Again a behavior/personality question...ya'll seem to be such a great resource! Thank you!
I got a baby black hood female from our exotic vet on September 29th. She was rescued from a snake feeder, I don't know anything more than this...not sure if it was a breeder or she was in a cage with the snake etc. Pockets was 3 weeks old when her and her 2 sisters were taken to the vet. 2 of the 3 girls were spoken for and I was given the 3rd when she was just 7 weeks old. Her and her sisters were all spayed right around 3-4 weeks old and the vet is using their procedure as a sort of test run for tumor potential. Anyhow, we have 4 other rats, one has some serious cage aggression, so we have Pockets with 10 week old Uh-oh (fmle) and our man 29. The 3 are very happy together.
I am concerned about Pockets behavior though. When we take her out of the cage and have neutral play with all the rats, the other 2 girls Mocha and Pixel join them. Pockets huddles into a corner, gets behind/under any other rat and won't move. She is refusing to explore, she hovers like a dog who has been abused, whenever we approach her. In the cage, she hides in a corner if we open the door to pet them, she runs to the furthest distance. When you do reach in to touch her, she latches on with both her paws-she doesn't pull or push you away...but won't let you get much closer. I have been letting her dictate most of the time, unless its cleaning day or neutral day. She is ok with Mocha in neutral zones, but once in the same cage with our aggressive girl, she either gets attacked while hovering or she hides. It's almost as if she has been abused or something.
What can I do, if anything, more than I am already doing? We take her out for snuggle under the shirt time, I hold her on my shoulder when she will allow me to get her out. She's just "off" and her behavior is so odd to me.
I got a baby black hood female from our exotic vet on September 29th. She was rescued from a snake feeder, I don't know anything more than this...not sure if it was a breeder or she was in a cage with the snake etc. Pockets was 3 weeks old when her and her 2 sisters were taken to the vet. 2 of the 3 girls were spoken for and I was given the 3rd when she was just 7 weeks old. Her and her sisters were all spayed right around 3-4 weeks old and the vet is using their procedure as a sort of test run for tumor potential. Anyhow, we have 4 other rats, one has some serious cage aggression, so we have Pockets with 10 week old Uh-oh (fmle) and our man 29. The 3 are very happy together.
I am concerned about Pockets behavior though. When we take her out of the cage and have neutral play with all the rats, the other 2 girls Mocha and Pixel join them. Pockets huddles into a corner, gets behind/under any other rat and won't move. She is refusing to explore, she hovers like a dog who has been abused, whenever we approach her. In the cage, she hides in a corner if we open the door to pet them, she runs to the furthest distance. When you do reach in to touch her, she latches on with both her paws-she doesn't pull or push you away...but won't let you get much closer. I have been letting her dictate most of the time, unless its cleaning day or neutral day. She is ok with Mocha in neutral zones, but once in the same cage with our aggressive girl, she either gets attacked while hovering or she hides. It's almost as if she has been abused or something.
What can I do, if anything, more than I am already doing? We take her out for snuggle under the shirt time, I hold her on my shoulder when she will allow me to get her out. She's just "off" and her behavior is so odd to me.
