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9 Posts
Hello,
My 10-year-old daughter has been asking for pet rats for a few months. After some research, I concluded that they sounded like good pets, and with fairly easy care that my daughter could manage with some help. As an animal-lover, I was excited to welcome more animals to the family. We already had a dog and a cat, which was a big reduction in pets for us - we recently lost another dog, cat, and some fish - it was just old age for all. I had a hamster growing up, but otherwise, no rodent experience.
So, we adopted two 4 month old male rats (brothers) from a local animal shelter. One is brown agouti hooded, the other is brown agouti berkshire, both dumbo-eared. My daughter named them Nimbus and Firebolt after Harry Potter's broomsticks. These boys were apparently born at the shelter, so that was their whole life so far. The employees assured us they were handled as much as possible and were gentle. We picked these particular two because they seemed the most curious and friendly when we put our hands in the cage.
We have had the rats for just over 2 weeks now. They live in a nice big cage up in our extra bedroom (the kids' playroom) to keep them safe from our dog and cat. They are super cute. I look forward to spending time with them each day. Unfortunately I seem to be enjoying them more than my daughter who prefers to play with her human friends or play video games! Go figure.
But here's my question... as much as I look forward to the time (usually in the early evening) when I can spend time with the rats each day, I usually wind up feeling disappointed by their skittishness and seeming desire to just hang out in their cage. I expected them to LIKE me more and want to come out to play! I now realize that being handled "as much as possible" at a shelter probably doesn't compare to a well-socialized breeder/rescue situation. I have read all the posts on trust training and even "immersion" and have tried all of it. At first they seemed too nervous to even take treats from us, although they still seemed curious. They just didn't seem to want to eat. Eventually, we were able to start with just handing them treats in their cage, then luring them to the door, and out of the door, and now they will (still somewhat nervously) climb onto our hands for treats. However, I still feel like they would prefer to be left alone. If I successfully get them into my hands and carry them away from the cage, they seem frantic to get back! Very often after a little while of luring them with treats, they just seem to give up and crawl into their bed, not even caring to come out for the treats. I wonder if we just haven't found treats they are excited enough about? We are trying all kinds of fruits and vegetables, plus the yogurt drops, plus bits of scrambled eggs.
On the occasion when I have to pick them up (instead of just letting them crawl onto me), they still squeak and act scared.
In addition, I am feeling a bit concerned about the litter training. We're two weeks in with that, as well, with no change to the amount of poop I am scooping from the cage floor to put into their litter box each day. AND, one of the boys in particular, Firebolt, seems to "mark" my hand quite often - just a little dribble of pee as he walks over my hand. Will that get better, or should I accept that I will often get peed on? Or should I consider neutering?
Well, that's all for now. I just wanted to introduce myself and the rattie-boys, and I am just looking for some assurance that I'm on the right track with them! I am so excited about them, but the bonding is taking much longer than with other pets I've had (dogs and cats)!
Thanks, and this forum has been very helpful to read through so far!
brindle
My 10-year-old daughter has been asking for pet rats for a few months. After some research, I concluded that they sounded like good pets, and with fairly easy care that my daughter could manage with some help. As an animal-lover, I was excited to welcome more animals to the family. We already had a dog and a cat, which was a big reduction in pets for us - we recently lost another dog, cat, and some fish - it was just old age for all. I had a hamster growing up, but otherwise, no rodent experience.
So, we adopted two 4 month old male rats (brothers) from a local animal shelter. One is brown agouti hooded, the other is brown agouti berkshire, both dumbo-eared. My daughter named them Nimbus and Firebolt after Harry Potter's broomsticks. These boys were apparently born at the shelter, so that was their whole life so far. The employees assured us they were handled as much as possible and were gentle. We picked these particular two because they seemed the most curious and friendly when we put our hands in the cage.
We have had the rats for just over 2 weeks now. They live in a nice big cage up in our extra bedroom (the kids' playroom) to keep them safe from our dog and cat. They are super cute. I look forward to spending time with them each day. Unfortunately I seem to be enjoying them more than my daughter who prefers to play with her human friends or play video games! Go figure.
But here's my question... as much as I look forward to the time (usually in the early evening) when I can spend time with the rats each day, I usually wind up feeling disappointed by their skittishness and seeming desire to just hang out in their cage. I expected them to LIKE me more and want to come out to play! I now realize that being handled "as much as possible" at a shelter probably doesn't compare to a well-socialized breeder/rescue situation. I have read all the posts on trust training and even "immersion" and have tried all of it. At first they seemed too nervous to even take treats from us, although they still seemed curious. They just didn't seem to want to eat. Eventually, we were able to start with just handing them treats in their cage, then luring them to the door, and out of the door, and now they will (still somewhat nervously) climb onto our hands for treats. However, I still feel like they would prefer to be left alone. If I successfully get them into my hands and carry them away from the cage, they seem frantic to get back! Very often after a little while of luring them with treats, they just seem to give up and crawl into their bed, not even caring to come out for the treats. I wonder if we just haven't found treats they are excited enough about? We are trying all kinds of fruits and vegetables, plus the yogurt drops, plus bits of scrambled eggs.
On the occasion when I have to pick them up (instead of just letting them crawl onto me), they still squeak and act scared.
In addition, I am feeling a bit concerned about the litter training. We're two weeks in with that, as well, with no change to the amount of poop I am scooping from the cage floor to put into their litter box each day. AND, one of the boys in particular, Firebolt, seems to "mark" my hand quite often - just a little dribble of pee as he walks over my hand. Will that get better, or should I accept that I will often get peed on? Or should I consider neutering?
Well, that's all for now. I just wanted to introduce myself and the rattie-boys, and I am just looking for some assurance that I'm on the right track with them! I am so excited about them, but the bonding is taking much longer than with other pets I've had (dogs and cats)!
Thanks, and this forum has been very helpful to read through so far!
brindle
