I once had a girl that LOVED to be thrown. I would toss her onto to bed and then she would come flying back onto my hand and position herself to be thrown again XD
I had a rat named Emerald, she was the best. When I first got her she was a little shy at first but a day after I got her she would lick me, she would welcome me into the cage, she was very playful with me, she never bit me, EVER! She would protect me. I did not even have to do all of this stuff. She passed away the day after my birthday, which was April 7.
J-HopeIsMyHope take it slow. remember its normal for them to not trust/like you at first it can take them awhile to warm up to you and remember not all rats are going to like to be handled and thats okay let them come to you when they want dont force it.
I recommend feeding treats only by hand or any way BUT thru the bars some rats will start to think anything through the bar will be a treat then; like your fingers! I had a rat that bit me on accident but I stopped feeding thru the bars and it never happened again
Yup hand feeding is a great way to tame any rat. As for bar feeding you can teach them to take food gently through the bars and not bite hands. If you’d like to try teaching your rat I made a video on it (I think it’s a good skill for them to have especially if you have young children who might stick food covered hands through the bars!): ua-cam.com/video/Dgq7_C_mWVU/v-deo.html
Just got rats with my fiancé almost a week ago, and I came across your channel the night before getting them. I’ve been watching as many as I can, and our babies have not only learned a lot, but have become a lot more comfortable with us. Maybe it’s normal for them to adjust quickly, but I’m glad they’re already happy and comfortable!
shoutout to my lovely ladies Paisley and Honey. I got them from the Humane Association (would recommend) so they are very used to people. Honey started licking me the first time I pet her! Love them so much.
Yep :/ She was evil lol, and had this weird thing about hands where just seeing one put her into what I called “predatory mode”. She would then calmly walk up to your hand, lunge, and draw blood. She didn’t mess around, and you had to read her minute behaviors (freezing, eye tracking your hand, etc.) to avoid getting bit. We worked so hard on changing this, and as you can see Berry is now a much sweeter rat :) Interestingly enough, she was never afraid of me - she just disliked hands, and would bite them inside the cage, out in the free-range are, inside my shirt, etc. On several occasions I would be lying there paying her no attention, and she’d walk up just to lunge and bite my hands! I do plan on doing a video on how I worked to change her behavior, but the problem is that aggression is such a broad subject to tackle. It always has a root cause, which in Berry’s case seemed to be territorialness mixed with some crazy prey drive (I still can’t drag my hand in front of her without her getting too worked up and pouncing.) So that is definently a video in the works, I’m just trying to figure out how to tackle such a topic.
Wow. I appreciate your willingness to do this. I have only been bit once but it was a hard bite and very painful! I was wiping down a ledge in a cage with a wash cloth and not even paying much attention to the boys in the cage becuase they were soo sweet. Well the wash cloth was a bad trigger I guess.
Just so you know the new pictures on the website work fine :) I have been working on hand work and my rats will happily take liquid and solid treats off me any time I come near the cage now! And I can kinda lazy drape my hand inside their cage without anyone getting arsey, one of them even does a little courtesy groom sometimes!! I'm still at a bit of a loss as to how to train them to come when called or let me pick them up when they're outside, I understand the theory but in practice then is no fortress great enough to contain these girls once exploration is an option. They'll fearlessly leap a metre high into the unknown, they'll destroy any barrier they can't clear and lose all interest in treats the moment they smell freedom. And they're really slippery buggers! I've never once managed to catch them despite daily escapes, it's just damn luck I get them back and they're always more savvy next time. It seems like for any training to work I need to be in an enclosed distraction-free space where I can get their attention but they've thwarted my every attempt to make such a space in the last 3 weeks. Just wanted to rant anyway :) But as alway tips welcome.. I have been tossing up buying a plastic barrier but it'll be large, expensive and still chewable and they'll always know there is something on the other side more interesting than me.
I learn so much through your videos! we got our two boys two days ago and we are in the process of bonding. Creamy is very cuddly and very active, and have a lot of confidence, but Choco.. not so much, he sits in his hammock most of the time and doesn't really like to be touched. I hope to bond with him soon♡
What if my rats hate being picked up and never come out of their hides? I don't want to drag them out, but everytime I try to use food to get them out they never do. They only eat it if I have my hand in the hide... I'm really confused and frustrated.. And my other rat absolutely HATES me. I can't go anywhere near her or move at all if I'm by her. I have no idea what to do.
Just sit there by there cage, and wait just watch a movie with the cage door open, with a bit of cheese/ yogurt, and if they come out offer them it, if they dont take it dont worry it's probably not that they dont like it they probably are just too scared to take it. I know this was a year ago ,but it might help someone else, or still you if you're still in that situation, or if you ever get new rats!
@@anetegrike4428 Oh yes! They trust me fully and when they're nervous they run up to me and start climbing up my legs! I hope you and your rats grow a bond soon! 💖
I have two ratties who were both pretty skittish when I first got them. One of them got used to me picking him up and handling him by me building up to it slowly, so that’s what I thought would happen with the other one. But he just never got to it and I sort of gave up on picking him up (I still spend time with him and free roam him). It’s been about a year now and when I try to pick him up in any way (from above, scooping him up, anything) he scampers away. Like super fast, so fast I can’t physically catch him. What should I do to get him better about this? He’s pretty skittish overall; running at sharp movements or noises, backing away from my hands, being careful of new things. But he has gotten better, he will walk up to my shoulder for treats and is fine with crawling on me if he has to.
I come here looking for a video like this one, I've been following your channel since I adopted my first two rats a month ago, and is being really helpful! rn I'm a little concerned because when I called them or be near outside the cage the two of them are really responsive, especially one (I admit that I'm still unsure if I overwhelming them or something with my interactions) so I been doing baby steps at interacting with them, but the other one is really shy, he responds when I call him or when I give him a treat, but whenever I attempt to touch it he runs away from me, I'm going to apply what i see here, I really want to get along with them like you, thank you very much for the info!
I have aDCN and what I do is sit on my bed pulthe cage as close to me as I can so I can lean in and fold my arms in gront of me so I can interact with my rats. The love to run up one arm on my shoulders down the other side. Also I hand wrestle with them the shake their heads and run around all crazy and jump up and grab my fingers and run around their cage then they start to wrestle each other and it looks like a barroom brawl. So thanks so much for all the information.
I think my comment accidently deleted while i was typing. Anyways., Thank you so much for your videos! Ive never thought i would own rats, i even thought they were gross. But my husband fell inlove with these two patchwork rats at the pet store (which we were at getting rats for our snake) and the lady that sold them to us told me "After having them youre not going to want to feed your snakes rats anymore"... she was right. I FUCKING LOVE THEM! they are so cute i cant even. and your videos have helped me so much with learning. Ive had them for about 2 weeks now and ive already got them trained to come when i call because of your videos! Youre perfect i love you thanks so much!!!!! I told my husband from now on i cant be in the room while he feeds the snakes because i will try and save all the rats.. and i don't want my babies to witness it either so he has to do it in another room now.
I recently got two female rats from a pet shop. I tried to get rats from a breeder, i took a 1hr bus drive up to get them and the breeder messaged me saying they recently became unavailable so it was the only option i had left. They are from "ark" in plymouth and not shy at all. They come to the front of the cage whenever you walk past and are very curious. One of them keeps sneezing. Since ive had them (just over 1 month now) ive had them on nothing but fleece. I thought the sneezing was due to stress but it hasnt stopped yet, it has calmed down now but she still sneezes frequently. I'm in the process of moving out and dont have enough money to get her checked by the vet, there are also no vets in my area that treat rats. My rats dont mind being handled but would rather be doing their own thing. The love climbing up my legs and pulling at my hair so they aren't skittish or shy at all. I just dont know how to make them feel more safe when being handled.
