Shivers and the Pincushion

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trillium

trillium

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2007
Messages
377
Location
Southwestern Ontario
Well. I'm learning how it feels to be a pincushion. I'm not sure that I'm impressed by my new status.

I thought I'd try maybe adding another boy into the mix at some point soon, and I'd been eyeing that lonely male Shivers up at Orangeville Humane back when he was added to their website. I found out last week he was still there so...

Went to visit just to see what his situation was, and he cuddled into my neck. I was sold. He was just a stunning PEW with bright jewel eyes and healthy shiny fur, add in the name -- Shivers -- it was impossible to resist.

Whoo hoo I've picked up my first challenge. :roll: Hubby quickly took to calling him Shark Boy. He's definitely nervous and scared of handling. Definitely cage aggressive and hormonal (foot rubbing, side rubbing, poofing at me if I try to touch his back or sides, tracking and zeroing in on hands around his cage), but even when he's out of the cage on the bed he will actively search out bare skin and bite!

I need to go look up other people's threads about these types of boys. I'm trying to be so careful, but he's managed to "get" me every single time he's been out because he'll just casually wander up to some part of my skin I've forgotten to protect and take a chomp. Really weird actually because he's usually not poofy at those points, just wandering around, but if he sniffs out bare skin look out! He even got me on the neck the other day because I was lying back on the bed and thought it was really mostly a hands thing. Nope -- little vampire sniffed his way up to the side of my neck = chomp. The little beast always looks for a reaction after he does it too because he quickly backs away and watches to see what I'll do. He draws blood every time too. :gaah:

Good news is that he's started coming forward in the cage to greet me when I visit, rather than cowering at the back trying to escape. I've been lifting the whole cage top off to allow him out and giving him lots of exposure to clothes I've worn to get him used to my smell to see if that'll desensitize him a bit. I think a neuter is on his horizon. Not sure that'll totally solve the issue since he seems to just bite out of habit. I probably can't get him in for that until February so I'll have a while to try to figure him out anyways.

I'll post pics once I get my camera linked up 'cause he is one sexy beast, quite the character. I'm not sure yet if the name Shivers will stick. Now that I know him a bit better, I think he needs something a bit, um, stronger to fit his personality. :giggle:
Any suggestions?

EDIT: Introducing Shivers!

Shivers think the Ark is darned comfy... This is the life...
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Shivers in his first days at home - Hmmm... Fingers or Treat? Which do I want more.... Hmmm...
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Getting used to the idea of a hammock.
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He is such a beautiful boy.
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Shivers is recovering well, I think, from his neuter. I think I see a reduction in his aggression. He's just much less focused on biting while he's out running around - a bit less interested in dominating me? I hope so anyways!

Still hates me messing around in the cage at all though. I think the breakthrough day for me might be the day I can reach in the cage to change food or something and he doesn't immediately go poofy and turn to track "the evil hand".
 
First of all WOOHOO!! you got Shivers out of jail!!!
Second, yep, get a neuter ASAP!! He needs it. He's on hormonal stress overload. My mom had a boy like that, he would even fling himself in the air to try and bite my mom. A neuter turned him into the sweetest boy that ever lived.
 
My Rogue was like that, actually run after me to bite. After his neuter he became so sweet and I was able to intro him to a colony of 9. Good luck with Shivers, I love his name.
 
YOU HAVE SHIVERS!!!!!! :hugs: :hugs:
I noticed he was gone from the website with the status Adopted and hoped he had gone to a good home!!!

oh that just made my day!

I have a hunch that he came from a litter that was originally born at the shelter, I fostered two of the boys from that litter once they became adults and both were biters (going after shelter workers)
I had them at my house for a bit and they really came around well - although a neuter would have REALLY benefited those two boys in particular... but they did settle in nicely

All the best with the little guy - i hope everything goes well! cant wait to see pics!
 
:happydance: :happydance: :happydance:
I'm SOOOOOO happy, elated, excited that FINALLY that sweet sweet boy got out of there! and to find a home with you, PERFECT!!!!!

You've made my day, my week, this is AWESOME!!!


PICS????????????
:heart:
 
I tried to post something to respond before here, but I must have closed the page without hitting submit. I'm really happy I posted this update - I didn't realize how many people were thinking about him, and I think Shivers would be overwhelmed to know how many people care about him. I'm pretty sure he thinks it's him against the world.

I think Shivers is enjoying his new space and he's certainly making the most of 'sploring and treats like broccoli and bananas. He was riding around in my hoodie today, and I hear someone was visiting him at the OSPCA and he rode around on a shoulder there too. I hope as he gets comfy at home he'll relax a bit and feel less need to protect everything. Either way he's home for good.

Thanks for the encouragement about working with him. It makes me happy to think that a neuter might really help him come around -- I'll just have to wait awhile before I'll be able to to get him in for it.

Cityratt: Thanks for posting the info about his possible past. I have wondered how much of his behaviour is learned (from poking, prodding, teasing, and being alone for so long) and how much is likely genetic. It really helps to have a bit of insight into what his littermates were up to.

I'm still without software to download pics on this computer, but as soon as I get them transferred I'll post some.

ps. Does the fact that he bit me on the neck (and can I just say, it looks like I've got a little hickey - very embarrassing) mean that I'm now his minion or something? Like a lesser vampire...? *grumbles*...
 
:laugh4: Too cute. Sorry that he's biting you, but I'm so happy he's found you.
 
OMG you don't know how happy I am you have that precious little boy. I'm so happy he has a forever home :happydance: Thank you Thank you Thank you
 
Neuter is the #1 hope for that... In the meantime, in his outings with you, you could try having cheerio's handy and everytime he gets too near to your skin you could give him one. (but not after he's bitten of course). He should learn to associate your hand with something good & shared, and that bite-able body as just a map to the hand.
Congrats! The ones hardest to win over are always the ones that most win you over.
 
