This is easily the best rat channel I've found so far. Thanks for sharing your experience with newer rat keepers like myself; I'm sure the girls I'm adopting tomorrow will be much better off for it.
I really appreciate this video. It truly should be a two way relationship; not just about what the rat does for you. Unfortunately a disappointing proportion of the breeders here in America would not have ever given this boy a chance. Yet he is obviously very happy and well adjusted by the end of this series. Living creatures deserve the effort it takes for us to understand them and provide them what they need as individuals.
He's a really lovely lad. I am glad we managed to work together. Definitely a rewarding relationship and I think it can be easy when your trying to breed in a way you have distance from the animals to preserve your sanity when crap happens (and it does) to loose sight of the wonderful animals we share our lives with. It does help I don't have a lot of rats relatively though. I have more time to spend on the individuals that need it
@@IsamuRatCare I agree whole heartedly; I love them as my pets too, and to me feelings of joy and love of rat keeping, is worth the heartache of loss and tough decisions that comes with the lack of emotional distance I have with my crew.
Oh my do I have a fella like him, & I find that the more time i wait for him to approach the more anxious we both get. The litter mate he came with is just the opposite. He's a total chill boy, complete w Bruning and once now boggling 🥰 I also have one other that is alone & I am almost ready to do intros. I know it's going to be me that's a problem, if there is one.
Thank you. This helped a lot. I recently rescued a breeding pair of show rats that were being raised in a small dirty cage as snake food breeders. The male just freezes up and shuts down when I'm in the room. The female is more like Burko, but she likes to bite me quite hard when I have to go into the enclosure.
@@IsamuRatCare she had her litter the night they were dropped off at my house. She's been very protective, I think because she's used to her kittens being taken from her. So far I've been working with her by taking a kitten out for a minute, and giving it back to her. She's seemed to calm down with me handling things around the cage. The male is still stone scared when I come in the room
Her biting is even more understandable then, you will probably find as the babies get older, particularly after there eyes have opened, she will relax a bit. Prior to that it’s really hard for them to trust someone unfamiliar. You do sound like you’re doing wonders for these
@@IsamuRatCare thanks so much for the vote of confidence! I have her fostering an outgoing little kitten from another litter, and he seems to be helping the buck feel more relaxed.
Ive had my 2 new boys for a week and I've been trying to work with them, especially on their terms. They are fairly scared of everything and as my first rats it feels like a daunting task to socialize them. I'm feeling a bit lost and in over my head. I've been trying to find and research the best way to help them ;-; I'm not sure how to help them, they are scared of most noises, movements etc. I did put a hide for them in their cage and they usually refuse to come out unless its to eat and play at night.
This video has come at the perfect time for me, i am collecting two rats who need a home tomorrow, they are both neutered males and i'm hoping to intro them into my group of 3 girls. The current owner says they are timid and I don't think they have handled them very much so I'm really hoping to be able to work with them and hopefully my current girls bond with me will help them with their confidence. I also have the alaska as a temp cage. Do you think i should do intros with my girls a few days after I get the boys home or wait a week to allow me to socialise them first? I was also wondering if I should have them in a separate room or not during this time (they're in a house with no other rats atm and have been for at least 6 months i understand from talking to their current owner) as my girls room obviously smells of them and would that be stressful for the new rats if they were in there? Thanks so much for your videos they're so helpful and I'm looking forward to the rest on this topic
Any thoughts/opinion on whether the smell of other rats on your clothing plays a part in working with a nervous/scared new rat? I've several long-sleeved tops I use when handling rats, and wondered if having one which is used only for the nervous rat might be better, because he/she would not smell the others...or am I over-thinking it? Thank you for your time and assistance.
Hey Jemma, thanks for your videos. I’ve got two does that are now about 4 months old. I’ve worked with them a fair bit I did the softly softly approach and then got more confident. Now they’re climbing all over me and want to engage with me but they just don’t like being picked up. I think it’s more I’m restricting them from their busy lifestyles. Is there anything I could be doing differently or is this just does?
