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I got two new rats from Lita today, and they're absolutely darling. They're very skittish, though, but that's not unexpected. They were only messing around in the top part of their cage, and refused to climb down the bird rope to the second part of the cage. I tried to lure them down with Cheerios, but they just leaned over to the point of almost falling to grab the cheerios, then climbed back up to eat them.
After like, fifteen cheerios worth of attempts, I gave up on that for the time being and decided to let them explore me a bit. I opened the top door of the cage and stood in front of it. My fingers were curled under me just because I'm used to anxious hamsters biting me and it's a natural pose for me in front of new rodents. They climbed all over my hands and forearms, sniffing me a lot. The brown one (yet to be named) actually GRABBED my fist and tried with all of his tiny might to flip it over. I flipped my hand over and wondered what he was doing. Then I realized- he was looking for cheerios!
How is that they jump practically whenever I move, but they're not too afraid to grab me to look for cheerios? How can I get them to explore the rest of their cage? Their water is on the top level, but I had to put their food on the bottom (they wouldn't move away from the door when we got home, I was afraid they'd jump out) so if they get hungry they'll have to go down and eat it.
After like, fifteen cheerios worth of attempts, I gave up on that for the time being and decided to let them explore me a bit. I opened the top door of the cage and stood in front of it. My fingers were curled under me just because I'm used to anxious hamsters biting me and it's a natural pose for me in front of new rodents. They climbed all over my hands and forearms, sniffing me a lot. The brown one (yet to be named) actually GRABBED my fist and tried with all of his tiny might to flip it over. I flipped my hand over and wondered what he was doing. Then I realized- he was looking for cheerios!
How is that they jump practically whenever I move, but they're not too afraid to grab me to look for cheerios? How can I get them to explore the rest of their cage? Their water is on the top level, but I had to put their food on the bottom (they wouldn't move away from the door when we got home, I was afraid they'd jump out) so if they get hungry they'll have to go down and eat it.