Need help with 2 new rats

[NurseHallauer]

Hey all, this is my first post on your forum. To give a little background about myself, I have had rats before but not for the past 6 years or so. My husband and I decided to get two recently. All of the rats I had had before were females and very quick to warm up to me, be social, beg for attention from their cage... Well, this time we got two boys and they're very different. Mind you they are from a pet store (couldn't find any local breeders), but so were all of the females I ever had....one was even a "feeder rat" and she was the biggest ham ever. We've had our boys for 3 weeks now. Mind you we didn't get off on the best note when, the first thing we did upon coming home, was give them a bath...but being stuck in an aquarium with 5 other rats and LOTS of poo, they smelled really bad, and I didn't want my husband (who is new to rats) to be turned off to them on day 1. They "survived" their bath and we have spent 30-60 minutes with them on the couch with us everyday without a whole lot of progress. They will come up to the side of the cage because I started giving them a little treat when I'd walk by, to stop them from running away. They will run around on the couch while we sit there and will climb on us, but are distrustful when we go to pick them up. If I sit with them next to their cage, they will run right back in. The girls I had before would do anything to get out of their cage because they wanted to be with me and be social. The boys are social together, they'll wrestle and run around. I'm glad they feel safe in their habitat, but it's kind of disappointing that it's taking so much longer for them to trust US. Other than the bath, they've only received positive feedback from us. We are holding off on any real training/correction (i.e. litter box) until they trust us.

We let them run all around us, on and in our clothes. They like taking rides in hubby's hoodie. =) Is it natural/expected that boys will be slow to warm up to people? Any suggestions to help speed up the process?

Thanks!
NurseHallauer

 

[jorats]

Hi and welcome!
Rats have unique personalities, some are outgoing while others not so much.
Have you tried to force socialize them? I like the "down the shirt" trick. Put on a tshirt and a sweatshirt over top and stick them in between and sit on the couch. Give them treats while they are in there. The longer you keep them with you the better they will bond to your smell. They will soon relate you to warm cozy dark place.
How old are the boys now?

 

[dspch911]

I've had my boys since May and have resently starting this sweatshirt bonding suggested here and they are getting so much more friendly and playful - even our little loner!! However, my sweet Finn did give me a kiss yesterday right before relieving his bladder on me!!! But they are definately coming around more with this and the advice I'm read on this site. Of course there is Curley who always wants attention so we have never had a problem with him...... :heart:

 

[ApocAngel]

I'm in the same boat you are, I had lots of female rats growing up, then for quite a few years I didn't have any rats and suddenly I find myself the proud mommy of five little boys! They're nothing like my girl rats were! The newest two were also from a pet shop and are extremely skitterish, it's taken about a week and a half to get them to the point where they don't freak if we open their cage. I've heard that putting them inside your sweatshirt works but I've yet to try it with Roxas and Jax, hopefully it works for you and me. Best of luck to you in bonding with your boys ^_^

 

[NurseHallauer]

Thanks for all of the replies, guys! =)

I'm not completely sure about my boys' ages....I've always gotten my rats from petstores, not from breeders that know the background of their rats. My boys (Squeaker and Splinter) are adults, but not as big as I assume they will eventually be. I'll try to post pictures soon. =)

I think we had a breakthrough today, though it seems to come at a random time. lol We both made a point of playing with them in their cage without actually removing them yesterday. Today I made the point of doing the same thing again and they were noticeably more relaxed. When we did actually take them out they still kind of grabbed onto the cage but not with the same urgency. Then we sat on the couch with them and they spent less time smelling the environment and surveying, and spent more time actually playing -- running in and out of hubby's hoodie pocket, jumping and climbing on us. They even explored us more -- Squeaker "tested" my big toe, and Splinter was fascinated with hubby's chapstick. It did our hearts good to see them finally relaxing a bit and not treating us like they think we are waiting to eat them. =)

 

[jorats]

That's great. And some rats really do better with a regular routine.