Rats and children

[SQ]

This is an important topic for everyone who has both small animals and children in their lives. I have nephews and nieces of various ages who have loved interacting with my rats over the years when they visited for the day or stayed with me.

It is important to take precautions when there are small fragile animals such as rats and children in a household. It is very easy for children to squeeze a bit too hard, drop a squirming pet or have a rambunctious pet jump out of their arms and be seriously injured. This includes both young children and older children.

1. It is important to child proof the cage so that children are unable to remove a pet from its cage. Some people keep cages locked so this will not happen.

2. It is important to establish clear rules for when and how children are allowed to interact with pet rats and what foods rats are allowed to be fed.

3. Children need to be taught how to safely interact with small fragile animals. For example: gently patting and stroking but no hugging.

4. I do not allow children to pick up, carry or transport my rats. It is much too easy for a tragedy to occur.

5. Children are allowed to pat my rats and to give them treats through an open cage door while I am present.

6. Children and I sit quietly together in the rats free range area. The children play and interact with the rats as the rats sniff them, climb on them, etc. Children are not allowed to pick up the rats but the rats will snuggle on their laps, etc. Both rats and children have had a lot of fun.

I allow my nieces and nephews to interact with my rats because I know these children and trust them to be gentle, kind, respectful and caring toward animals.

Perhaps you would like to add suggestions as to how people can protect both their rats and the emotional health of children by preventing tragedies.

 

[jorats]

These are good points.
We often forget to mention children when talking about keeping rats safe.

 

[LA]

I think this is a great list Holly. Every important and good points. Our friends 7 & 10 year old are not allowed to touch our rats. I don't feel they have the responsibility to be able to deal with them.

 

[Argent]

I won't let my neighbours babysit my boys anymore after the first and last time :/ They have two VERY hyperactive, forceful and intelligent young boys, aged 4 and 8, and they can be kinda rough with their own rats (they are supervised..I think), but not enough to hurt them (as of yet, fortunately) but my boys are used to being handled in a far gentler manner, even a hands-off sort of way, since everything I do is on their terms.

They came back traumatized after being yelled at and carted around in rough childrens hands for a week I felt so guilty. Hugo has never been the same - he clings to my hand like I'm about to throw him when I pick him up even as securely as I can. I'd add control of noise levels - shouting children does not equal happy rats. Keeping calm is the way to go.

 

[Dahlas]

I agree Holly this is an important post. I have a 20 month old nephew....he has not mastered the art of petting gentle. He is learning How to "gently" stroke my beagle Benny. He loves the animals and I am sure will be a great pet owner one day but right not he is allowed to watch my rats only.....no touching.

Pets need to be kept safe from children. Most small chldren, and some bigger ones, are not gentle enough to carry a rat, kitten or puppy. They could hold them while sitting on the floor under supervision......but in my opinion just don't have the ability not to squeeze or drop a small pet.

My pets have had many great moments playing with children. I want them to love them and play with them....but i also want to keep them safe and try to prevent accidents from happening.

 

[smalltowngirl]

Excellent list of safety rules! :thumbup: I do daycare/babysitting in my home and I DO NOT let the daycare kids touch our boys. No way! They don't respect animals like I have taught my son(16) and little girl(Almost 4). The other kids can watch them in their cage but that is it. I talk to them about the boys but I don't trust them.(the kids) :giggle:

 

[henry's_mum]

hmmmm, I agree with most points made. I would however like to state that I think it also depends on the child/children themselves.
Cole isn't allowed to handle some of our rougher guys and gals, or the wee ones, BUT he's able to play in the playpen, carry, handle, and remove them from cages while i'm in the room with him.
At night my cages get padlocks on them, just for the simple reason he gets up at night, I don't always here him at first.
I think when the child is taught from a small age how to handle, and respect an animal, and you the parent, or guardian is with them, most things can be prevented.

I do not wish to upset anyone, I merley just wanted to say my 2 cents too.

 

[LA]

I agree it does depend on the child and the parenting is key. Proper supervision is most important. I think you've made good choices with Cole and he's learning a lot from it.

 

[Dahlas]

You are absolutely right that it does depend on the child.....Some shelters will NOT adopt dog/puppies to families with children under 5. At the shelter I work at we do not have that rule. It depends on the child, the family.....not the age of the children. You have to see them interact with the dog/puppy and how the parents act......do they caution ther kids to be gentle? Do they guide them and show them how to treat the pet? I have adopted to a lot of families with small kids.....and have turned down a lot to.

 

[eagle]

4. I do not allow children to pick up, carry or transport my rats. It is much too easy for a tragedy to occur.


Tragedy can happen at any age not just with children. So at what age is a child allowed to pick up a rat?

 

[SQ]

I admit it, I am overly cautious.
I want to minimise the risk of a tragedy occurring for the sake of both my rat's lives and the children I care about. You are right, tragedies can happen when teens and adults handle rats too.

Picking up my rats is usually related to taking them out of a cage or putting them back. When out playing, my rats don't want someone to pick them up ... they want to scamper around, interact with people, climb on people, snuggle on a lap, explore, etc. and be treated in a respectful manner as the individuals they are.
As for the age I allow for picking up my rats ... that would depend on the teenager or adult involved.