Yes, you are is minion and you will be doing his bidding in your sleep as soon as the saliva/venom sets in. Hehehehe.
 
This is more bite-related vs. rat-related, but:
One of my ferrets was named Jaws. He earned the name. He bit everyone, and drew blood every time. I kept handling him, and he became my little snuggle bunny. He would lick my ear when I picked him up. If anyone else came near him, he would bite them. He lived until he was 7 years old, and always had a 100% bite rate for everyone else but me. Don't give up! Even if he ends up being a one-person rat, that's all he needs, right?
 
Update from Ontario South :wink:

Well who knows when I'll get pics uploaded. There's some sort of .dll error when I hook up my camera and I've no clue how to fix so I've got to wait for hubby to get around to it...

Home sweet home - I've split up the boys cage and I have my "rattie babies" (i.e. Seagram, Wicket, and Hobbes) up top and Shivers on the bottom. I figured it would be useful for them to get used to each others' scents.

*snort*

I had no idea that Seagram envisioned himself such a strong man. My gentle little white adventurer has been huffing and puffing and blowing his way around the edges of the cage like a little kid with a point to prove. I cringe every time I imagine what would happen to him if Shark Boy ever got a hold of him. It'd be a short fight.

Hobbes is being his normal laid back self. He's been chewing wood a bit more to let off some steam, and he's had a few scuffles with Seagram (mainly because Seagram's been acting silly and asking for it), but overall he's taking everything in stride as usual. He's still cycling on/off meds. Currently he's on, but he seems stable -- and he's enjoying the maple syrup "treats" twice a day -- God forbid I stagger into the rat room later in the morning with his meds...He'll be plastered to the door of the cage rattie screaming WHERE HAVE YOU BEEEN!!!!

Wicket. Well -- hard to write about him. It's been really hard watching him balloon out around the middle. I don't know how he's still functioning as well as he is. That thing has taken over his entire middle, and I'm pretty sure it's pressing up against his lungs and back on his genital area too.
:sad3:
I'm not sure how much longer I'll have my baby rat around. He's still pooping fine. I'm worried about his urination because he's getting somewhat stinky and he's so hugely round I just don't know if he's able to clean himself any more, but he freaks out if I flip him and try to hold him still to check things. I think it's just too painful for me to place any pressure on the area. It's so sad to watch him waddle around. He's still eating well though, and though he's pretty much always poofy he still tries to do some of the crazy climbing and leaping things he could do before. Not that he's always successful. :roll:

Shivers: Ah Shivers. Shark Boy. Yes, an interesting rattie all right. We've been, how should I put it, bonding in our own weird warped way this week. He has declared in no uncertain terms that my bed, is his bed. My body (which he likes to crawl upon) is his body, and he ought to be able to bite it at will.

I disagree with that last part.

So. We sit on the bed together. Me (my feet and legs in particular) wrapped in several layers of towels so that he can't bite through. Him right beside me snuggling in, clambering around, just searching for that one exposed area... pleeeeaaaaase mum?! Can't I? The funny thing is that I think he DOES want to bond with me. He could go to the other part of the bed where all the hidey houses and tunnels are, but he chooses to stay right beside me and relax, sort of. Until I make any movement at all and he feels the need to subdue me.

Of course, it might just be because I'm the source of all treats.
 
Shivers: Ah Shivers. Shark Boy. Yes, an interesting rattie all right. We've been, how should I put it, bonding in our own weird warped way this week. He has declared in no uncertain terms that my bed, is his bed. My body (which he likes to crawl upon) is his body, and he ought to be able to bite it at will.

I disagree with that last part.

So. We sit on the bed together. Me (my feet and legs in particular) wrapped in several layers of towels so that he can't bite through. Him right beside me snuggling in, clambering around, just searching for that one exposed area... pleeeeaaaaase mum?! Can't I? The funny thing is that I think he DOES want to bond with me. He could go to the other part of the bed where all the hidey houses and tunnels are, but he chooses to stay right beside me and relax, sort of. Until I make any movement at all and he feels the need to subdue me.
Click to expand...

:laugh4: That is tooo funny! Good for you for not giving up on that boy! Im sure he will come around in time...

I know exactly what your going through with Wicket, when that happen to my Vixey it was soo hard. I did opt for surgery but I sometimes regret it now, she was rather happy...even with the huge mass in her belly. About 5 days after surgery I lost my little Vixey...
 
Oooh Shivers WILL be getting neutered. Don't doubt it. Unless he suddenly transforms into a cuddle bug, which is about a zero percent probability. He would be neutered already if I could just figure out a way to get him in. The difficulty is timing. The place I can take him for a neuter is across the border, and they don't open for receiving until 9am. It's at least an hour drive round trip, and I personally can't rationalize taking time off my work for something elective like this. I have to wait until there's some sort of reasonably open schedule in my morning, or until hubby might be able to get a morning off. It could be awhile. It is a real pain as I would like this taken care of sooner rather than later.

I'm trying to adopt a philosophical view in the meantime and use this experience to learn a little bit about the male hormonal rattie mindset.
 
Whoo Hoo!!! You'll never guess!! You'll never guess what Shivers did tonight!

He LICKED apple pie filling off my index finger!!!!! :happydance:

I've been testing him with spoon treats, and he's taken treats from my fingers. I kept making them smaller and smaller to see if he would still differentiate between treat and finger, and finally tonight I got up the guts to try it off finger! What a good boy!

He's also gotten to the point where he'll sometimes walk onto my back or my arm from the cage to go for a walk around, so I don't have to struggle to get him out of the cage so I can clean it and keep my fingers. Yey Shivers!
 

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