Question and help please regarding your tips? I have new babies and am a first time mom. I got them Sunday night. My rats won’t actually come out for food. They will come to a certain point and then refuse to come out further. The only way I would be able to get them out to take handle them and take them to the free roam area is to physically get them, and I don’t want to scare or stress them. Any suggestions, please?
If they are hesitant to come out then you want to work with them in their comfort zone and gradually start to push it. Some rats will need a lot more work to get comfortable - I currently have some girls that have some extreme genetic skittishness, and even though they were handled since birth they are extremely timid and wary of anything and everything. So for them I had to go very very slow, initially rewarding them off a metal spoon so they could have distance from me, then off my fingers, then off my fingers while I had lure them into putting one paw on my hand, then luring them into putting 2 paws on my hand before rewarding, then 3 paws, and finally all 4. And since you don't want them to learn to hesitate you want to work at each step until they will happily step forwards without hesitating - which in the case of my most skittish girls took weeks. It was all very much worth it though because I can now offer out my hand and they will hop on readily, greatly reducing their stress since they dislike handling and touch quite a bit (they tolerate it ok due to a lot of desensitizing work, but I won't push it on them other than for medical checkups because that's the main reason I worked on it to start.) Now its likely that your rats aren't this skittish, but its still worth working at their pace and building their confidence. Some people will just go ahead and handle skittish rats, and the problem there is that if they are only mildly skittish this can work (since they can adapt quickly), but for more extreme skittish rats or even just rats that are currently super unsure this can easily push them the opposite way and make them extremely fearful of you (or even teach learned helplessness where they sit frozen in fear). So I prefer to go slow with the more timid rats so that they can build their confidence in coming forwards and choosing to interact and over time this really builds up. As for free-range I personally now free-range in a playpen connected to my cage, so I can just open the door and they can come and go at will. The nice thing about this is it lets the skittish rats experience free-range without any negative associations (which could happen if I'd have to chase them down first), and so this becomes a secondary reward for seeing me and later on I can use their love of exploring to encourage them to interact with me as well (since they now associate coming out of the cage with something they choose to do and something fun). On top of that rats tend to be more confident when their cage is available since they often see it as the ultimate safe spot and bolt hole, so by including it in free-range it helps them adjust to coming out easier and boosts their confidence when exploring (you still want to put out houses and huts and maybe wear a blanket or hoody to encourage them to come over to you but having the cage out as well is a huge help). All in all I'd go at their pace and work at a level they are comfortable with, then gradually over time you can push those barriers and they should gradually gain confidence in interacting with you.
@@ShadowTheRat thank you so much for taking the time to personally reply back. I’m really taking your advice to heart because I want the best for my babies. They still don’t want to come out of their enclosure, but they have started to creep out of their hidey spots to me for treats. One even played with me a little. All inside the cage, though. So hopefully one day with the time and effort they’ll willingly want to come out to me. Thank you again! I really appreciate your help.
I've tried to get my younger one out I do pull him out I guess I'll stop that. The older one will come right to the door. I did just get them like a week ago so no play time just yet. They are sick and on meds. How else can I boost his confidence for him to come out?
My rats have not been trained at all They are rescues from being snake food and I didn't anticipate having them this long. They're approximately a year and a half and Im wondering if you might be able to give me advice on bonding with them as they tend to be afraid of me still.
Can someone help me out? I’ve had my male rats for almost 2 months now and they’ve never come out of their cage on their own, they won’t let me touch them whatsoever and bite me whenever I put my hand in the cage to change stuff out. One of my boys is blind and the other is extremely protective and mean
Is playpen time similar to free range time for rats? I'm going to buy two girls and I've gotten a very large playpen for them that I'll be playing with them in. Could this substitute for free range time or should I still give them full free range of a room?
I aim for free range of at least 90 minutes 3-4 times a week as a minimum and try for everyday when possible. As for Cream are you asking how long it took to get her out? If so then it was about 30 minutes a day for the first few days and then it sped up quite a bit. Nowadays I just attach my playpen to the cage and open the door, and I instead teach my rats hat hopping onto my hands gets them put back after training (I close the cage doors and only have one rat out when training), so it’s a bit of an opposite to what I did with Cream. I kinda prefer it though because the rats have more choice and for super skittish rats like some of my current ones this allows them to find free range rewarding from the start and then I can use their love of free range to add more incentive to interact with me down the line.
I ask because I have 3 rescues. They weren’t handled much at all. 2 neutered males and a female. All siblings. I don’t want to overwhelm them but I do want some bonding/free range time with me. Just didn’t know how long was TOO long
So i have two male rats, and they bite like hell, i tried to create a bond, ill give them treats everyday, but they dont want me to touch them, or be near them, and if i try to be with them they bite me like so rough. So i let them alone, i open they cage and let them free all the time they want. What can i do?
I have 2 female rats Lucy is 5 months and phoebe is 6 months, Lucy was alone for about a month and I got her phoebe to see if it would help her aggression, but it made it much worse, Phoebe was so sweet until I paired her with Lucy and then she started biting me, I will open the cage and she will run and bite me as fast as she can, and then just looks at me like I’m stupid 😂 I was hoping I could get some advice with the aggression, I give them treats through the cage bars a lot and I try to distract them with treats when I get the food bowls out to feed them to avoid getting bitten, I have also tried distracting them with food and then petting them but they always instantly stop eating and try to bite, I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, Lucy I got from a pet store which I understand why she would be aggressive, but phoebe was from a breeder and then suddenly started biting ☹️
Females sometimes bite or "play fight" but if its really getting bad, keep them away from each other for a bit. Phoebe might be Getting Scared and aggressive because she might be getting Hurt or attacked. But Keep both them with you and just Try to calm them. Hopefully They wont fight or attack you if you calm them.
I know ive commented before about getting rats and i finally got them! I was watching this vid and one of my rats starting grooming theirselves on me . What does that mean?
It can either be stress or just them feeling comfortable enough to groom. As long as they otherwise seem content explore and enjoying themselves then I wouldn’t worry :) CongRATs on the new rats by the way!
Mainly yogurt and meat baby food. one thing I will say about rats though is that they tend to be wary of new foods, especially if they haven't been introduced to many yet. Rats can't vomit and so they naturally shy away from eating large amounts of anything new, so you may have to introduce new treats several times before they really try it, and then a few more times before they decide they like it. One of my girls took 3 weeks of me offering treats several times a day to really try one (before that she just ate lab blocks), but after that she really started to enjoy them and each new food after that was easier and easier to introduce. Of course not all rats take nearly that long to try new food, but when they do I find just offering the same thing for a few days several times a day really helps them come around to trying it.
@@ShadowTheRat A year later and I'm glad you said that. I adopted a pair 3 weeks ago and they didn't want to eat anything besides lab blocks at first. I'm still building up their treat diversity but it took a week to warm up to apples and lettuce.
My advice is to take a step back and instead of handling them teach them to voluntarily hop onto your hand when offered. I have a video here specifically about building skittish rats confidence and teaching voluntary handling which can help: ua-cam.com/video/kdM4CBEeTSg/v-deo.html Bottom line is that some rats are naturally more timid, and the best thing you can do is give them a routine so they know what to expect and then gradually work on building their confidence each day. It will seem like small progress at first, but overtime it accumulates and one day you look back and are amazed at how far they've come! 2 weeks really isn't that long, so keep working with them and pairing yourself with yummy liquid treats and they should really start to come around with time and experience.
