Where did you get them?
Frustrations :(
Hey guyss! I got my two male rats about two months ago and they are doing really well.. they seem happy and healthy and overall are very active and love to climb the bars in their cage. However, there is one thing that really bugs me. I have tried absolutely everything from giving them yoghurt to just gently feeding them tons of treats but they still are so scared of me. I dont know what I'm doing wrong I open the cage door every evening around six and I sit with them in their play area..it usually takes about 5 to 10 minutes until they dare to come close to the door and close to me. I will give them some treats and let them run around and stuff.. but when I move or try to touch them they flinch and run away..they take treats from me just fine and they walk up my arms and body to walk on my shoulder but they just don't want me touching them or picking them up. Any advice? cause I dont know what to do Thanks in advance!
I open the cage door every evening around six and I sit with them in their play area..it usually takes about 5 to 10 minutes until they dare to come close to the door and close to me. I will give them some treats and let them run around and stuff.. but when I move or try to touch them they flinch and run away..they take treats from me just fine and they walk up my arms and body to walk on my shoulder but they just don't want me touching them or picking them up. Any advice? cause I dont know what to do Thanks in advance!1 - 8 of 8 Posts
I got them from a breeder who promised well socialized rats..however being a first time rat owner I didnt really know what I had to look at when purchasing rats..now I realize that when I saw them for the first time they were also very scared..when I got home and started doing research on how to socialize them I realized how scared they actually were but I of course didnt give up and tried to spend as much time with them as possible..but its taking so long now and it seems as though they arent getting any less scared of me..
Well, the good news is that there are lots of signs that they are not scared of you 100 percent, so we can look at the good things first. They take food from you, you visit with them every day and they will even climb on your arms and shoulders, so that is awesome, really.
I know the other part is very frustrating for you because you want to cuddle and hold them, so I understand. They seem to just have an issue with the SCARY HANDS (ominous music please)
and this is not something that has never happened before, but sometimes rats can have a real issue with hands, but normally I have usually seen this in cases where rats were previously mishandled, held by their tails, or other horrid ways of handling ratties and it makes them tremendously gun shy of being picked up. I have no idea what their background was before you got them, and no one really knows how they were handled before you adopted so it is a hard one to pinpoint.
I am hoping Storyseeker, Lilspaz or Breyer might have some good tips for you on this as I have never personally had issues with my own ratties on this topic. (Although one of my current boys, Maximus, thinks it is "funny" to sort of run off when I go to pick him up, even though I know he wants to go for a ride or over to this play area or to come with Mommy over to the living room to hang out, so then I say, "Okay, then, see you later!" and I start to walk away, and as soon as I do, he RUNS back to me to get picked up. My silly boy. Ha.)
You are being SO patient and I know your rats are very fond of you, so do not take it personally if they are having some hand issues with you. I really do not think it could be anything that you are doing!
I know the other part is very frustrating for you because you want to cuddle and hold them, so I understand. They seem to just have an issue with the SCARY HANDS (ominous music please)
and this is not something that has never happened before, but sometimes rats can have a real issue with hands, but normally I have usually seen this in cases where rats were previously mishandled, held by their tails, or other horrid ways of handling ratties and it makes them tremendously gun shy of being picked up. I have no idea what their background was before you got them, and no one really knows how they were handled before you adopted so it is a hard one to pinpoint.
I am hoping Storyseeker, Lilspaz or Breyer might have some good tips for you on this as I have never personally had issues with my own ratties on this topic. (Although one of my current boys, Maximus, thinks it is "funny" to sort of run off when I go to pick him up, even though I know he wants to go for a ride or over to this play area or to come with Mommy over to the living room to hang out, so then I say, "Okay, then, see you later!" and I start to walk away, and as soon as I do, he RUNS back to me to get picked up. My silly boy. Ha.)
You are being SO patient and I know your rats are very fond of you, so do not take it personally if they are having some hand issues with you. I really do not think it could be anything that you are doing!
Thanks for the reply it re-assured me that I'm not doing anything wrong! I try to gently get them used to my hands being near them by placing one of my hands next to them while giving them a treat..Panda is a little bit more laid back and I can actually touch his sides and face face area so he is doing better..Dobby however is still completely freaked out by hands but I guess I'll just have to keep practicing..thanks again!!
it re-assured me that I'm not doing anything wrong! I try to gently get them used to my hands being near them by placing one of my hands next to them while giving them a treat..Panda is a little bit more laid back and I can actually touch his sides and face face area so he is doing better..Dobby however is still completely freaked out by hands but I guess I'll just have to keep practicing..thanks again!! Oh you are so welcome....I am glad I made you feel a bit better.
You may just have a very skittish pair of ratties that are a bit more hand shy than most rats. I hope it is not from something bad that happened to them with the breeder before you got them. There is no way to really know.
I seriously hope some other posters can comment on this topic as I know it is so frustrating for you. Is there anyone else in your living situation that may be trying to handle your boys that you don't know about? Just grasping at straws here.
You may just have a very skittish pair of ratties that are a bit more hand shy than most rats. I hope it is not from something bad that happened to them with the breeder before you got them. There is no way to really know.
I seriously hope some other posters can comment on this topic as I know it is so frustrating for you. Is there anyone else in your living situation that may be trying to handle your boys that you don't know about? Just grasping at straws here.
Hey sorry for the late reply! The rats live in my room and nobody comes there when I'm not there..but I think they are already getting better.. I thought that maybe there were too many things in their play area and thats why they were just sorta avoiding me..so I took some stuff out and they started climbing on me immediately..Im touching them as much as possible and Panda will now sometimes allow me to pick him up..so I guess its getting better Thanks again for your encouraging words!
Also..random news..Im getting a fish tomorrow haha
Thanks again for your encouraging words! Also..random news..Im getting a fish tomorrow
haha1 - 8 of 8 Posts
