my rats hate me :(

[Oxyvince]

so i brought two rats home couple days ago hoping that we will instantly build a great friendship
but no matter what i do, they seem to grow even more fearful of me

ive tried offering them treats, petting them, stuffing them down my shirt and cuddling, but nothing seems to be changing their behavior towards me

today i let them free range a bit with my supervision but they zoomed to the darkest corner and it took me about 3 hours in order to get them out!!! every move i made, they flinched and ran back into the corner


now i have one more option... should i try starving them for about a day? and then feeding them by hand?

how long should i starve them? what is a safe limit?

 

[trexgorawrrrrr]

i don't suggest starving them at all. you need to make sure they have their lab block 24/7... you need to give it time. as you said yourself you got them a couple days ago. you need to give it a little time. you need to force them out. i would wear a sweat shirt, and maybe some socks on your hands if you fear they'll bite you. but force them out into your arms, not hurting them. but give them a good pet down. they've probably never been handled before, and were bred to be food. you're doing all that you can. they don't hate you, within time they'll be your best bud.

 

[jorats]

Your rats need to get used to their new environment.

Please don't ever starve your rats. That will only teach them to be very anxious. They need to feel secure in that you will provide them food, water and shelter at all times.

 

[trexgorawrrrrr]

forgot to mention you could let them free range on your bed. get out an old blanket you don't care about to cover you bed, sit there with themm. pet and hold them when they come near you, and give them hidey spaces and places to explore. that's an idea for a few days.

 

[Oxyvince]

i got the idea of starving them for a bit from reading Ratclub or something on how to train your rats.. but i guess thats a pretty bad idea

im really hesitant on letting them free range in my room because my room has many difficult places to reach that they can crawl into, which turns into a huge time consumption to get them out, but right now im trying to create our guess room into a free-range room..

and im not too sure about letting them free range on my bed because they might jump off and go run into a hiding place in my room

 

[xxchelle]

Especially since you got your rats at a pet store, they have learned to be fearful of humans. It will take them days to get used to the idea of being in their new environment, let alone trusting a new human.

Give them their time and space, don't force them yet. PLEASE DO NOT STARVE THEM in the hopes they'll bond with you. That's just cruel.

 

[SQ]

As xxchelle said, your rats have learned to be fearful and untrusting towards humans and with good reason.
They will learn to trust you if you are gentle and patient. They will learn to trust that you will give them good food, that food and water will always be available and that they are safe.
It is going to take them awhile to get used to their new environment.
It is going to take perhaps months of trust training on your part.
But if you do not treat them with gentle kindness, they will not learn to trust you.

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

Especially since you got your rats at a pet store, they have learned to be fearful of humans. It will take them days to get used to the idea of being in their new environment, let alone trusting a new human.

Or longer unfortunatly...my first two boys were originally from a petstore and it took them months to get used to me since they were hardly handled until I got them. You just need to be patient and give them time, starving them will only result in them being even more uncomfortable.

 

[Oxyvince]

hmm should i still stuff them down my shirt?

that procedure seems like a double edge sword..

the benefits of it is that they get to know my scent and feel a little bit more comfortable with me in my jacket

but at the same time, when i open the cage and put my hand in to pick them up, the fear in their eyes is overwhelming :O

 

[xxchelle]

No. I wouldn't yet. They sound VERY fearful, so give them at least a week of just adjusting to the cage. You can sit with your hand on top of the cage, but don't make loud noises, sudden movements, and DON'T force them to "sit with you" by holding them when they're struggling, I'd just leave them be for at least a week, then start VERY SLOW bonding steps.

Edit: I forgot to mention, don't base your experiences off the experiences of most of those on the forum, as most of us rescue rats, and rescues, like myself, work very hard to properly socialize animals before re-homing them. So by the time they get to a new home, they are happy and ready to bond with their people, so bonding generally goes much faster.

 

[lilspaz68]

Are you having to chase the girls around the cage and then grab them to get them out of the cage? If this is so, you need to definitely take a step back. Sit by their cage, talk to them, until they relax...supposedly rats can only hold onto extreme fear for 20 minutes. If you are nearby but aren't trying to catch them or touch them, they may relax and become more curious.

Can you tell us how you hold them, how you catch them etc?

 

[jennifervb]

so i brought two rats home couple days ago hoping that we will instantly build a great friendship
but no matter what i do, they seem to grow even more fearful of me

ive tried offering them treats, petting them, stuffing them down my shirt and cuddling, but nothing seems to be changing their behavior towards me

today i let them free range a bit with my supervision but they zoomed to the darkest corner and it took me about 3 hours in order to get them out!!! every move i made, they flinched and ran back into the corner


now i have one more option... should i try starving them for about a day? and then feeding them by hand?

how long should i starve them? what is a safe limit?

Your rats don't hate you. They just don't know you.

"A couple of days" isn't going to do it Oxyvince. Depending on their prior experience with humans, you could be looking at several weeks to 1 or 2 months before they will come to trust you. My first boys, Ben and Jerry, spent their first month running and hiding from me. I set them up with toys on my dining room table and just sat with them, reading a book or working on something else.

I would eat my lunch with them out on the table and watch as they tried to find ways to pilfer from my plate without getting close to me.... it was sad to see them so fearful, but it was hysterical to watch them try approaching the plate without being seen. :giggle:

Patience is an absolute MUST... not to mention the finest virtue you will ever learn when dealing with your little newcomers.

