[kksrats]

Has anyone used one with rats? How big should it be and is there an age limit to when it stops being useful? I'm still struggling with Zuri and Pip as far as them absolutely freaking out about being handled. Both are perfectly fine with crawling on me when they're out with other rats, but as soon as they're alone it's like I'm the enemy again. Pip is also a biter and even if I can successfully pick him up and hold him for a minute, he eventually remembers that he has teeth. I think my lack of a bath tub may be the root of all this since I don't have an immersion space that really forces them to touch me and interact which is why I'm hoping something like a bonding pouch might be useful.

 

[Amph]

I had a little pouch but I found that it became a place to hide and avoid being social Maybe others have had a different experience.. ???

 

[kksrats]

Both of them just crawled right out of the pouch Looks like it's back to the drawing board as they say.

 

[Malarz]

How about a bed instead of a tub? Are they big and brave enough to jump of a high bed?

 

[kksrats]

They're both fear poopers, so I'd prefer not having them in my bed and I don't really have anything extra to cover it. The bed is larger than the area I've been using; I think I need to scale down in size so that they have no choice but to be either on me or next to me.

 

[JAnimal]

Try a small armchair. That makes them ethier on you or next to you.

 

[raindear]

How long are your sessions? Are you doing them every day? Sessions of an hour or more are best, and they have to be every day. Two or more sessions are also better than just one. Until your rats are bonded to you, missing just one day can put them back for a week in bonding terms. If you use a chair, put a sheet or blanket over it, both to catch the fear poops and to prevent them getting inside the chair. An unbonded rat lost inside a piece of furniture is no fun.

 

[Rat Daddy]

Larger spaces aren't all bad, I use them with my daughter who is youthful and agile and can take up quite a bit of space being playful with the rats. I'm working with a new pup now that's really agoraphobic, and she will only really play under a blanket... It might be that she has black ruby eyes... Can't say for sure yet.

She's really easy to handle outdoors for now, she just stays under my t-shirt. I might be working on our very first underwear rat... Oh well... tomorrow is another day.

But yes longer sessions do work better than short ones, it gives you time to make progress and build on it. When you don't make any progress in a session, you start off where the last one began, not where you left off. It's kind of like climbing steps, you either get to the next step or you don't, you can't stand in between steps. It's either up one or back down again.

Best luck.