As long as they let you pick them up I wouldn’t over think if they want to be off very quickly. Is pick up and put straight down regularly if they are very tense just so they get used to it but I personally don’t need the rats to be desperate to be held just happy enough with it
I have two boys. One of them is pretty confident and doesn’t really mind when I pick him up but he doesn’t want me to handle him. When I hold him onto my body like you were doing he just tries to squeeze through the gap. My other boy just doesn’t like me at all. He isn’t interested in my like bercow is. He won’t come to the front of the cage. But I can lure him and he will take treats from me 75% of the time since I have had them for about a month and a half. But he won’t let me stroke him or even pet his head.
It’s a case of booting the bullet and doing it. Bercow absolutely hated being picked up but is now well used to it and it no longer scares him. That was pure familiarisation
I have been letting him choose to come to me. He will come forward if he is feeling energetic and if I have food. He hates touch and just has a naturally shy personality. I really only pick him up when I need to and he absolutely hates it. I am trying to get him used to touch.
I have a scared stiff rat. Sometime she will warm up to me and come out of the cage onto my lap for treats, but then the next day will be back to stiff in the back corner. I let her do what she wants so i dont push it. On days shes willing to come out should i take her away from the cage? I have had her for 4 months. She is 6 months old and with her sister and then another older girl who is very socialized.
A lot depends on what your aim with the relationship is. Some people are happy to have rats that are rat rats, so they are never really human friendly. I like to get to the point where I can pick them up and handle easily in case there's a need to for the vets. Personally I would try getting her our and spending time with her. I'll be going through different ways to interact that may be worth trying with bercow over the next few weeks which may help
@@IsamuRatCare thank you. Yes I would love to have her come out and be friendly. I know it will take a lot of patience. I have kids that love them also ages 4, 12, and 15 and they like playing with the rats. Riht now they only play with my older girl I adopted who is very friendly. Sorry to say my little ratties came from a pet shop and very unsocialized. I will definitly be watching your videos and trying things out with her sister that isnt scared stiff then maybe she will come around eventually.
I have a question about one of my males. I currently have a mischief of 5 boys (2 neutered, 3 intact). I recently brought home two 5 week old girls. I noticed my alpha boy (intact) displaying territorial behavior (rubbing his paws and body against stuff). It took me a couple days to make the connection that the girls were probably triggering his mating instinct, and moved the girls into a separate room right away. My alpha male bit me later that day, hard enough to draw blood, so I scheduled a neuter, thinking he was displaying hormonal aggression (he's 9 months old). He has not bit me since and his behavior has calmed, so I'm wondering should I cancel his neuter? I plan on doing intros with baby rats in the near future, but I'm wondering if my alpha might be problematic due to recently displayed aggression. In which case, I will keep his neuter appointment. Also, I believe he bit me because he could smell the girls on me, but that's still unacceptable behavior from a pet rat, right? None of my other intact males have displayed the same behavior as a result of girls being around, but I don't know if that's because they aren't alpha. Thank you for any insight you can give me.
Some boys can over react at first to the smell of does (and vice versa), but they will normally get used to it. I would actually move the girls back in the room but keep them a little away from the boys and give them time to adapt, if he still displays hormonal to pure behaviour after a few weeks then I would neuter. If you need to intro soon though I would intro first and see how it goes. I wouldn’t use reaction to does as an indication that he’s not suitable to intro on its own. But keep a close eye
@@IsamuRatCare okay, thank you very much! I moved the girls back into the room, and I'll see how things are in about 2 weeks from now. I won't be doing any intros for another 2-4 weeks, so I have time to analyze the situation.
Hey, I just got 4 very skittish rats, one of them comes to my hand but doesn’t let me pet or hold her and 2 don’t acknowledge me and 1 is impartial, is there any advice on how to deal with that? They’ve been home 5 days now and I wanna really work with them :)
I would do lots of individual handling. If you watch through the in and outside cage activities I did with Bercow in the socialisation play list they should help
This is easily the best rat channel I've found so far. Thanks for sharing your experience with newer rat keepers like myself; I'm sure the girls I'm adopting tomorrow will be much better off for it.