It is rarely ever as simple as people would like to think it is, but it is worth the effort. Don't force anything with them. Just carry about your business and make sure that any "business" you do at a table has them at the table with you. Take the whole cage and park it on the table, with the door open, whenever you are seated there.

Take out some of their toys, rat laundry, boxes, igloos (for escape and hiding) and then just ignore them. It may take quite some time (like a couple of weeks of doing this every day) before they start wondering what you are doing and if that book tastes good... but it will happen.

Pet store animals are not always treated well so your girls may not have the best experience with humans. Give them a break. Offer them things like soy yogurt on your fingers or some peas/carrots or any other veggies you have around. Try offering these things in your hand. If they don't venture out to take it from you.... gently deposit it close to where they are hiding and just watch.

They may not take it right away, that's ok. They have a great deal of fear to get over. This is your time to set yourself apart from the kinds of humans they have known in the past. Remember that! You do not want to be anything like those humans. Most pet store employees have no clue about rats and I have actually seen pet store employees trying to scoop rats out of their cages with plastic containers because they were afraid to touch them.

I got a pet store employee into trouble once when I saw her trying to scoop a little rat man out of his cage. I simply went around the back, where she was, stuck my hand into the cage for him to "sniff" and then lifted him out with a "belly scoop".

"There you go sweetheart... now you can clean his cage". The manager did not like what she saw.... tough. If your staff is too inept to know how to handle all of the animals they work with, then maybe they should go work for McDonalds. :stickpoke:

I have no doubt that your new girls have been through the mill.... give them the time they need to get used to you. Time and patience will be rewarded. :bunnydance:

 

[LA]

Oxyvince, I took in two troubled rats. It took me three months and they finally started coming out of their shell. I couldn't pick them up and hold them like I wanted.

It will take time, patience and effort. But it will be worth it.

 

[Jems71]

I took in two pretty well socialized adults from a member, and I would say it took about 3-4weeks for them to relax and trust me totally...I would sit quietly in front of the cage for long periods of time for the first week...I have a Ferret nation so I would opne the doors and just sit there on the floor and read or play around on the computer...I would put my hand in the cage and not move let them come sniff my hand and the older ones would watch the babies I had crawl over me....after about 2 weeks they would come right up and sit by me, but run if I moved suddenly...then I started the down the shirt trick almost everyday for a cpl weeks...they are now good...but still don't like me reaching in and grabbing them out of the cage...they protest a little...but even worse is when they are playing out of the cage...they hate me ending play time and will try to escape me when its time to go in...
So this is my story of 4 weeks of patience, for already well socialized adults...its a slow process, I would imagine if they are fearful from being unsocialized and untrusting of humans it might take a bit longer...hang in there when it happens its all worth the wait.

 

[Moon]

You are expecting way too much of two rats who are not used to human companionship. Take it slow, keep it up, and don't let the pace get you down. Sit by the cage, wear old shirts and put them the cage in so they can snuggle into them, put your hand in the cage and read or watch tv and let them just deal with you being there, without you throwing attention at them... just relax and ignore and don't make your presence a big thing.

 

[Oxyvince]

Are you having to chase the girls around the cage and then grab them to get them out of the cage? If this is so, you need to definitely take a step back. Sit by their cage, talk to them, until they relax...supposedly rats can only hold onto extreme fear for 20 minutes. If you are nearby but aren't trying to catch them or touch them, they may relax and become more curious.

Can you tell us how you hold them, how you catch them etc?

what i tend to do is just grab them from behind,i try not to hurt them, and pick them up.. the cage opening isnt too big enough for me to put two arms in and scoop them

 

[Oxyvince]

ok, ill try to let them freerange on my bed, but im afraid they might jump off and go hide

my bed is about 1-2 ft off the ground, is that high enough for them to know not to jump off?

 

[LA]

I would not suggest that. They feel very threatened when you do this. Which makes it harder to get them to trust you. Maybe what I would suggest is taking them into the bathroom and opening the cage in the tub and letting them out. You can take the top off the cage. That way you can scoop them when they come out.

I made an enclosure for my rats with a fridge box from an appliance store. I have that around the cage and they come out and play. If a fridge box is too big see if you can get a couple of boxes, cut them and put them together with zipties. Make an area where you can sit with them but keeps them safe.

 

[SQ]

If you put them in the tub you:
- put the plug in
- cover the bottom of the tub with a soft blanket (ex: fleece)
- add toys, yummy treats, whatever
- sit by the side of the tub with your hand in the tub for them to sniff.

People normally use the tub for intros since it is neutral territory.

When I got some pet store rats years ago, I would put them on the bed with things for them to crawl under, a tube to run through and they also had access to their cage. I would lie on the bed reading, etc for hours and they would eventually come out to explore, eventually climbing on me etc.

 

[Oxyvince]

I would not suggest that. They feel very threatened when you do this. Which makes it harder to get them to trust you. Maybe what I would suggest is taking them into the bathroom and opening the cage in the tub and letting them out. You can take the top off the cage. That way you can scoop them when they come out.

I made an enclosure for my rats with a fridge box from an appliance store. I have that around the cage and they come out and play. If a fridge box is too big see if you can get a couple of boxes, cut them and put them together with zipties. Make an area where you can sit with them but keeps them safe.

hmm thats a pretty good idea, i can sort of make like a "playpen" for me and my rats