (maybe while they have treats to eat)?

To keep them from wriggling out of your shirt, tuck in the bottom. If they come out the top, there's not really anything you can do, but if they're okay with it, let them sit on your shoulder (you might even get ear furtles out of it!).
 
Eeek. They seem to be more afraid of my now (especially Cheese) than they were the first day they came home!
This might be harder than I had originally realised.
 
I'd say let them get adjusted to being in your house for a few days to a week, while every day just spending time near their cage so they can smell you and see you. Start just letting them smell your hand in their cage, and you can offer a treat on your finger that they have to lick off so they can't run away with it (and it'll start to make your hands less scary and more a good thing!).
UmMmm, other than that I can't think of much more. Two of my girls I thought were terrified of me for the longest time now but then I noticed when they're sleeping in their hammock and I put my hand in to pet them they'll start kissing/grooming me, so maybe they aren't so terrified. :p
Good luck on socializing your girlies!!
 
Stuffing them in the shirt really is the best route to go, don't spend too long with using your hands, just get them in there ASAP, LOL. But you can also work on making your hands a not-scary thing. They need to know your hands don't just grab at them, so spend time with your hand just sitting in the cage, doing nothing.
 
Well, I've been noticing that Cheese sneezes almost constantly. Now I know this could be the 'new home' sneezes, but I somehow doubt it.
She sounds 'wet' when she sneezes, though I can't do a rat-phone because I can't actually pick her up, haha. She also seems rather 'squinty-eyed'.. not quite as awake looking as other rats I've seen.
I would like to monitor her situation for a little longer, in case it's just nothing. But I was wondering if anyone knew of a good vet in Ottawa. I searched on the vet bpard, but it came up with the one who didn't own a scale? I have a great rat vet back at home in Pickering, but I fear I may have to take her in a little sooner than my next trip home...
 
whoknew said:
Well, I've been noticing that Cheese sneezes almost constantly. Now I know this could be the 'new home' sneezes, but I somehow doubt it.
She sounds 'wet' when she sneezes, though I can't do a rat-phone because I can't actually pick her up, haha. She also seems rather 'squinty-eyed'.. not quite as awake looking as other rats I've seen.
I would like to monitor her situation for a little longer, in case it's just nothing. But I was wondering if anyone knew of a good vet in Ottawa. I searched on the vet bpard, but it came up with the one who didn't own a scale? I have a great rat vet back at home in Pickering, but I fear I may have to take her in a little sooner than my next trip home...
Click to expand...

The issue with the vet without the scale was rectified a long time ago I think he is still recommended by those who use him.

"New Home Sneezes" shouldn't be lasting too much longer. She *could* be reacting to bedding depending on what you're using and take a look around for any scents that might be bothering her, but if she's still having lots of wet sneezes on the weekend I'd get her to the vet.
 
Well, I have an appointment with a vet at the Glebe Animal Hospital... that's the closest vet to me who will see rats.
Apparently other animal hospitals will see "small animals".. but rats are "too small". Go figure..
I hope these people are nice and understanding. I still can;t go anywhere near Cheese and Crackers with my hands, let alone pik them up without them completely freaking out, so I have no idea how the vet is going to listen to their lungs or anything..
All in all, I'm expecting tomorrow to be fairly stressful, both for me and the girls. Hopefully they won't hate me/be any more terrified of me than they already are!
 
Well I'm back from the vet and it didn't go as terribly as I thought it would! Great success! haha..
They were very nice at the office, and the vet said I caught their infections just in time.
He gave me Doxycycline.. 2 drops 3 times a day for the girls for 10-15 days.
Hopefully this will take care of their sneezes!
 

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