# Putting nervous rat in shirt ?



## Cobwebandchobani (Dec 23, 2017)

Okay so !!!
I got my rats about a month ago now I think, maybe a bit before or after that - my concept of time is all muddled Whoops! In the beginning I was very confident in my rat mum abilities, then I got nervous again (subsequently joining this forum!) and now im just my average amount of anxious. But!!! In the beginning my rat Cobweb had a bit of a rough start with me, I lost her in my room at one point and had to pick her up once I’d found her in a not so nice way, she’s been a bit skittish with me picking her up and taking her out ever since. I haven’t stoppped putting my hand in and feeding her from my palm + fingers and right as we speak, ive managed to handle her and put her in my jumper! I did this with my other rat for a couple hours last night and I think it is building up my confidence with them and them with me! I just wanted to get other rat parents opinions on this, is this a good tactic to use? Are there any additional methods too? 
Looking forward to hearing back from you alll!!!!!
- huntah, daisy(Chobani) and Cobweb ??


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## Shadow <3 (Jan 25, 2017)

Lots of people do this to help bond with their rats, myself included. It especially helps if you have a super shy or bitey rat (if you get nipped in a...sensitive area, I find that jerking once usually teaches them that it hurts, and they won't repeat the mistake!), as it gives them a "safe haven" that's dark and warm. Once they stop freezing and being terrified though, I find that most young rats are too wiggly to stay in your shirt for long. My tame girls all still love running through my shirt or even occasionally cuddling up in there, but rarely do they sleep or cuddle there for long. (Strangely enough, all my cuddly rats prefer to cuddle out in the open, while just sitting on my lap or chest. But by the time they become cuddly, they're already quite tame, so this doesn't really apply to new rats.)


Getting back to the point, I would definitely continue to handle them and let them roam around your shirt. A rat-favorite is something like a loose hoody or blanket that they can crawl around and dart back to when scared.


In fact, with all my new girls I take them out several times a day in a small playpen that's just barely larger than me sitting cross legged. I make sure that I'm the only hiding place in the entire pen, and bring along meat baby food. This way, I can practice handling the girls without fear of them darting off and getting hurt, and they can also learn to associate me with being safe. And of course, the meat baby food just adds to the positive experience, as I'll feed it off my finger while lifting/holding the rats (I really recommend wet food as a taming treat, as not only do rats find it more motivating, but they're forced to sit next to you while eating, and thus seem to form more of a connection between the positive food and our scary hands). Keep it up, and I'm sure your rats will be tame in no time


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## Steffy (Oct 6, 2017)

> if you get nipped in a...sensitive area, I find that jerking once usually teaches them that it hurts, and they won't repeat the mistake!


Haha, this reminds me that both my beasts have bitten me on the nipple! Both of them were quite used and happy to be under shirts when it happened but there was that time they decided ( independently from each other, not at the same time!) that they must try out this strange sticky outy thing. And let me tell you, it was not a nibble!! They were evicted straight away and have never tried it with me since although my husband had to endure the treatment once, too


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## Cobwebandchobani (Dec 23, 2017)

Thank you so very muchly! Thing have been really good with my rattles so far and even right now they’re enjoying a play inside my shirt. I’m in the process of saving up to get a playpen, which will be even more fun. Thank you so much again xxxx


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## Shadow <3 (Jan 25, 2017)

Cobwebandchobani said:


> Thank you so very muchly! Thing have been really good with my rattles so far and even right now they’re enjoying a play inside my shirt. I’m in the process of saving up to get a playpen, which will be even more fun. Thank you so much again xxxx


I actually recommend making a DIY playpen out of cardboard and duct tape. I've tried 4 different commercial play pens (one advertised for rodents (too low - the rats hopped right out!), one for rabbits (the bar spacing was too wide - plus, the rats could climb out no problem!), a mesh dog pen (to easy to chew/jump out of), and even a human baby "pen" (like the dog one, this was made of mesh and the rats started chewing out as soon as they got bored - plus, it was pretty small for them size wise), and they've all been flops.

My DIY cardboard playpen, on the other hand, was super easy to make, costs virtually nothing (a few bucks for duct tape, but I got all the boxes from local stores and sturdy food boxes (I actually used old moving boxes for my most recent playpen, which was nice as they were uniform in size and good quality)), and is MUCH better at containing the rats when compared to every other pen I tried.


I even taught my rats to jump onto my shoulder when they want out, reducing playpen escapes to nothing! I can actually watch a movie or read a book without fear of the rats jumping out (my playpen is around 3 feet tall, but the rats can still jump out if they really want to (not to mention that they can dig/chew out if given enough time)). They'll just run over when they're done playing, jump onto my shoulder, and I'll put them back in the cage. And we've gotten to the point that they seem to understand that once I put them up, they aren't coming out again. So they won't bother asking to be put up until they're actually done playing. 

This had the added bonus of getting my shyest rat Cream to stop freaking out when startled. Before I taught Cream this "trick", if she got startled she would bolt away and behave super skittish for the rest of playtime. After implementing this communication behavior, she now runs towards me when afraid, and if she's really scared will simply jump onto my shoulder and wait for me to put her back into the cage (cage = ultimate safe spot for her). 



Anyway, if you'd like to make a cardboard playpen like I did, you just need to place the cardboard side-by-side and tape it together. Once you have a long enough wall, stand it upright, make it into a circle/oval, overlap the edges, and binder clip them together. I've had my current playpen for over a year now, and while its showing some wear and tear from daily setup/removal, it still works amazingly well and the rats haven't destroyed any of it! (I actually made a video on how I made it if you'd like to see the process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3eDuW1MRhw )


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## Basiltheplant (Jan 2, 2017)

My senior girl loves to cuddle up and fall asleep on my shoulder inside my shirt. When she was younger this was no the case. She would view my shirt as a safe haven but she would spend most of her free range time running around and exploring


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