Rats naturally mock fight. Its totally normal and has been linked to group dynamics and hierarchies. So you shouldn't break up any "fights" because thats just how rats communicate with each other. If the fight was actually bloody, then of course you can use any means necessary to break them up. But for normal scuffles, letting them work it out is usually the best solution (I mean, they'll still fight when your not around so trying to scare them into stopping doesn't accomplish anything!)
I have a trio of boys about 3 months old and I'm having an issue with one, he's willing to come out and sniff around but he always steals treats and pushes his brothers away from the cage door to get at the snacks. Should I put him in a carrier while I work with the others? it's not like they don't have enough food or don't get treats often he's just pushy
I would actually keep him with the others in order for them to have a good example. Its been my experience that confident rats help their shyer friends gain confidence, so I always aim to tame my rats all together. What I would do in your situation is to either give him a giant snack (this is what I did with my girl Latte when using her to help teach a shyer rat (Cream) to be more trusting), or use liquid treats. With liquid treats you can spread them all over your hand, letting all the rats lick you together and preventing the shyer ones from running away to eat on their own.
idk if anyone can help or if it's not anything to worry about but I just got a new baby rat who is so lovey and cuddly with ONLY ME that she only wants to be in my pocket or on my shoulder.... I can't even teach her anything bc she refuses to do anything else...
Sounds like she’s nervous - rats are prey animals and freaked out by open areas, so they tend to not want to come out in new open spaces. My suggestion is first to get her a same sex friend (rats are extremely social and even if she’s with you all the time it’s not the same as having a buddy - plus another rat or few will greatly boost her confidence), then set up the area with lots of houses and tubes and such to act as bolt holes, and finally place the cage into the free range area and open the door so she can come out at her own pace. As she adjusts to the area she will begin exploring more and be more confident in the open area. But a buddy and hides will do wonders to help her adjust.
i have tre rats two are coming along but one is biting me for no reasons and fiting the oder rats and if i come to the cage the two rats are nise and then she comes and bites me so hard that im bleading and im scared of my own rat now. She takes the food from the cade bars but im too scared to give the food that i open the cage i can handle the two but not he one becouse im too scared can you help me
Hi shadow, I know this has nothing to do with this topic but I need advice. I bought a13" freedom stealth wheel with the x-mount about 1 month ago and put it in the critter nation cage. None of my 4 girls seem to care about it. I thought I would make it more interesting for them so I cut out cardboard to make it like the other wheels you see where they have to enter the wheel through a hole. This got there attention to go in but they only run a few times and stop. This wheel is really nice but they seem to like the old crappy metal wheel more. I put the old wheel in the cage and then all 4 go on it. I'm afraid they will hurt themselves on the old wheel as did one of my boys years ago got there neck caught in the wheel and support bar and broke his neck but lived. Any advice? Thank you 🐭
If your previous rat broke his neck(well any other way of being injured but esp breaking his neck) using the other wheel please do not put it back in. They will eventually use the new wheel- you can use treats to get them on it but from personal experience they'll end up doing it on their own time 😊
I agree with Leah. You can definitely use food to get them interacting with it if you want, but otherwise the best thing to do (in my experience) is to just give them time to figure it out. Be sure to remove the other wheel so they don’t have that option, and then give them several days/weeks to figure out the new wheel. When I first got rats, they knew how to use a wheel. But then I waited four months before buying them an actual wheel, so they seemingly forgot what to do with it. But after a few days, my more wheel loving girl Sonic started using it, and after that Shadow was able to follower her example and learn. Same thing with a cookie and Cream. Both came from places without a wheel, and both learned to use it by watching my older girls. It just took them some time to investigate it and actually start interacting with it.
Get him a buddy to start, rats really shouldn't be kept alone and its unfair on them to force them to be. Otherwise patience is the key - work at his pace, and use yummy treats like liquid treats to get him to come around. Some of a rats temperament is genetic so some rats will always be friendlier, but even more timid rats will make huge strides with some time and experience and the more positive experience they have with you the faster they will come around. CongRATs on your new ratty, and again if he's alone please get him a buddy!
Get him a buddy to start, rats really shouldn't be kept alone and its unfair on them to force them to be. Otherwise patience is the key - work at his pace, and use yummy treats like liquid treats to get him to come around. Some of a rats temperament is genetic so some rats will always be friendlier, but even more timid rats will make huge strides with some time and experience and the more positive experience they have with you the faster they will come around. CongRATs on your new ratty, and again if he's alone please get him a buddy!
@@ShadowTheRat yes I will get him a buddy very soon .... actually it was not available at my place therefore I could not bring him a buddy Thank you !! For reverting back 😊..... could you please tell what makes them happy?
Did you work on following the lure as its own behavior first? If not then that's your issue - many people don't work on the lure as its own behavior, and the problem there is that the rats then the rats don't know that following the lure will get them rewarded and might think you are just teasing them. So they get confused or frustrated and training is much more cumbersome. If you watch my rat training guide video here it goes over training the lure, target, and other training basics that really help to smooth training: ua-cam.com/video/O8FwS_kYAno/v-deo.html
@@ShadowTheRat Okay thanks! I've also tried to use target, and Hedwig got the idea, but she gets full and she doesn't want to get treats anymore, so she won't fully understand. The issue is also that my other Arrow sneaks out eating my treats while I'm trying to learn the trick to Hedwig and the whole session gets into a mess. Then, I put the treat in my palm, but now Hedwig is more interested in the treat than doing the trick...
@@owlinatowl4146 Try working with them separately (unless I have a very timid rat that needs to gain confidence I will always train tricks in one on one sessions, with one rat out and the rest in the cage. Even with multi-rat tricks like vs basketball you have to teach them in one on one sessions with each individual rat before working together). As for her getting full make sure your treats are very small (they should take 3 seconds max to eat, and be the size of 1/4 or 1/3 a cheerio). You also want to train around the same time daily so that the rats form a habit of training at that time and as a result are more active and hungry when that time rolls around. I free feed my rats so they always have food in the cage and so if I didn't have them training at the same time daily then training would be a lot more difficult.
In that case you want to work on using liquid treats to lure them to you, at first letting them lick it off one hand while near your other hand, then luring them into placing one paw onto your hand before letting them lick up the treat, then 2 paws, then 3 paws, and finally all 4 paws. Once they hop on readily and aren't immediately jumping off after they eat then you can begin to move your hand around while they eat. Over time they should gain confidence - make sure not to chase them down, and they should catch on to coming to you regularly quickly. I have some skittish rats who absolutely hate begin being picked up but by teaching them to hop onto my hand when offered they no longer have to fear this they gain so much confidence in choosing to come to me.
I had a question, I’m getting two rats very soon both females, I already met them there very hyper and already friendly, in my room I have a dog (chihuahua) that absolutely loves small animals like rabbits, rats n hedgehogs lol is there a good way for the rats to be introduced to my dog whenever they come out? he loves just to smell n play with anything he sees. He’s very gentle too
CongRATs on your soon to be new rats. Personally I wouldn't mix dogs and rats but as you probably know some people do it very successfully. So if you must mix them, I'd just make sure your dog is very calm when the intro happens :)
Ik I'm 3 years late but I just got my first ever pair of rats! Do I have to let my rats roam around? Because unfortunately my mom doesn't want them on the floors. It would be great if someone responded!
