# Thor's Immersion



## Laura (Apr 13, 2013)

ok, so I got Thor and his brother Loki earlier this week... Thor doesn't have any major issues, other than he doesn't like be handled at all... This may prove to be a problem in our home. He does groom me occasionally, which I assume is a good thing. But he won't allow anyone in the house to touch him. I can play "fight" with Loki all day long, but not Thor. If I even act like I'm going to actually touch him, he takes off like lightning.... So I'm hoping immersion will help him. We are now currently sitting in the bathtub... favorite treats at hand, which he will not take right now, and he is hiding under my leg.... and I'm wondering.... now what?


----------



## Bluelilly (Apr 4, 2013)

Play with him .. Stroke him .. Pay a attention to him ... Get in his face .. Feed him treats. Do what ever but always be in contact with him in someway if that makes sence .. And talk to him .. This is a great chance to teach him his name .. Say things like hey Thor , good boy thor, do you want a treat thor ect. And give him kissies !!!


----------



## Laura (Apr 13, 2013)

well, I guess he is doing a little better than he was> he's not running away from me immediately. He is crawling on me, will let me pet him about 3 strokes before running off, and is currently just chillin out on my leg....


----------



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Try to expand your area a little more if you can, immersion can take a while and it can and often does include joyful play especially if you are not starting out with a biting rat. Several hours is just too long to be in a bath tub without bubbles.

Yes a larger area might take a little longer but immersion can be fun and entertaining... Being aggressive in making first contact and communicating isn't the same as forcing socialization. You should make every effort to be comfortable and make your rat as comfortable as possible throughout the process. 

Then be engaging.


----------



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

And yes Laura, that is progress. Good job.


----------



## Bluelilly (Apr 4, 2013)

If you can grabe some pillows and blankets .. So your more comfertable.


----------



## Laura (Apr 13, 2013)

ok, we moved out onto the bathroom floor. Still allowing me to pet him a bit. Not taking treats still, just kinda wandering around, and running over my lap every once in a while. He won't play with me like Loki does, which I am assuming is the goal. I can tickle Loki's side and he starts jumping around and running around like a crazy man. Chirping and "teething me while I do it....


----------



## Laura (Apr 13, 2013)

Ïs it possible he's too young for immersion yet?


----------



## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

Laura said:


> Ïs it possible he's too young for immersion yet?


How old is he? I immersed my girl Lily from the age of 5 weeks, so likely no. I actually think rats react better to Immersion Training from a younger age.


----------



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Teething is play fighting... That's good, he's reacting to you, he's mock challenging you he wants you to playfight back... Go for it, chase him around a little, he'll come back and likely mock charge you.. it's all in good fun... If he starts to get overly aggressive push him down and tip him off balance, and when he's backing off it's ok to snatch and snuggle. 

Yes sometimes you push him away to get him to come back, but mostly you want to draw him in to you. If you feel really stuck with Thror try and bring in Loki for a little while, see if rattie see rattie do helps... 

Once you get past the biting stage, immersion is a free form bonding process where you are reaching out to your rat. While you NEVER bring a second rat into the immersion space when you are dealing with a hostile or biting rat... pack play is fine for friendly rats as long as you keep the focus on the rat you are actually working with.


----------



## Laura (Apr 13, 2013)

Thor doesn't bite me at all. He does lick me a lot... I'm going to try again tomorrow morning with both boys to see if I can get Thor to be more reactive with Loki in there. Loki is very reactive to me and has been since the moment I brought them both home. So I got lucky there. I did make some progress with Thor today though. He is letting me pet him a bit. He is tolerant of it at least for a few minutes now, which is a big step in the right direction I think.


----------



## Laura (Apr 13, 2013)

ratclaws said:


> How old is he? I immersed my girl Lily from the age of 5 weeks, so likely no. I actually think rats react better to Immersion Training from a younger age.


I'm not sure on his age. But I'm quite sure he is over 5 weeks. If you click on the banner in my signature there are more pics of both boys. I am guessing 100-12 weeks, but I'm not sure at all.


----------



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Hey, you take progress as it comes... It sounds like you did make some progress and you don't stop until you make progress or you backslide. Tomorrow you see if Loki gets Thor more into the game. Remember Thor might not be a touchy feely kind of a rat, not all rats are squishy laprats. But you will know when Thor has bonded with you, he'll feel like part of your family.


----------



## Laura (Apr 13, 2013)

Thor is MUCH better, he isn't running away any time I try to touch him, he is even engaging me if I'm not paying attention to him.... So we definately made a lot of progress with him, but I'm not going to stop. This weekend when I have more time, I am definately going to give this another go.


----------



## SilentRiver (Feb 2, 2013)

Funny story, one of my boys is name Thor and he is EXACTLY the same way!! Recently he'll let me pet him a teeny bit in the cage, but he bolts the second he things I'm going to try to pick him up.


----------

