# Will rats forgive their owners for mishandling?



## Eccentrics (Mar 26, 2016)

_​* Not really mishandling, rather being picked up when they didn't want to be!_


So, I recently (yesterday!) brought home my first pair of boy ratties. (Whom I named Ross and Picasso.) They were rather nervous for the first few hours, but were soon coming out of their hidey holes to give my hand a good sniff and lick at night!  

Problem was, Ross didn't seem to know where the water bottle was, and was too nervous to go to the second level to find it. Picasso made his sleeping hut right beside it, so I'm wondering if that's why. After a good 6 hours I was getting concerned, as I know rats need to drink a lot to stay hydrated and Ross simply wouldn't venture up there. Against his wishes, I eventually decided to scoop him up and place him there so he could get a drink. It worked - he found the water bottle and started nesting - but now he freezes and looks at me like I betrayed his trust! :-[ I did my best to scoop him up properly using two hands around the sides, but he clearly didn't want to be handled.

I've heard of rats bouncing back from betrayed trust when being given to new owners, but will they learn to forgive the same owner?

It probably sounds so silly as I only picked him up once to get a drink, but now he wont come near my hand and I feel like I've hurt the poor little guy's feelings. *Will he come to forgive me again with gentle trust training?* (I'm beginning with the soft food on the hand method.)

Thankyou kindly!
-* A concerned new rat mother *_(Eccentrics)_


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## raindear (Mar 3, 2015)

Yes, he will forgive you. I often spend the first few days picking up rats that don't want to be picked up so we can go into the bathroom and get acquainted. I also pick them up several times during this get acquainted time so they realize that it isn't scary to be picked up. Things go much faster with immersion training than with the typical trust training, so immersion is my training of choice. Whatever method you use though, your rats will eventually realize that you aren't scary and will forgive you for any mistakes and love you.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

He will be fine, and he isn't mad at you at all. I would put two water bottles though. A water bottle can malfunction and if you don't realize it really fast it could be deadly.


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## Eccentrics (Mar 26, 2016)

Gribouilli said:


> snip





raindear said:


> snip


Thankyou both for the kind replies! I just had a nice 30 minute bonding session with the boys and they're definitely coming out of their shells. The more outgoing one (Picasso) chased my hand around licking me and didn't want me to leave!

Ross is still shy and doesn't want to leave the bottom of the cage, but I'm chalking that down to never having been in such a large cage with levels before. I moved the water bottle down to the bottom because I was worried he was dehydrating, but I've left a trail of food up the stairs in hopes it might tempt him up. I'll keep a careful eye to make sure he is feeding though.


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## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

You can read the immersion sticky on how your rats will become your furry best friends. It sounds like you are doing a great job so far. Also he wasn't mad if he froze. Maybe just scared to be in a new area.


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