@@jollyduck5078 No problem expect no offense, sometimes those can cause back issues and other issues for hamsters and or other animals so I wouldn’t really recommend them. My mom didn’t want my rats on the carpet aswell so I got a large playpen for them and she was fine with that A
Hi, really like the shadow the rat vids, was wondering maybe someone in this comment section could help me? I've had my rats for 7 months now. They are my first rats and I bought them from a guy who bought some live rats as feeders and realised one was pregnant so sold the babies. They have never bitten me and every time I feed them the home made rice mix I hand feed them first, so they are used to me, my voice and my hands. Problem is, I've never gotten to the point where I am handling them because they are just so skittish of hands to begin with. (The guy who sold them to me used to pick them up by the tails, i don't know if that played a part). I always feel like I'm going to cross a boundary, they walk on top of my hands here and there and have made their way up my arm a little but anything more than that and they freak out and so I have to go back a few steps. It's only been since 1 (Felix) developed a chronic respiratory problem and then later the other (Oscar) got an eye infection (just yesterday) that I've had to pick them up to take them to the vets. I use a fleece small blanket so they don't freak too much that these awful hands are taking them away from safety. I don't want to break their trust but I feel like they would gain so much more from being handled as they would be able to free roam around my room. Does anyone have any advice? Should you just pick them up and then make it as pleasant as possible for them when they are in my hands? I've never been able to share a bathtub or couch or small area for them to get used to me as I haven't been able to get them there. Maybe just pick them up to take them to an enclosed area with me and then read a book and let them sniff me out??? ARRGGHHH all I know is that I love them and want the best but at the same time I don't want to cross anyone's boundaries and all. If anyone can help It would be greatly appreciated- Lou
Having had several rats just like that, I'd go ahead and just handle them daily. My Cream, sweet girl that she is now, came from the same situation as your guys. So did my Cookie. Both girls were only 5 weeks old when I got them from an "oops litter", and their only human experience was being handled by the tail. Both girls were also TERRIFIED of me, running away, freezing, the works. Difference was that Cookie is a naturally outgoing rat while Cream is naturally shy and timid. So Cookie came around after maybe 2-3 days of "forced" handling (meaning I pick them up whether they want it or not and let them go as soon as they struggle) paired with meat baby food. Cream, on the other hand, took maybe a week to just tolerate handling. She continued to poop and pee herself when touched and scream when picked up along with freezing and falling onto her back whenever I was around her. But I've had bad experienced with new rats getting sick in the past before I tamed them so my priorities now are always to get them to at least tolerate handling. Because of this I persisted with Cream, and within 2 weeks she was both tolerating handling and eating when held on her back (one of the signs that means true trust to me). After that I took a step back and used counter-conditioning and desensitization to get her to actually enjoy being touched and held. And today I can hold Cream any which way I want, roughly handle her, grab her, and basically do everything that used to terrify her without her being scared at all! I'm a huge advocate of jumping right in and handling/taming your rats from day one, and this all dates back to my shy girl Sonic, who after 2 months of trust training hit a barrier like your guys that she wouldn't cross. Once day I had enough of it and just picked her up. For the next week I did the same thing, picking her up and feeding meat baby food when I did so. And after that? After that short week of daily handling she began to tolerate handling just fine, and actually started building some trust in me. I find that shy rats often reach a point where they won't take the initiative and interact with you further. That's why I take my current approach of handling all rats from day one. Doing so has lead all my rats to become tame and trusting towards people (and especially me!) I actually made a video on how I tame my rats right here if you'd like to see my method (it includes some clips of my Cream as a young and skittish baby): ua-cam.com/video/_2vwVyC7SPc/v-deo.html I wish you luck taming. If I have just one piece of advise, its don't worry about hurting them. Sounds weird, but it can be easy to think that forcefully catching them will traumatized them forever. And this just isn't true. Rats are very adept at adapting, and very hardy creatures (other than their respiratory system of course). All my girls are very sweet and well adjusted right now, but none of them came to me tame. So with the exception of Latte (naturally calm and sociable), all the girls had issues to overcome. Blackberry hated hands and would lunge and bite, Cream was terrified and would scream and poop, and Cookie was also scared (albeit less than Cream) and had an aversion to hands. Now all 4 girls crowd the cage begging to come out every day, and love to be handle. So I'm sure your guys can get there!
So I have a new rat and I’ve had her for about a month and she’s still VERY skittish and won’t let me hardly touch her I’ve tried all kinds for methods with her but nothings working any advice?
Some will frown on me for this, but I use a plastic scoop to clean their cage (I shred my own paper for bedding.) They aren't afraid or stressed when I do it. On the contrary one like to ride on it and the other chases it. I bring it towards her and she runs, but I pull it away she hops/runs after it. Her body language is very relaxed as this is happening. Once I take it out of the cage I get the "where ya going?" Look lol
Some rats just don't like wheels. But the best way I've found to get my rats to use their wheel is to just leave it in the cage. Leave it there for several weeks (washing it when necessary) and they should eventually stumble upon its intended use. And once one rat gets it, the others will copy them! (Also if your using a mesh wheel or a silent spinner, both those don't work well for rats. Mesh wheels can pull off toe nails, and generally aren't good for rat feet. And silent spinners aren't a natural way of running, and all my girls ignore them. As long as you have a good sized (12" + in diameter) wheel with a solid surface, your rats should figure it out eventually).
I once had a girl that LOVED to be thrown. I would toss her onto to bed and then she would come flying back onto my hand and position herself to be thrown again XD
Then you *YEETED* her across your room and she died
*YEET*
@@seagullman5634 stop why did i laugh so hard at that
Can I ask a question
@Jamaal Eddington yes.. yes you can
I had a rat named Emerald, she was the best. When I first got her she was a little shy at first but a day after I got her she would lick me, she would welcome me into the cage, she was very playful with me, she never bit me, EVER! She would protect me. I did not even have to do all of this stuff. She passed away the day after my birthday, which was April 7.
Awww RIP Emerald. She sounded adorable.
It’s so sad that they pass so fast. 🐀
I know how it feels to lose animals, you get really attached to them..
RIP Emerald
R.I.P. ,EMERALD
Rest in peace Emerald
I'm adopting my first pair tomorrow. I'm so nervous lol, I really want them to be happy.
J-HopeIsMyHope take it slow. remember its normal for them to not trust/like you at first it can take them awhile to warm up to you and remember not all rats are going to like to be handled and thats okay let them come to you when they want dont force it.
I hope your rats are happy! My boyfriend and I adopted a couple of rats today!
Update? :)
Omg I’m adopting mine tomorrow a year later-
@@harvest539 how is your rats, and do you use fleece as bedding??
I recommend feeding treats only by hand or any way BUT thru the bars some rats will start to think anything through the bar will be a treat then; like your fingers! I had a rat that bit me on accident but I stopped feeding thru the bars and it never happened again
Yup hand feeding is a great way to tame any rat. As for bar feeding you can teach them to take food gently through the bars and not bite hands. If you’d like to try teaching your rat I made a video on it (I think it’s a good skill for them to have especially if you have young children who might stick food covered hands through the bars!): ua-cam.com/video/Dgq7_C_mWVU/v-deo.html
I miss my rat....she was so stinky and cute
Just got my first two today, I let them lick some melted ice cream off of my fingers and they like me a lot more now lol
Haha yup, I bet they loved you for that!
Just got rats with my fiancé almost a week ago, and I came across your channel the night before getting them. I’ve been watching as many as I can, and our babies have not only learned a lot, but have become a lot more comfortable with us. Maybe it’s normal for them to adjust quickly, but I’m glad they’re already happy and comfortable!
shoutout to my lovely ladies Paisley and Honey. I got them from the Humane Association (would recommend) so they are very used to people. Honey started licking me the first time I pet her! Love them so much.
Thank you so much for this video Shadow it was so helpful. My rats are a little nervous around me and I will take your tips thanks!!! 👋🏼
Excellant advice Esther! I would like to see a video about biting issues like you talked about Berry in the cage. Was she a biter outside the cage?