====================================================================
I started this thread because of two recent tragedies::
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=14566
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=14565

Hopefully our ideas can help all of us prevent future tragedies.

 

[sausage4ever]

I also want to add my two cents...
I was 12 when I got my first rats. There was no supervising body I was purely responible for my animals. I taught myself how to hold them and how to play and get along with them. I never killed a rat. I however I did drop Sasha when I first got her (she was fine).

I feel that rats are one of those pets that are more or less kid-proof. I let my austistic cousin play with my rats (with me constantly around) because if a rat falls from three feet of the ground he won't get hurt. I allow anyone to hold my rats if I trust them as I think it helps with their socialization. I personally like animals who can put up with me; my rats are handled roughly (not scuffed, or hurt or anything just rubbed up all over, which annoys them sometimes) by me on purpose to make them baby proof. I do the same with my cats and mice.

I make my animals bomb proof so anyone can handle them, nothings worse than having an animal act out of sorts when you're not around (I pets sit so I know). The natals will never be bomb proof but they maybe Me-proof which is good enough. I think it depends not only n the child but on how you like to treat your animal. I think dogs should be able to sit through some ear tugging and tail grabbing without snapping and while I'm not saying it's right for a kid to do it's just that my dog shouldn't have to be put down due to some dumb kid.

 

[SQ]

Rats can be seriously injured from a 3 foot fall or one from a much smaller height.
If you are fortunate, they can also be fine.

 

[sausage4ever]

Oh I wasn't aware... I don't purposely drop the from this height but I have had a lot fall from this height for one reaosn or another and never had anyone worse for wear.

 

[MumsyRat]

Soon after I got rats I had an incident where a young rat was dropped from a short height. She seemed fine at first but was dead in her cage the next morning. Ever since then I've been paranoid about rats falling.
I think it's no different than when a person falls. Just picture in your mind the difference in sensation between falling a few feet and jumping down the same distance. Whether or not you're prepared for the impact makes a big difference.

 

[ryelle]

My sister will probably never speak to me again when she finds this out, but when her baby is born and when the child is old enough, i will introduce him/her to rats. My sister hates them, and i dont want her stigma to pass onto my niece/nephew.

I let my boyfriends little sisters (they were 4 and 2 at the time) meet Harvey. His cage was on a table and we all sat around it on chairs and they stroked him at the door of his cage. They werent allowed to pick him up, or stand up on the chairs or run around while his door was open. The instructions were simple, sit, and stroke. They LOVED it! he licked their fingers and they each gave him a kiss before he went back to sleep.

Supervision is really important.

 

[Dahlas]

I also want to add my two cents...
I was 12 when I got my first rats. There was no supervising body I was purely responible for my animals. I taught myself how to hold them and how to play and get along with them. I never killed a rat. I however I did drop Sasha when I first got her (she was fine).

I feel that rats are one of those pets that are more or less kid-proof. I let my austistic cousin play with my rats (with me constantly around) because if a rat falls from three feet of the ground he won't get hurt. I allow anyone to hold my rats if I trust them as I think it helps with their socialization. I personally like animals who can put up with me; my rats are handled roughly (not scuffed, or hurt or anything just rubbed up all over, which annoys them sometimes) by me on purpose to make them baby proof. I do the same with my cats and mice.

I make my animals bomb proof so anyone can handle them, nothings worse than having an animal act out of sorts when you're not around (I pets sit so I know). The natals will never be bomb proof but they maybe Me-proof which is good enough. I think it depends not only n the child but on how you like to treat your animal. I think dogs should be able to sit through some ear tugging and tail grabbing without snapping and while I'm not saying it's right for a kid to do it's just that my dog shouldn't have to be put down due to some dumb kid.

I think I understand what you are saying.....Children do pet different then adults...They hug and sometimes pull. I to get my dogs used to a bit of rough handling...child proofing them..in a good way so that they are not ultra sensitive and safe incase a child runs up and hugs them or reaches out fast and grabs an ear. My dogs will wait for me to jump in and teach the child how to correctly pet them and treat them....without reacting negatively......

Having said that I do not let children carry puppies, or small animals.....small children stumble. They can't help it their coordination is not good....Plus most grip to tight.
So it certainly would depend on the child......but to me it is just easier to say..."no picking up. If you want to hold....sit down and hold on your lap"

With my rats it is different......I would let children hold them.....with supervision.
I would let them play with them if I knew they knew how to treat them gentle. They are very small.....and can get hurt easily. They are certainly not "kid proof" I would not let them walk around while the rats were playing and moving....I don't even like to do that. They love to run under your feet. :roll:

It is wonderful to teach children to love animals.....but our goal always has to be to keep both the pet and the child safe.....I wouldn't want one of my pets to hurt a child...and wouldn't want a child to accidentally hurt one of my pets. I always try and err on the side of being overly cautious....

 

[eagle]

Rats can be seriously injured from a 3 foot fall or one from a much smaller height.
If you are fortunate, they can also be fine.

Exactly height has nothing to do with injuries. Rats can be injured or die from a fall of 1', they are not cats that "always land on thier feet".

 

[SQ]

What Dahlas and Eagle said :nod:

 

[Rachael]

My 8 yr old is great with the rats (9 this yr). She can lift them and handle them (supervised) and let them out to play in the rat play room. She also is a great help doing litter trays etc :giggle: