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SugarAndSpice

SugarAndSpice

New Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2020
Messages
1
Location
Wisconsin
I'm not sure our pair of 10 week old babies weren't hand raised or are they just being babies. Everything I watch or read is different on how to handle skittish rats. We've had adult rats before, so babies are new to us.
We've had them for almost a month now. We're very fortunate that we're able to keep their home right by us. They are no longer heading to the hills when we walk past their home or just in general move around the area.

I'm not sure what to do next to get them to trust us enough that they allow us to hold them and love on them. They would be terrified if I put them down my shirt or in a hoodie. If we could even catch them to do that.

During free range time they will run across my lap, chill for a brief minute or so between my legs if I'm sitting in a position for them to do that, or chill for a brief minute or so under my leg. They have no interest in treats while in free range time. Not even their baby food treat that they absolutely love. I did a lot of trust training and come when called training with baby food. They will lick it off of our finger when not in free range. I make sure that they have enrichment while in free range area. Are they just too busy exploring to be interested in treats? How am I going to train them to trust us to hold them if they aren't interested in treats? Is it just a matter of patience and time? I have all the patience and time in the world for those girls.

These girls mean a lot to us. We put down our beloved dog in September. We finally got to a place where we wanted to be fur parents again, but didn't want another dog. Rats were the perfect choice for us. We've had them before and know that they are so loving and loveable.

Thank you to everyone here for helping us out.
 
Maybe they're not afraid, just too busy? Apart from the odd one, babies are just a lot more active and more interested in running around than visiting with you. Girls moreso than boys too generally. Are you ok with how they're being? If so, no worries. You could try hoodie or shoulder rides, rats are usually intimidated by new things but with patience & treats they could learn to love it, would just take patience to train them to stay up rather than climbing down (if allowed to climb down they'll keep doing it, once they find they can do something new they're pretty proud and want to perfect the skill 😄 )
 
Fidget said:
Maybe they're not afraid, just too busy? Apart from the odd one, babies are just a lot more active and more interested in running around than visiting with you. Girls moreso than boys too generally. Are you ok with how they're being? If so, no worries. You could try hoodie or shoulder rides, rats are usually intimidated by new things but with patience & treats they could learn to love it, would just take patience to train them to stay up rather than climbing down (if allowed to climb down they'll keep doing it, once they find they can do something new they're pretty proud and want to perfect the skill 😄 )
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Thank you so much! I really thought that we weren't doing something right by these girls! We are happy with where they are now. They have come a long way in the 3 weeks that we've had them. My husband and I have both been medically retired (at separate times), so we have nothing but time to spend with them. The girlies have been right by us since we brought them home. We're not comfortable yet moving them to the other side of the living room where they will permanently live.
I'm going to keep on doing what I'm doing and just continue to be patient and work with them. What better way to spend my time!
 

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