Hi,
My name is Brad, and I am a first time rat owner. I purchased a feeder rat a week ago from PetCo. My daughter named her Rita the Rat. Being that I have had her for a week i was hoping to see a difference in her behavior, but i am not. She has bit me twice (I know thats not a big deal because my finger could of smelt like food, but OUCH). She doesn't rellay want out of her cage, but i still try and get her out for interaction with me and my wife. she is not very active, i would not call it lethargic, but she doesn't seem to like to play or run on her wheel. she likes to hide in her tube or under the wheel. She will not take treats from my hand, she will only eat them if i put them down and close the cage. I am just trying to figure out if i bought a traumatized rat, or if there is something i am doing wrong. I spot clean the cage every day, and did a full clean this weekend using 1/10 diluted cleaning spray. I Feed her every day the same dry food they use at the pet store, and discard what she didn't eat every night and replace it. I also feed her carrots, grapes, and she also likes fruity cheerios, but i use the cheerios as a the treat. I try to take her out of the cage every day, except when she really doesn't seem to want to, and i don't want to force her. After all this she just is not seeming to warm up to me, I really don't want to take her back (cant stand to think of her as a snakes meal) But i really wanted a rat that would let me hold it, and sleep in my lap. I also wanted to litter train, but with her not taking treats from my hand, and not letting me pet her to show her she did something good, i dont see how i am going to get that to work. Sorry for the really long post, but there was just a lot on my mind, and i can tell by reading some of these posts your opinions would mean a lot to me
My name is Brad, and I am a first time rat owner. I purchased a feeder rat a week ago from PetCo. My daughter named her Rita the Rat. Being that I have had her for a week i was hoping to see a difference in her behavior, but i am not. She has bit me twice (I know thats not a big deal because my finger could of smelt like food, but OUCH). She doesn't rellay want out of her cage, but i still try and get her out for interaction with me and my wife. she is not very active, i would not call it lethargic, but she doesn't seem to like to play or run on her wheel. she likes to hide in her tube or under the wheel. She will not take treats from my hand, she will only eat them if i put them down and close the cage. I am just trying to figure out if i bought a traumatized rat, or if there is something i am doing wrong. I spot clean the cage every day, and did a full clean this weekend using 1/10 diluted cleaning spray. I Feed her every day the same dry food they use at the pet store, and discard what she didn't eat every night and replace it. I also feed her carrots, grapes, and she also likes fruity cheerios, but i use the cheerios as a the treat. I try to take her out of the cage every day, except when she really doesn't seem to want to, and i don't want to force her. After all this she just is not seeming to warm up to me, I really don't want to take her back (cant stand to think of her as a snakes meal) But i really wanted a rat that would let me hold it, and sleep in my lap. I also wanted to litter train, but with her not taking treats from my hand, and not letting me pet her to show her she did something good, i dont see how i am going to get that to work. Sorry for the really long post, but there was just a lot on my mind, and i can tell by reading some of these posts your opinions would mean a lot to me