I really appreciate this video. It truly should be a two way relationship; not just about what the rat does for you. Unfortunately a disappointing proportion of the breeders here in America would not have ever given this boy a chance. Yet he is obviously very happy and well adjusted by the end of this series. Living creatures deserve the effort it takes for us to understand them and provide them what they need as individuals.
He's a really lovely lad. I am glad we managed to work together. Definitely a rewarding relationship and I think it can be easy when your trying to breed in a way you have distance from the animals to preserve your sanity when crap happens (and it does) to loose sight of the wonderful animals we share our lives with. It does help I don't have a lot of rats relatively though. I have more time to spend on the individuals that need it
@@IsamuRatCare I agree whole heartedly; I love them as my pets too, and to me feelings of joy and love of rat keeping, is worth the heartache of loss and tough decisions that comes with the lack of emotional distance I have with my crew.
Oh my do I have a fella like him, & I find that the more time i wait for him to approach the more anxious we both get. The litter mate he came with is just the opposite. He's a total chill boy, complete w Bruning and once now boggling 🥰
I also have one other that is alone & I am almost ready to do intros. I know it's going to be me that's a problem, if there is one.
Thank you. This helped a lot. I recently rescued a breeding pair of show rats that were being raised in a small dirty cage as snake food breeders. The male just freezes up and shuts down when I'm in the room. The female is more like Burko, but she likes to bite me quite hard when I have to go into the enclosure.
I home you manage to get through to them. Is there a chance the doe is pregnant? That can cause them to be more bitey
@@IsamuRatCare she had her litter the night they were dropped off at my house. She's been very protective, I think because she's used to her kittens being taken from her. So far I've been working with her by taking a kitten out for a minute, and giving it back to her. She's seemed to calm down with me handling things around the cage. The male is still stone scared when I come in the room
Her biting is even more understandable then, you will probably find as the babies get older, particularly after there eyes have opened, she will relax a bit. Prior to that it’s really hard for them to trust someone unfamiliar. You do sound like you’re doing wonders for these
@@IsamuRatCare thanks so much for the vote of confidence! I have her fostering an outgoing little kitten from another litter, and he seems to be helping the buck feel more relaxed.
Ive had my 2 new boys for a week and I've been trying to work with them, especially on their terms. They are fairly scared of everything and as my first rats it feels like a daunting task to socialize them. I'm feeling a bit lost and in over my head. I've been trying to find and research the best way to help them ;-; I'm not sure how to help them, they are scared of most noises, movements etc. I did put a hide for them in their cage and they usually refuse to come out unless its to eat and play at night.
How is it going?
This video has come at the perfect time for me, i am collecting two rats who need a home tomorrow, they are both neutered males and i'm hoping to intro them into my group of 3 girls. The current owner says they are timid and I don't think they have handled them very much so I'm really hoping to be able to work with them and hopefully my current girls bond with me will help them with their confidence. I also have the alaska as a temp cage. Do you think i should do intros with my girls a few days after I get the boys home or wait a week to allow me to socialise them first? I was also wondering if I should have them in a separate room or not during this time (they're in a house with no other rats atm and have been for at least 6 months i understand from talking to their current owner) as my girls room obviously smells of them and would that be stressful for the new rats if they were in there? Thanks so much for your videos they're so helpful and I'm looking forward to the rest on this topic
The latest video may help even more. It's Bercow meeting his new lady friend Tato (who is adores now but wasn't sure at first)
Any thoughts/opinion on whether the smell of other rats on your clothing plays a part in working with a nervous/scared new rat? I've several long-sleeved tops I use when handling rats, and wondered if having one which is used only for the nervous rat might be better, because he/she would not smell the others...or am I over-thinking it?
Thank you for your time and assistance.
Hey Jemma, thanks for your videos. I’ve got two does that are now about 4 months old. I’ve worked with them a fair bit I did the softly softly approach and then got more confident. Now they’re climbing all over me and want to engage with me but they just don’t like being picked up. I think it’s more I’m restricting them from their busy lifestyles. Is there anything I could be doing differently or is this just does?