Yep :/
She was evil lol, and had this weird thing about hands where just seeing one put her into what I called “predatory mode”. She would then calmly walk up to your hand, lunge, and draw blood. She didn’t mess around, and you had to read her minute behaviors (freezing, eye tracking your hand, etc.) to avoid getting bit.
We worked so hard on changing this, and as you can see Berry is now a much sweeter rat :) Interestingly enough, she was never afraid of me - she just disliked hands, and would bite them inside the cage, out in the free-range are, inside my shirt, etc. On several occasions I would be lying there paying her no attention, and she’d walk up just to lunge and bite my hands!
I do plan on doing a video on how I worked to change her behavior, but the problem is that aggression is such a broad subject to tackle. It always has a root cause, which in Berry’s case seemed to be territorialness mixed with some crazy prey drive (I still can’t drag my hand in front of her without her getting too worked up and pouncing.) So that is definently a video in the works, I’m just trying to figure out how to tackle such a topic.
Wow. I appreciate your willingness to do this. I have only been bit once but it was a hard bite and very painful! I was wiping down a ledge in a cage with a wash cloth and not even paying much attention to the boys in the cage becuase they were soo sweet. Well the wash cloth was a bad trigger I guess.
Ahh, your videos are so useful.
Thanks :)
And a nice day/evening to you as well and a happy Easter weekend. Are you/we as a community going to do anything for World Rat Day on April 4th?
amazing as always
Thank you so much!! 🐀🐁
I'm glad you enjoyed! :)
My rat black thunder was shy but now she loves my cus i followed your steps:D
Bingles ran away just like my parents
I'm getting my first 3 rats from a very good breeder. And I have so many treats for them these girls are going to be so spoiled.
Just so you know the new pictures on the website work fine :)
I have been working on hand work and my rats will happily take liquid and solid treats off me any time I come near the cage now! And I can kinda lazy drape my hand inside their cage without anyone getting arsey, one of them even does a little courtesy groom sometimes!!
I'm still at a bit of a loss as to how to train them to come when called or let me pick them up when they're outside, I understand the theory but in practice then is no fortress great enough to contain these girls once exploration is an option. They'll fearlessly leap a metre high into the unknown, they'll destroy any barrier they can't clear and lose all interest in treats the moment they smell freedom. And they're really slippery buggers! I've never once managed to catch them despite daily escapes, it's just damn luck I get them back and they're always more savvy next time. It seems like for any training to work I need to be in an enclosed distraction-free space where I can get their attention but they've thwarted my every attempt to make such a space in the last 3 weeks. Just wanted to rant anyway :) But as alway tips welcome.. I have been tossing up buying a plastic barrier but it'll be large, expensive and still chewable and they'll always know there is something on the other side more interesting than me.
What if my rat runs away and doesn’t want me to pick her up. Like when I do it she screams and I don’t wanna scare her
Like she won’t even let me get close to her to give her a treat. My old rats let me do everything with them.
I learn so much through your videos! we got our two boys two days ago and we are in the process of bonding. Creamy is very cuddly and very active, and have a lot of confidence, but Choco.. not so much, he sits in his hammock most of the time and doesn't really like to be touched. I hope to bond with him soon♡
What if my rats hate being picked up and never come out of their hides? I don't want to drag them out, but everytime I try to use food to get them out they never do. They only eat it if I have my hand in the hide... I'm really confused and frustrated.. And my other rat absolutely HATES me. I can't go anywhere near her or move at all if I'm by her. I have no idea what to do.
Me too!
Just sit there by there cage, and wait just watch a movie with the cage door open, with a bit of cheese/ yogurt, and if they come out offer them it, if they dont take it dont worry it's probably not that they dont like it they probably are just too scared to take it. I know this was a year ago ,but it might help someone else, or still you if you're still in that situation, or if you ever get new rats!
Thx for this im leaving a like and a subscribe
I got mine 3 days ago! I hope this helps! They are really nervous from all they've been through!
How is going with your rats? Do they come to you, let touch and so? I got mine two days ago...
@@anetegrike4428 Oh yes! They trust me fully and when they're nervous they run up to me and start climbing up my legs! I hope you and your rats grow a bond soon! 💖
@@doniczka9037 Sooo cute. I am happy for you :3 And thank you.
@@anetegrike4428 :3
I have two ratties who were both pretty skittish when I first got them. One of them got used to me picking him up and handling him by me building up to it slowly, so that’s what I thought would happen with the other one. But he just never got to it and I sort of gave up on picking him up (I still spend time with him and free roam him). It’s been about a year now and when I try to pick him up in any way (from above, scooping him up, anything) he scampers away. Like super fast, so fast I can’t physically catch him. What should I do to get him better about this? He’s pretty skittish overall; running at sharp movements or noises, backing away from my hands, being careful of new things. But he has gotten better, he will walk up to my shoulder for treats and is fine with crawling on me if he has to.
I havent given my rats treat, we call dunkin spider monkey, she just jumps up and hangs on to the sidr of the cage. Its cute.
I come here looking for a video like this one, I've been following your channel since I adopted my first two rats a month ago, and is being really helpful! rn I'm a little concerned because when I called them or be near outside the cage the two of them are really responsive, especially one (I admit that I'm still unsure if I overwhelming them or something with my interactions) so I been doing baby steps at interacting with them, but the other one is really shy, he responds when I call him or when I give him a treat, but whenever I attempt to touch it he runs away from me, I'm going to apply what i see here, I really want to get along with them like you, thank you very much for the info!
I have aDCN and what I do is sit on my bed pulthe cage as close to me as I can so I can lean in and fold my arms in gront of me so I can interact with my rats. The love to run up one arm on my shoulders down the other side. Also I hand wrestle with them the shake their heads and run around all crazy and jump up and grab my fingers and run around their cage then they start to wrestle each other and it looks like a barroom brawl. So thanks so much for all the information.
I think my comment accidently deleted while i was typing. Anyways., Thank you so much for your videos! Ive never thought i would own rats, i even thought they were gross. But my husband fell inlove with these two patchwork rats at the pet store (which we were at getting rats for our snake) and the lady that sold them to us told me "After having them youre not going to want to feed your snakes rats anymore"... she was right. I FUCKING LOVE THEM! they are so cute i cant even. and your videos have helped me so much with learning. Ive had them for about 2 weeks now and ive already got them trained to come when i call because of your videos! Youre perfect i love you thanks so much!!!!! I told my husband from now on i cant be in the room while he feeds the snakes because i will try and save all the rats.. and i don't want my babies to witness it either so he has to do it in another room now.
Some times you can't always give treats because rats get diabetes very quick so you have to be careful.. I would say 2-4 treats a day
I recently got two female rats from a pet shop. I tried to get rats from a breeder, i took a 1hr bus drive up to get them and the breeder messaged me saying they recently became unavailable so it was the only option i had left. They are from "ark" in plymouth and not shy at all. They come to the front of the cage whenever you walk past and are very curious. One of them keeps sneezing. Since ive had them (just over 1 month now) ive had them on nothing but fleece. I thought the sneezing was due to stress but it hasnt stopped yet, it has calmed down now but she still sneezes frequently. I'm in the process of moving out and dont have enough money to get her checked by the vet, there are also no vets in my area that treat rats. My rats dont mind being handled but would rather be doing their own thing. The love climbing up my legs and pulling at my hair so they aren't skittish or shy at all. I just dont know how to make them feel more safe when being handled.
tysm!
Question and help please regarding your tips? I have new babies and am a first time mom. I got them Sunday night. My rats won’t actually come out for food. They will come to a certain point and then refuse to come out further. The only way I would be able to get them out to take handle them and take them to the free roam area is to physically get them, and I don’t want to scare or stress them. Any suggestions, please?
