Okay, so I need your guys' help. I recently(About two weeks ago) got two rats from the pet store I work at. I kind of bought them on a whim, but had been planning on getting them for at least a couple years. I had bought a huge chinchilla cage and bought random toys here and there so they'd have stuff when I got them. I used to have two rats that I adopted and they were already used to me. Now, I have two rats who were never socialized and are extremely jumpy/skittish.
For the past couple of weeks I've been doing trust training with them, using baby puffs to lure them to the cage door and then out the door. I also use baby food and some yogurt, which only my larger rat Luffy seems to be interested in. Simone likes it, but won't go far to get it. They come to the door when I call them and get their treats(Most of the time, Simone is really food driven and comes right out but Luffy waits for Simone to go first) but they're still really skittish. They don't really want to come out of the cage though. Simone will barely come out of the door, Luffy comes out an explores for a couple seconds and then goes back inside. I had them at the point when they'd come out and actually run around together, but then Luffy escaped his play pen one day and I had to usher him back into the cage. It really scared him. :c After that, I had to take them to the vet because I'm currently treating them for Myco. I feel like both of these incidences have put a major set back in my training.
Some more info. They don't like to be picked up. Simone lets me wiggle my fingers around his face and doesn't mind. Once I have him picked up he's not too bad and it doesn't seem to leave a bad impression on him. Luffy lets me pet him, but he gets tense and when I try to pick him up he really struggles. But I've heard the forced socialization method is bad and have been avoiding it. People I work with tell me to do a little of both, trust training and forced socialization to create a good mix. But, I'm not sure. I don't want to lose their trust.
I need your help guys. What can I do next to get further improvement out of them? Withhold treats until they come all the way out(which seems silly)? Just take them out on my own and place them into their play area? Do I pick them up for small intervals each day and hope they get used to it? I just need a little advice from you rat experts. I wasn't expecting them to be so afraid. When I clean the enclosures at work the rats always curious, fallowing my hands around the cage and yearning for attention. But maybe I didn't pick the right rats. I just want them to get to that point where I can hang out with them, let them run around my room and trust them to come when called. Be okay with being picked up and touched, petted, loved on. It makes me jealous to see everyone's rats. I'm not a patient person, but I'm being patient for them and hoping they come around. Please give me your input, suggestions, advice, whatever you have to offer because it does help! I know I should have gotten them from a breeder now, but I won't give up on these guys.
For the past couple of weeks I've been doing trust training with them, using baby puffs to lure them to the cage door and then out the door. I also use baby food and some yogurt, which only my larger rat Luffy seems to be interested in. Simone likes it, but won't go far to get it. They come to the door when I call them and get their treats(Most of the time, Simone is really food driven and comes right out but Luffy waits for Simone to go first) but they're still really skittish. They don't really want to come out of the cage though. Simone will barely come out of the door, Luffy comes out an explores for a couple seconds and then goes back inside. I had them at the point when they'd come out and actually run around together, but then Luffy escaped his play pen one day and I had to usher him back into the cage. It really scared him. :c After that, I had to take them to the vet because I'm currently treating them for Myco. I feel like both of these incidences have put a major set back in my training.
Some more info. They don't like to be picked up. Simone lets me wiggle my fingers around his face and doesn't mind. Once I have him picked up he's not too bad and it doesn't seem to leave a bad impression on him. Luffy lets me pet him, but he gets tense and when I try to pick him up he really struggles. But I've heard the forced socialization method is bad and have been avoiding it. People I work with tell me to do a little of both, trust training and forced socialization to create a good mix. But, I'm not sure. I don't want to lose their trust.
I need your help guys. What can I do next to get further improvement out of them? Withhold treats until they come all the way out(which seems silly)? Just take them out on my own and place them into their play area? Do I pick them up for small intervals each day and hope they get used to it? I just need a little advice from you rat experts. I wasn't expecting them to be so afraid. When I clean the enclosures at work the rats always curious, fallowing my hands around the cage and yearning for attention. But maybe I didn't pick the right rats. I just want them to get to that point where I can hang out with them, let them run around my room and trust them to come when called. Be okay with being picked up and touched, petted, loved on. It makes me jealous to see everyone's rats. I'm not a patient person, but I'm being patient for them and hoping they come around. Please give me your input, suggestions, advice, whatever you have to offer because it does help! I know I should have gotten them from a breeder now, but I won't give up on these guys.