i got a new boy about two weeks ago.. and he has a little problem with pooping on people when they hold him. He's really chill and likes to come out of the cage, but no one wants to hold him because he is "the pooper". he hasn't pooped on me, but is there any way to train him out of it? He's about the same age as my other rats, but I had them since they were really young and didn't really have to train them out of any bad habits.

I don't know about training him out of it, but you could try and teach him to use a litter box when he's out of the cage. There should be some threads on litter training on this forum, if you do a search. There's also an article on litter training here (http://www.dapper.com.au/articles.htm#litter).

Failing all that, he may just grow out of it as he gets more settled and used to everything. Our eldest started out as a pooper, too. She didn't poop on people so much, but if we put her anywhere new - like in a ball - she pooped all the time.

My rats used to do that, typically rats poop on people when there scared, odds are they'll grow out of that.

Donnak: Thats weird my rats poop like CRAZY when they are in the ball to, wonder why?

I'm not sure. Ours stopped pooping in the ball after the first couple of times. She only does it now if she's in the ball for a good while and just has to go.

Our other rat won't use the ball at all. If we put her in there, she'll sniff around a bit, but she fills it with poop! :lol: She is only 3 months, though. We'll keep trying a little longer, then just write her off as a none-ball-runner. She uses the wheel in her cage, though, so we don't understand why she doesn't grasp the ball. I guess some rats just don't.

lol, ALL new rats will do that! They're scared, they don't know where they are and they have this giant pink thing with five limbs trying to pick them up all the time, and they never know where you're taking them. How would YOU feel if a giant hand picked YOU up all of a sudden and you didn't know where it was taking you? However, if you know you can TRUST the hand, then there's really no issue, is there?

The best way to gain a rat's trust is to let it know that GOOD THINGS come from you. Let it know that YOU give it food and YOU give it water. Gradually "bribe" them out of the cage with treats and eventually it'll sit right in the palm of your hand. Oh, and use carrots--most rats LOVE carrots.

Like codcommando said, it'll grow out of it. I just got a baby rat myself (Choco), and he's still pooping all over the place too...but my older one (Yuki) taught Choco from day one that I'm someone to be trusted. Once again, a really cute story that I'll save for another time.

I babies used to poop/pee on everyone as well...they grew out of it though. Now the only time they "Go" is when they need to or if something scares the crap outa them. LMAO :D

Isnt that a way they mark their territory? It could be they are just nervous like the other rat lovers on here said, that makes sense.

i'd definately say it's because they're nervous. that's why they do it on other people rather than you, because he's more familiar with you than other people.

@ punkchica: rats mark their territory by peeing :)

Yes! Very much territorial...My boys use to even pee on each other.