If they are hesitant to come out then you want to work with them in their comfort zone and gradually start to push it. Some rats will need a lot more work to get comfortable - I currently have some girls that have some extreme genetic skittishness, and even though they were handled since birth they are extremely timid and wary of anything and everything. So for them I had to go very very slow, initially rewarding them off a metal spoon so they could have distance from me, then off my fingers, then off my fingers while I had lure them into putting one paw on my hand, then luring them into putting 2 paws on my hand before rewarding, then 3 paws, and finally all 4. And since you don't want them to learn to hesitate you want to work at each step until they will happily step forwards without hesitating - which in the case of my most skittish girls took weeks. It was all very much worth it though because I can now offer out my hand and they will hop on readily, greatly reducing their stress since they dislike handling and touch quite a bit (they tolerate it ok due to a lot of desensitizing work, but I won't push it on them other than for medical checkups because that's the main reason I worked on it to start.)
Now its likely that your rats aren't this skittish, but its still worth working at their pace and building their confidence. Some people will just go ahead and handle skittish rats, and the problem there is that if they are only mildly skittish this can work (since they can adapt quickly), but for more extreme skittish rats or even just rats that are currently super unsure this can easily push them the opposite way and make them extremely fearful of you (or even teach learned helplessness where they sit frozen in fear). So I prefer to go slow with the more timid rats so that they can build their confidence in coming forwards and choosing to interact and over time this really builds up.
As for free-range I personally now free-range in a playpen connected to my cage, so I can just open the door and they can come and go at will. The nice thing about this is it lets the skittish rats experience free-range without any negative associations (which could happen if I'd have to chase them down first), and so this becomes a secondary reward for seeing me and later on I can use their love of exploring to encourage them to interact with me as well (since they now associate coming out of the cage with something they choose to do and something fun). On top of that rats tend to be more confident when their cage is available since they often see it as the ultimate safe spot and bolt hole, so by including it in free-range it helps them adjust to coming out easier and boosts their confidence when exploring (you still want to put out houses and huts and maybe wear a blanket or hoody to encourage them to come over to you but having the cage out as well is a huge help).
All in all I'd go at their pace and work at a level they are comfortable with, then gradually over time you can push those barriers and they should gradually gain confidence in interacting with you.
@@ShadowTheRat thank you so much for taking the time to personally reply back. I’m really taking your advice to heart because I want the best for my babies. They still don’t want to come out of their enclosure, but they have started to creep out of their hidey spots to me for treats. One even played with me a little. All inside the cage, though. So hopefully one day with the time and effort they’ll willingly want to come out to me. Thank you again! I really appreciate your help.
My new rats are just new and they are both boys and they don't like being picked up or moving about
I've tried to get my younger one out I do pull him out I guess I'll stop that. The older one will come right to the door. I did just get them like a week ago so no play time just yet. They are sick and on meds. How else can I boost his confidence for him to come out?
what is the treat you give em from you finger? i really like your channel, keep it up
Meat baby food, one of my favorite taming treats :)
He just upped his eyes
Hi I have a little baby rat I can't keep do you know what I can do I don't want anything bad to happen to him
My rats have not been trained at all
They are rescues from being snake food and I didn't anticipate having them this long. They're approximately a year and a half and Im wondering if you might be able to give me advice on bonding with them as they tend to be afraid of me still.
Can someone help me out? I’ve had my male rats for almost 2 months now and they’ve never come out of their cage on their own, they won’t let me touch them whatsoever and bite me whenever I put my hand in the cage to change stuff out. One of my boys is blind and the other is extremely protective and mean
Trick them with food 😈
My rat doesn't like to be held she just wants to go back into her cage
What are examples of liquid treats I can give?
I mainly use plain yogurt or occasionally meat baby food
0:13 go past legit 100 times a day..
Is playpen time similar to free range time for rats? I'm going to buy two girls and I've gotten a very large playpen for them that I'll be playing with them in. Could this substitute for free range time or should I still give them full free range of a room?
Great video!
How long should you free range? How long did you spend trying with Cream? 5 min? 10 min? Longer?
I aim for free range of at least 90 minutes 3-4 times a week as a minimum and try for everyday when possible.
As for Cream are you asking how long it took to get her out? If so then it was about 30 minutes a day for the first few days and then it sped up quite a bit. Nowadays I just attach my playpen to the cage and open the door, and I instead teach my rats hat hopping onto my hands gets them put back after training (I close the cage doors and only have one rat out when training), so it’s a bit of an opposite to what I did with Cream. I kinda prefer it though because the rats have more choice and for super skittish rats like some of my current ones this allows them to find free range rewarding from the start and then I can use their love of free range to add more incentive to interact with me down the line.
I ask because I have 3 rescues. They weren’t handled much at all. 2 neutered males and a female. All siblings. I don’t want to overwhelm them but I do want some bonding/free range time with me. Just didn’t know how long was TOO long
I've always wondered. How much free range area would you recommend?
What treats should I buy for my rats?
Mine love dried papaya, banana and peas, cheese and baby food
So i have two male rats, and they bite like hell, i tried to create a bond, ill give them treats everyday, but they dont want me to touch them, or be near them, and if i try to be with them they bite me like so rough. So i let them alone, i open they cage and let them free all the time they want. What can i do?
I have 2 female rats Lucy is 5 months and phoebe is 6 months, Lucy was alone for about a month and I got her phoebe to see if it would help her aggression, but it made it much worse, Phoebe was so sweet until I paired her with Lucy and then she started biting me, I will open the cage and she will run and bite me as fast as she can, and then just looks at me like I’m stupid 😂 I was hoping I could get some advice with the aggression, I give them treats through the cage bars a lot and I try to distract them with treats when I get the food bowls out to feed them to avoid getting bitten, I have also tried distracting them with food and then petting them but they always instantly stop eating and try to bite, I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, Lucy I got from a pet store which I understand why she would be aggressive, but phoebe was from a breeder and then suddenly started biting ☹️
Females sometimes bite or "play fight" but if its really getting bad, keep them away from each other for a bit. Phoebe might be Getting Scared and aggressive because she might be getting Hurt or attacked. But Keep both them with you and just Try to calm them. Hopefully They wont fight or attack you if you calm them.
I have a question I have 2 new rats that I just got but they are not comfortable being held what should I do?
Thanks this will help can you make a video about if you can cut there nails Thanks
Regardt Dressel you could put a rock inside their cage (be sure to wash it first). If they climb on it, it'll make their claws less sharp
I know ive commented before about getting rats and i finally got them! I was watching this vid and one of my rats starting grooming theirselves on me . What does that mean?
It can either be stress or just them feeling comfortable enough to groom. As long as they otherwise seem content explore and enjoying themselves then I wouldn’t worry :)
CongRATs on the new rats by the way!
What liquid treats do you use? My rats aren't really taking the solid ones as eager as I had hoped.
Mainly yogurt and meat baby food. one thing I will say about rats though is that they tend to be wary of new foods, especially if they haven't been introduced to many yet. Rats can't vomit and so they naturally shy away from eating large amounts of anything new, so you may have to introduce new treats several times before they really try it, and then a few more times before they decide they like it. One of my girls took 3 weeks of me offering treats several times a day to really try one (before that she just ate lab blocks), but after that she really started to enjoy them and each new food after that was easier and easier to introduce. Of course not all rats take nearly that long to try new food, but when they do I find just offering the same thing for a few days several times a day really helps them come around to trying it.
@@ShadowTheRat A year later and I'm glad you said that. I adopted a pair 3 weeks ago and they didn't want to eat anything besides lab blocks at first. I'm still building up their treat diversity but it took a week to warm up to apples and lettuce.
I have my rats now about 2 weeks. But they still afraid of me :( I take my lap every day, but they run away immediately, how can i change that?
My advice is to take a step back and instead of handling them teach them to voluntarily hop onto your hand when offered. I have a video here specifically about building skittish rats confidence and teaching voluntary handling which can help: ua-cam.com/video/kdM4CBEeTSg/v-deo.html
Bottom line is that some rats are naturally more timid, and the best thing you can do is give them a routine so they know what to expect and then gradually work on building their confidence each day. It will seem like small progress at first, but overtime it accumulates and one day you look back and are amazed at how far they've come! 2 weeks really isn't that long, so keep working with them and pairing yourself with yummy liquid treats and they should really start to come around with time and experience.
I have two boy Rats
Can I ask a question
@@jamaaleddington9903 ya sure 👍
Oh and you said never punish or scare your rat then what do i do when my two rats fight
Rats naturally mock fight. Its totally normal and has been linked to group dynamics and hierarchies. So you shouldn't break up any "fights" because thats just how rats communicate with each other.
If the fight was actually bloody, then of course you can use any means necessary to break them up. But for normal scuffles, letting them work it out is usually the best solution (I mean, they'll still fight when your not around so trying to scare them into stopping doesn't accomplish anything!)
Shadow The Rat ok then I should stop getting in the fights and stopping them
I have a trio of boys about 3 months old and I'm having an issue with one, he's willing to come out and sniff around but he always steals treats and pushes his brothers away from the cage door to get at the snacks. Should I put him in a carrier while I work with the others? it's not like they don't have enough food or don't get treats often he's just pushy
I would actually keep him with the others in order for them to have a good example. Its been my experience that confident rats help their shyer friends gain confidence, so I always aim to tame my rats all together.
What I would do in your situation is to either give him a giant snack (this is what I did with my girl Latte when using her to help teach a shyer rat (Cream) to be more trusting), or use liquid treats. With liquid treats you can spread them all over your hand, letting all the rats lick you together and preventing the shyer ones from running away to eat on their own.
idk if anyone can help or if it's not anything to worry about but I just got a new baby rat who is so lovey and cuddly with ONLY ME that she only wants to be in my pocket or on my shoulder.... I can't even teach her anything bc she refuses to do anything else...
Sounds like she’s nervous - rats are prey animals and freaked out by open areas, so they tend to not want to come out in new open spaces. My suggestion is first to get her a same sex friend (rats are extremely social and even if she’s with you all the time it’s not the same as having a buddy - plus another rat or few will greatly boost her confidence), then set up the area with lots of houses and tubes and such to act as bolt holes, and finally place the cage into the free range area and open the door so she can come out at her own pace.
As she adjusts to the area she will begin exploring more and be more confident in the open area. But a buddy and hides will do wonders to help her adjust.
i have tre rats two are coming along but one is biting me for no reasons and fiting the oder rats and if i come to the cage the two rats are nise and then she comes and bites me so hard that im bleading and im scared of my own rat now. She takes the food from the cade bars but im too scared to give the food that i open the cage i can handle the two but not he one becouse im too scared can you help me
I do these this almost every day but they still dont trust me :((
Hi shadow, I know this has nothing to do with this topic but I need advice. I bought a13" freedom stealth wheel with the x-mount about 1 month ago and put it in the critter nation cage. None of my 4 girls seem to care about it. I thought I would make it more interesting for them so I cut out cardboard to make it like the other wheels you see where they have to enter the wheel through a hole. This got there attention to go in but they only run a few times and stop. This wheel is really nice but they seem to like the old crappy metal wheel more. I put the old wheel in the cage and then all 4 go on it. I'm afraid they will hurt themselves on the old wheel as did one of my boys years ago got there neck caught in the wheel and support bar and broke his neck but lived. Any advice? Thank you 🐭
If your previous rat broke his neck(well any other way of being injured but esp breaking his neck) using the other wheel please do not put it back in. They will eventually use the new wheel- you can use treats to get them on it but from personal experience they'll end up doing it on their own time 😊
I agree with Leah. You can definitely use food to get them interacting with it if you want, but otherwise the best thing to do (in my experience) is to just give them time to figure it out. Be sure to remove the other wheel so they don’t have that option, and then give them several days/weeks to figure out the new wheel.
When I first got rats, they knew how to use a wheel. But then I waited four months before buying them an actual wheel, so they seemingly forgot what to do with it. But after a few days, my more wheel loving girl Sonic started using it, and after that Shadow was able to follower her example and learn.
Same thing with a cookie and Cream. Both came from places without a wheel, and both learned to use it by watching my older girls. It just took them some time to investigate it and actually start interacting with it.
OK thanks guys I appreciate the advice. Thanks a million😁
What should I do ?
I just adopted one today
He is really nervous and get scared when ever I try to do him!
Get him a buddy to start, rats really shouldn't be kept alone and its unfair on them to force them to be.
Otherwise patience is the key - work at his pace, and use yummy treats like liquid treats to get him to come around. Some of a rats temperament is genetic so some rats will always be friendlier, but even more timid rats will make huge strides with some time and experience and the more positive experience they have with you the faster they will come around.
CongRATs on your new ratty, and again if he's alone please get him a buddy!
Get him a buddy to start, rats really shouldn't be kept alone and its unfair on them to force them to be.
Otherwise patience is the key - work at his pace, and use yummy treats like liquid treats to get him to come around. Some of a rats temperament is genetic so some rats will always be friendlier, but even more timid rats will make huge strides with some time and experience and the more positive experience they have with you the faster they will come around.
CongRATs on your new ratty, and again if he's alone please get him a buddy!
@@ShadowTheRat yes I will get him a buddy very soon .... actually it was not available at my place therefore I could not bring him a buddy
Thank you !! For reverting back 😊..... could you please tell what makes them happy?
I have a question. I don't understand why my rats are always giving up halfway when I am trying to train for a spin.
Did you work on following the lure as its own behavior first? If not then that's your issue - many people don't work on the lure as its own behavior, and the problem there is that the rats then the rats don't know that following the lure will get them rewarded and might think you are just teasing them. So they get confused or frustrated and training is much more cumbersome.
If you watch my rat training guide video here it goes over training the lure, target, and other training basics that really help to smooth training: ua-cam.com/video/O8FwS_kYAno/v-deo.html
@@ShadowTheRat Okay thanks! I've also tried to use target, and Hedwig got the idea, but she gets full and she doesn't want to get treats anymore, so she won't fully understand. The issue is also that my other Arrow sneaks out eating my treats while I'm trying to learn the trick to Hedwig and the whole session gets into a mess. Then, I put the treat in my palm, but now Hedwig is more interested in the treat than doing the trick...
@@owlinatowl4146 Try working with them separately (unless I have a very timid rat that needs to gain confidence I will always train tricks in one on one sessions, with one rat out and the rest in the cage. Even with multi-rat tricks like vs basketball you have to teach them in one on one sessions with each individual rat before working together). As for her getting full make sure your treats are very small (they should take 3 seconds max to eat, and be the size of 1/4 or 1/3 a cheerio). You also want to train around the same time daily so that the rats form a habit of training at that time and as a result are more active and hungry when that time rolls around. I free feed my rats so they always have food in the cage and so if I didn't have them training at the same time daily then training would be a lot more difficult.
What if they makes a break for it everytime you try to handle them?
In that case you want to work on using liquid treats to lure them to you, at first letting them lick it off one hand while near your other hand, then luring them into placing one paw onto your hand before letting them lick up the treat, then 2 paws, then 3 paws, and finally all 4 paws. Once they hop on readily and aren't immediately jumping off after they eat then you can begin to move your hand around while they eat. Over time they should gain confidence - make sure not to chase them down, and they should catch on to coming to you regularly quickly.
I have some skittish rats who absolutely hate begin being picked up but by teaching them to hop onto my hand when offered they no longer have to fear this they gain so much confidence in choosing to come to me.
I had a question, I’m getting two rats very soon both females, I already met them there very hyper and already friendly, in my room I have a dog (chihuahua) that absolutely loves small animals like rabbits, rats n hedgehogs lol is there a good way for the rats to be introduced to my dog whenever they come out? he loves just to smell n play with anything he sees. He’s very gentle too
CongRATs on your soon to be new rats. Personally I wouldn't mix dogs and rats but as you probably know some people do it very successfully. So if you must mix them, I'd just make sure your dog is very calm when the intro happens :)
Shadow The Rat thxxx for the reply :) I’ll definitely have to make sure he’s calm cuz he likes to get hyper when he’s excited 😂
What are the treats you are using??
gerber puffs and cheerios!
Ik I'm 3 years late but I just got my first ever pair of rats! Do I have to let my rats roam around? Because unfortunately my mom doesn't want them on the floors. It would be great if someone responded!
Well, you should/pretty much have to let em out for at least a hour a day
@@navalemon Tysm! My mom bought hamster balls that were big enough for them to fit so their good now!
@@jollyduck5078 No problem expect no offense, sometimes those can cause back issues and other issues for hamsters and or other animals so I wouldn’t really recommend them. My mom didn’t want my rats on the carpet aswell so I got a large playpen for them and she was fine with that
A
what are liquid treats?
My rats really like beef baby food
Hi, really like the shadow the rat vids, was wondering maybe someone in this comment section could help me? I've had my rats for 7 months now. They are my first rats and I bought them from a guy who bought some live rats as feeders and realised one was pregnant so sold the babies. They have never bitten me and every time I feed them the home made rice mix I hand feed them first, so they are used to me, my voice and my hands. Problem is, I've never gotten to the point where I am handling them because they are just so skittish of hands to begin with. (The guy who sold them to me used to pick them up by the tails, i don't know if that played a part). I always feel like I'm going to cross a boundary, they walk on top of my hands here and there and have made their way up my arm a little but anything more than that and they freak out and so I have to go back a few steps. It's only been since 1 (Felix) developed a chronic respiratory problem and then later the other (Oscar) got an eye infection (just yesterday) that I've had to pick them up to take them to the vets. I use a fleece small blanket so they don't freak too much that these awful hands are taking them away from safety. I don't want to break their trust but I feel like they would gain so much more from being handled as they would be able to free roam around my room. Does anyone have any advice? Should you just pick them up and then make it as pleasant as possible for them when they are in my hands? I've never been able to share a bathtub or couch or small area for them to get used to me as I haven't been able to get them there. Maybe just pick them up to take them to an enclosed area with me and then read a book and let them sniff me out??? ARRGGHHH all I know is that I love them and want the best but at the same time I don't want to cross anyone's boundaries and all. If anyone can help It would be greatly appreciated- Lou
Having had several rats just like that, I'd go ahead and just handle them daily. My Cream, sweet girl that she is now, came from the same situation as your guys. So did my Cookie. Both girls were only 5 weeks old when I got them from an "oops litter", and their only human experience was being handled by the tail.
Both girls were also TERRIFIED of me, running away, freezing, the works. Difference was that Cookie is a naturally outgoing rat while Cream is naturally shy and timid. So Cookie came around after maybe 2-3 days of "forced" handling (meaning I pick them up whether they want it or not and let them go as soon as they struggle) paired with meat baby food. Cream, on the other hand, took maybe a week to just tolerate handling. She continued to poop and pee herself when touched and scream when picked up along with freezing and falling onto her back whenever I was around her. But I've had bad experienced with new rats getting sick in the past before I tamed them so my priorities now are always to get them to at least tolerate handling.
Because of this I persisted with Cream, and within 2 weeks she was both tolerating handling and eating when held on her back (one of the signs that means true trust to me). After that I took a step back and used counter-conditioning and desensitization to get her to actually enjoy being touched and held. And today I can hold Cream any which way I want, roughly handle her, grab her, and basically do everything that used to terrify her without her being scared at all!
I'm a huge advocate of jumping right in and handling/taming your rats from day one, and this all dates back to my shy girl Sonic, who after 2 months of trust training hit a barrier like your guys that she wouldn't cross. Once day I had enough of it and just picked her up. For the next week I did the same thing, picking her up and feeding meat baby food when I did so. And after that? After that short week of daily handling she began to tolerate handling just fine, and actually started building some trust in me.
I find that shy rats often reach a point where they won't take the initiative and interact with you further. That's why I take my current approach of handling all rats from day one. Doing so has lead all my rats to become tame and trusting towards people (and especially me!)
I actually made a video on how I tame my rats right here if you'd like to see my method (it includes some clips of my Cream as a young and skittish baby): ua-cam.com/video/_2vwVyC7SPc/v-deo.html
I wish you luck taming. If I have just one piece of advise, its don't worry about hurting them. Sounds weird, but it can be easy to think that forcefully catching them will traumatized them forever. And this just isn't true. Rats are very adept at adapting, and very hardy creatures (other than their respiratory system of course). All my girls are very sweet and well adjusted right now, but none of them came to me tame. So with the exception of Latte (naturally calm and sociable), all the girls had issues to overcome. Blackberry hated hands and would lunge and bite, Cream was terrified and would scream and poop, and Cookie was also scared (albeit less than Cream) and had an aversion to hands. Now all 4 girls crowd the cage begging to come out every day, and love to be handle. So I'm sure your guys can get there!
So I have a new rat and I’ve had her for about a month and she’s still VERY skittish and won’t let me hardly touch her I’ve tried all kinds for methods with her but nothings working any advice?
i dont have any space for a free range area :/
I got rats a week ago and now I need to clean their cage, I have no idea how to get them out without scaring them, help 😂
Some will frown on me for this, but I use a plastic scoop to clean their cage (I shred my own paper for bedding.) They aren't afraid or stressed when I do it. On the contrary one like to ride on it and the other chases it. I bring it towards her and she runs, but I pull it away she hops/runs after it. Her body language is very relaxed as this is happening. Once I take it out of the cage I get the "where ya going?" Look lol
I think my rats are rascist
Why
Girl how can I get my ratty to use her wheel I feel like she doesnt get enough exercise
Some rats just don't like wheels. But the best way I've found to get my rats to use their wheel is to just leave it in the cage. Leave it there for several weeks (washing it when necessary) and they should eventually stumble upon its intended use. And once one rat gets it, the others will copy them!
(Also if your using a mesh wheel or a silent spinner, both those don't work well for rats. Mesh wheels can pull off toe nails, and generally aren't good for rat feet. And silent spinners aren't a natural way of running, and all my girls ignore them. As long as you have a good sized (12" + in diameter) wheel with a solid surface, your rats should figure it out eventually).
Only one of my rats uses the wheel. In order for the other one to get exercise I wiggle a string around and let him chase it.
I need 4his video
I have rats there names are snickers and willow there girls
You should do a face reveal in one of your videos😁
True that would be a good idea
I got my first pair of rats a few days ago and they are both males does anyone have names ahah
Do you like pair names? I usually go with pair food names when adding in multiple rats
@@ShadowTheRat I don’t really mind I’m kinda leaning towards Fred and George from Harry Potter but it not sure what to name them
me sry