[kancerr]

okay so i adopted a rat from somebody. i love the rat and know it will take a lot of time/patience, hand feeding and what not before she will let get get near her..

40% of the time she'll take the treat out of my hand. 60% of the time she'll sniff it, sniff me, stare at my hand, they try to bite me(when she bites she bites very hard, you can hear the skin get punctured, its nasty, ive got 2 bad bites in the 4 days i've had her, and many more times has she attempted to but i was ready for it and moved my hand) and run away. most of the time she will run into her igloo and wont come out until im away for a few minutes.
i tried leaving the cage door open for nearly an hour and she wouldnt come out.

is there any other techniques? am i doing the right stuff and just need to wait it out?

the treats ive been giving her are yogies, boiled chicken breast, pasta, im going to try others til i find something she cant resist. but need more ideas than just feeding her.

also not sure if this helps, but her eyes are pink(ive heard that means they have really bad eyesight).

 

[A1APassion]

That is a good possibility but it sounds like you have a solo rat that may have been isolated from all contact with everyone... did the former caretaker handle her at all or did she just sit in the cage?

The only technique is time & patience. The rat will have to learn to trust you.

There was another member here that was advised to get a buddy for their solo rat. This might be what you need to do as well. If you decide to go this route there is lots of tips on proper quarantine & introduction advice.

 

[kancerr]

she had a cagemate and they fought. the rat i adopted always lost i guess, shes got some couple scratches on her back.

 

[A1APassion]

Scratches are to be expected, in fact scratches can come about in normal play. It is when they bite each other severely enough that they create open wounds & lots of blood... then you need to be concerned.

did you follow any of the introduction suggestions that are mentioned on here & other rat resources?

Rat intros are touch & go & often we have to take many steps toward having a successful introduction. If you did not prepare the rats, set up a neutral location for a first meeting & also prepare the cage where you would eventually house them together.. chances are that you will have fighting rats.

Not all rats end up with buddies. I have one rat that prefers to be on his own. He doesn't like other rats but he loves human companionship. I am also having an issue with two biological sister rats that were separated for a few months. I thought I had them back together & living in a cozy colony of 7 rats but they continue to bite each other horribly. I have been working on their intros for nearly two weeks now. My next step is moving everyone into a bigger cage & then if that doesn't work I will have to section off a small portion & continually rotate the inhabitants between the two sections. I don't like the idea of breaking up the 5 that are getting along with everyone just because 2 sisters want to destroy one another.

I also have a small 3 rat colony of males. There intros all went very well.

 

[kancerr]

well when she had her cagemate was with her previous owner. she hasnt had a cagemate since i adopted her a few days ago. i am thinking about getting her a cagemate, but the other cage i have isnt exactly big enough for a rat to enjoy their life if the introduction doesnt go well(its a 2 story cage, with a wheel a few ramps, but its not very wide. it would do just fine for introducing them stage, but if they just cant get along i would have to go spend $ i dont really have right now on a bigger cage, also would be a hard time finding a spot for another giant cage). i have all day after work to spend with her so im not too worried about her getting lonely or bored(as long as i can get her to warm up to me, which she is doing better). I'll post back in a couple weeks with an update on how its going. and may be after a couple months ill have some $ saved up(so i can get a bigger cage for the 2nd rat if introducing them doesnt go well) and will feel comfortable getting her a friend.

thanks for the suggestions and help.

 

[daisy184]

she will in time get to trust you.Alot of rats that havent had much contact go through this phaze and sometimes you will think that they will never be tame.. but they WILL!..
May i suggest something gross when you try handling her is shes nipping at you...take a handfull of her soiled bedding, or where ever she pee's [if its in her nice fluffy material house like mine does grrr!] and rub the pee/bedding in your hand really well before you attemp to get her out.
Her scent will be over you and itll be more familiar to her and not a weird scarey smell.
I really found this does work..
Just make sure to wash your hands well afterwards, would pay you to get some good bacterial squirty hand cleaner for this.

 

[daisy184]

or antibacterial even ...d'oh!

 

[kancerr]

sounds like a good idea. just got in from work, gonna take my shower then have rat time and will give it a go. hopefully it works ;D
(hopefully my soap works well too)...may be i should shower afterwards instead of before. ill let you know how it goes.

thx again for the suggestion.

 

[kancerr]

also...should i take her igloo out? she hides in there and i think its too dangerous/scary for her if i stick my hand in there. if i take it out til she gets more used to me would that be okay?(or take it out during the day when im home and put it back in when i go to sleep)

 

[rat_ratscal]

if you take away her hiding place she will be even more frightened i thinkn

just my opinion

 

[Matt]

if you take away her hiding place she will be even more frightened i thinkn

just my opinion

 

[madeittothemoon]

When I got my first girls, I put some of mine and my boyfriend's dirty laundry on top of the cage so they could get used to our scents. It seemed to work pretty well. Be careful, though- your rat could easily chew holes in your clothes this way! To avoid that, I would just put clothes up there that you don't really wear anymore.

 

[Matt]

haha, dont put a bra up there..lol..

Put it on and walk out side without noticing the holes in the front...hahaha.

I crack myself up...

 

[kancerr]

i give her my shirts, but ones that ive washed. may be ill wear one for a couple hours and then give it to her. i got her out of the cage today when she was running on her wheel. it sits right under one of the openings to the top of the cage, lifed it up and placed it on the bed(its right next to the cage), after a couple hours of me laying on the bed and her running around/laying in one spot she would tolerate me petting her and didnt bite down(she tried to once but didnt break the skin, it was a soft bite). she squirmed when i first picked her up to put her in the cage but calmed down a little bit on the way... hopefully she'll do better when i take her out again later.

 

[Matt]

haha, dont put a bra up there..lol..

Put it on and walk out side without noticing the holes in the front...hahaha.

I crack myself up...

...this is still making me laugh..lol....

- - -

but yeah, put some older clothing up there.

 

[kancerr]

shes been doing a lot better when i take her out of the cage. she doesnt really bite at all when shes out, she still wont stay still long to be pet(but neither did my other 2 females until they got old). she'll try to bite me or run away if i put my hand in her cage. today i stuck my hand down in her bedding to let her come up and smell it. as she got closer to my hand i would slowly pull back so she i would have time to react if she were to try to bite me. well she leaped at my hand tried to bite me/scratch me(she did manage to scratch a little cut). is putting your hand down like that in a PEW's cage just a really bad idea in general?

 

[Gary26Uk]

Hi , the other member who was advised to get another rat was me,and i can fully advise you to do the same.Although snoogles never actually bit me , she was super wary of me and id go as far to say even scared.

I tried various advice i recieved from people on this site , including carrying her on my shoulder , in my hoody pocket , I put one of my t-shirts in there so shed get used to my smell , gave her treats etc but nothing worked as well as well as introducing another female.

Now shes a totally different rat , she waits for me by the cage door when i get home , climbs up my arm , lets me hold her , pet her and eats her treats on me.

I f you can possibly get her a buddy get her one , you will honestly be so surprised.I was unsure at first incase the other rat turned out the same but somehow they seem to spark off each other and gain new confidence , even compete for your affection.Plus seeing them play fighting and interacting is hilarious !

Good luck anyway , and be patient im sure your rat will come around