As long as they let you pick them up I wouldn’t over think if they want to be off very quickly. Is pick up and put straight down regularly if they are very tense just so they get used to it but I personally don’t need the rats to be desperate to be held just happy enough with it
I have two boys. One of them is pretty confident and doesn’t really mind when I pick him up but he doesn’t want me to handle him. When I hold him onto my body like you were doing he just tries to squeeze through the gap. My other boy just doesn’t like me at all. He isn’t interested in my like bercow is. He won’t come to the front of the cage. But I can lure him and he will take treats from me 75% of the time since I have had them for about a month and a half. But he won’t let me stroke him or even pet his head.
Have you got him out much or are you letting him decide wether to approach?
It’s a case of booting the bullet and doing it. Bercow absolutely hated being picked up but is now well used to it and it no longer scares him. That was pure familiarisation
I have been letting him choose to come to me. He will come forward if he is feeling energetic and if I have food. He hates touch and just has a naturally shy personality. I really only pick him up when I need to and he absolutely hates it. I am trying to get him used to touch.
I have a scared stiff rat. Sometime she will warm up to me and come out of the cage onto my lap for treats, but then the next day will be back to stiff in the back corner. I let her do what she wants so i dont push it. On days shes willing to come out should i take her away from the cage? I have had her for 4 months. She is 6 months old and with her sister and then another older girl who is very socialized.
A lot depends on what your aim with the relationship is. Some people are happy to have rats that are rat rats, so they are never really human friendly. I like to get to the point where I can pick them up and handle easily in case there's a need to for the vets.
Personally I would try getting her our and spending time with her. I'll be going through different ways to interact that may be worth trying with bercow over the next few weeks which may help
@@IsamuRatCare thank you. Yes I would love to have her come out and be friendly. I know it will take a lot of patience. I have kids that love them also ages 4, 12, and 15 and they like playing with the rats. Riht now they only play with my older girl I adopted who is very friendly. Sorry to say my little ratties came from a pet shop and very unsocialized. I will definitly be watching your videos and trying things out with her sister that isnt scared stiff then maybe she will come around eventually.
I have a question about one of my males. I currently have a mischief of 5 boys (2 neutered, 3 intact). I recently brought home two 5 week old girls. I noticed my alpha boy (intact) displaying territorial behavior (rubbing his paws and body against stuff). It took me a couple days to make the connection that the girls were probably triggering his mating instinct, and moved the girls into a separate room right away. My alpha male bit me later that day, hard enough to draw blood, so I scheduled a neuter, thinking he was displaying hormonal aggression (he's 9 months old). He has not bit me since and his behavior has calmed, so I'm wondering should I cancel his neuter? I plan on doing intros with baby rats in the near future, but I'm wondering if my alpha might be problematic due to recently displayed aggression. In which case, I will keep his neuter appointment. Also, I believe he bit me because he could smell the girls on me, but that's still unacceptable behavior from a pet rat, right?
None of my other intact males have displayed the same behavior as a result of girls being around, but I don't know if that's because they aren't alpha.
Thank you for any insight you can give me.
Some boys can over react at first to the smell of does (and vice versa), but they will normally get used to it. I would actually move the girls back in the room but keep them a little away from the boys and give them time to adapt, if he still displays hormonal to pure behaviour after a few weeks then I would neuter. If you need to intro soon though I would intro first and see how it goes. I wouldn’t use reaction to does as an indication that he’s not suitable to intro on its own. But keep a close eye
@@IsamuRatCare okay, thank you very much! I moved the girls back into the room, and I'll see how things are in about 2 weeks from now. I won't be doing any intros for another 2-4 weeks, so I have time to analyze the situation.
Hey, I just got 4 very skittish rats, one of them comes to my hand but doesn’t let me pet or hold her and 2 don’t acknowledge me and 1 is impartial, is there any advice on how to deal with that? They’ve been home 5 days now and I wanna really work with them :)
I would do lots of individual handling. If you watch through the in and outside cage activities I did with Bercow in the socialisation play list they should help