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Hey y'all! So I recently got a pet rat (Roquefort) and I'm a bit worried about her. She's always hiding in her little tent and only comes out to eat/drink water when the lights are out or when she thinks I'm not there. I decided to start taming her, and it was kind of a disaster.
Every time I try to interact with her, she freezes up and stays like that for a while. Yesterday, I tried to give her some strawberries, but she stayed in her tent and didn't come out. Maybe she was sleeping, so I decided today that I would try again when she was awake and active. I offered her some sunflower seeds today, which she really seemed to like. The moment I opened the cage door though, she scampered to the corner of her cage and stopped moving. I held out the sunflower seeds, but she was completely frozen and refused to take them. My arm got tired so I just left the seeds in front of her before closing up the cage. I went back to see if she had eaten it about thirty minutes later, and she was still in that position. As I'm writing this, she hasn't moved much. She took the seeds but she's still curled up in the corner.
She wasn't like this in the pet store when I got her; she was skittish, but I didn't see her freeze up like this. Is this because she's alone now? I know that you're supposed to have two or more rats, but she was the only female in the litter, and it was the only litter. I got her because my mom wanted a smaller rat, and because I knew she would eventually be separated from her brothers as she got older. I thought that it would be better to be temporarily alone in a good environment than alone in a pet store. I am looking for another female rat, but where I live, rats and pet shops in general are very rare, so it's been hard.
Anyways, I don't know why she's frozen like this, and I was wondering if you had any tips on how to unfreeze her? Or maybe a way to tame her when she's like this? Does she just need more time, or should I just pick her up? Any ideas would be great.
Every time I try to interact with her, she freezes up and stays like that for a while. Yesterday, I tried to give her some strawberries, but she stayed in her tent and didn't come out. Maybe she was sleeping, so I decided today that I would try again when she was awake and active. I offered her some sunflower seeds today, which she really seemed to like. The moment I opened the cage door though, she scampered to the corner of her cage and stopped moving. I held out the sunflower seeds, but she was completely frozen and refused to take them. My arm got tired so I just left the seeds in front of her before closing up the cage. I went back to see if she had eaten it about thirty minutes later, and she was still in that position. As I'm writing this, she hasn't moved much. She took the seeds but she's still curled up in the corner.
She wasn't like this in the pet store when I got her; she was skittish, but I didn't see her freeze up like this. Is this because she's alone now? I know that you're supposed to have two or more rats, but she was the only female in the litter, and it was the only litter. I got her because my mom wanted a smaller rat, and because I knew she would eventually be separated from her brothers as she got older. I thought that it would be better to be temporarily alone in a good environment than alone in a pet store. I am looking for another female rat, but where I live, rats and pet shops in general are very rare, so it's been hard.
Anyways, I don't know why she's frozen like this, and I was wondering if you had any tips on how to unfreeze her? Or maybe a way to tame her when she's like this? Does she just need more time, or should I just pick her up? Any ideas would be great.