trihkal
Senior Member
I'm sorry this post is a bit long but I really wanted to share our victory! This post is about how I eventually earned the trust of my scaredy rat Nisa. I have included some links to the site that helped me and links to specific articles in the hopes it may help someone else earn the trust of their scaredy rats.
A bit of a backstory regarding Nisa and her sister Orchid: They were originally born at Atlantis Rattery :gaah:. We rescued them from a private owner. After we adopted them I was told that prior to coming to live with us they were separated from their mom at a very early age and spent some time living with a snake. By the time we adopted them Nisa was more of a scaredy rat than Orchid but both of them were justifiably terrified. I have been known to bring shy rats around but I had never seen a situation this bad. Nisa wouldn't move at all until we to bed. I couldn't get her to take food from me. I was struggling because I had heard rats need 'forced socialization' but that was making things so much worse.
I came to this amazing forum for help. I was so relieved to read I could successfully socialize Orchid and Nisa without forcing it. I began to work with them slowly for hours every day for months. With time they would take food from my hands but I couldn't touch them. They would come out for out time but were still very scared.
Once again I came here for help. Jorats recommended this sitehttp://www.joinrats.com/EarningTrust. It has honestly changed our lives and how I interact with my rats forever.
I read Let Rats Decide When http://www.joinrats.com/EarningTrust/Letratsdecide first. It's about letting the rat decide what they are comfortable with. It involves patience but it builds a bond based on trust not fear.
As part of this letting the rats decide when thing I had to find a new way to get everyone back in the cage. I was able to train everyone but Nisa to come back in the cage to receive a small treat. Nisa on the other hand would hide. I couldn't convince her to go back inside the cage no matter what I tried and would have to eventually result to picking her up. I tried to make it as not scary as possible but Nisa hated it. One day she really freaked out and I knew this couldn't continue.
I went back to joinrats.com and read the article about Helping an Unsocialized Rat Love a Transport Box http://www.joinrats.com/EarningTrust/Transportbox/Nisa isn't unsocialized but she is my scaredy rat so I figured it applied. I started working on the steps such as keeping it in their cage to get them familiar with it and enticing them with a reward to get them inside. I'm thrilled to say tonight I successfully transferred Nisa from the floor of the playpen to the cage while she remained calm. This was our last big obstacle and we have found a way to overcome it.
Nisa isn't the nicest rat but she has my heart. I have learned so much about interacting with rats since adopting her. I am so proud of each stride she makes and how far she has come. Of course, I tell her this all the time. :cheer:
A bit of a backstory regarding Nisa and her sister Orchid: They were originally born at Atlantis Rattery :gaah:. We rescued them from a private owner. After we adopted them I was told that prior to coming to live with us they were separated from their mom at a very early age and spent some time living with a snake. By the time we adopted them Nisa was more of a scaredy rat than Orchid but both of them were justifiably terrified. I have been known to bring shy rats around but I had never seen a situation this bad. Nisa wouldn't move at all until we to bed. I couldn't get her to take food from me. I was struggling because I had heard rats need 'forced socialization' but that was making things so much worse.
I came to this amazing forum for help. I was so relieved to read I could successfully socialize Orchid and Nisa without forcing it. I began to work with them slowly for hours every day for months. With time they would take food from my hands but I couldn't touch them. They would come out for out time but were still very scared.
Once again I came here for help. Jorats recommended this sitehttp://www.joinrats.com/EarningTrust. It has honestly changed our lives and how I interact with my rats forever.
I read Let Rats Decide When http://www.joinrats.com/EarningTrust/Letratsdecide first. It's about letting the rat decide what they are comfortable with. It involves patience but it builds a bond based on trust not fear.
As part of this letting the rats decide when thing I had to find a new way to get everyone back in the cage. I was able to train everyone but Nisa to come back in the cage to receive a small treat. Nisa on the other hand would hide. I couldn't convince her to go back inside the cage no matter what I tried and would have to eventually result to picking her up. I tried to make it as not scary as possible but Nisa hated it. One day she really freaked out and I knew this couldn't continue.
I went back to joinrats.com and read the article about Helping an Unsocialized Rat Love a Transport Box http://www.joinrats.com/EarningTrust/Transportbox/Nisa isn't unsocialized but she is my scaredy rat so I figured it applied. I started working on the steps such as keeping it in their cage to get them familiar with it and enticing them with a reward to get them inside. I'm thrilled to say tonight I successfully transferred Nisa from the floor of the playpen to the cage while she remained calm. This was our last big obstacle and we have found a way to overcome it.
Nisa isn't the nicest rat but she has my heart. I have learned so much about interacting with rats since adopting her. I am so proud of each stride she makes and how far she has come. Of course, I tell her this all the time. :cheer:
