# Very Skittish Rat help.



## LaLuna (Dec 19, 2010)

Hey, I've had two female rats for about a week now. They're my first rats.

The first, Momento, is very sweet and we've progressed now to cuddling for about 10 minutes a night. After that she really doesn't want much to do with me which I'm fine with- I'm hoping over time she'll grow closer to me. 

Her sister, Mori, on the other hand is very skittish and a tad aggressive. She goes after my hand in the cage- nipping it and then when she's out and about she'll run up and bite my toes when I'm sitting. Trying to pick her up is a nightmare and when I do. she gets out of my grip and runs. Tonight she ran up my arm and down the other biting me once. I really want her to get more comfortable with me. I don't want her to spend her life fearing me and stressing out over me handling her. 

Does anyone have any idea how to get her comfortable and not so nippy? I yip when she bites but it doesn't seem to be working. Any chance she can be rehabillitated into more of a cuddle bug? 

I know males are cuddlers but I don't want to just run out and get male rats just for the sake of having that when I know that with some work I can get the same out of my females. Is my assumption correct? Or are all females the types to spend a few minutes cuddling and the rest doing their thing? 

Thanks :3


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## jourdaine (Sep 29, 2010)

Females, by design, are more more active and enjoy exploring. It's just their makeup.  I have two girls right now also and our best bond time is in their play pen (right now the house isn't rat-proofed) so they can run around, jump on my lap, crawl up my arms, and then back to the floor and etc. The only thing my girls stay still for are the shoulder-rides. They are much different than the boys I had before! The boys liked to sleep a lot and when I took them out, they would walk, not run, around my bed or wherever and then crawl up in my arm and just chill out there. A much older female will become a little less active but until then, they're going to be balls of energy!

From what some of it sounds like, in reference to her running up and nipping your toes or attacking your hand, she COULD be trying to play with you. Are they hard bites or just nips? It's difficult to say because I'd have to actually see it to know. Both my girls were very skittish when I first got them and the last thing they wanted to do was be near me in any shape or form. With them I started most of my trust-training my coaxing them to take treats out of my hand or sticking them in the pockets of my sweatshirt and go about my day to get them to get used to my scent (they don't always stay still though!). My fingertips got nipped a lot but it wasn't a big deal. My one breakthrough with Magenta was cornering her in the cage so she can't really escape and then I start rubbing behind her ears and under her jaw and etc. She gets so scared that she won't move but then over time she began bruxing and carrying on. Once she's obviously enjoying it, that's when I'd pick her up and she'll run up on my shoulder. I always wear a hoodie when I handle her because putting the hood up and letting her lay on the back of my neck seems to calm her. It also helps her get used to my scent.

Hope some of this helps.


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## LaLuna (Dec 19, 2010)

Thanks. Today I picked her up and she sat on my shoulder for a minute or two before I put her back. About 20 mins later I walked by and saw them doing their cute "Let us out" act so I reached my finger through the bars to pet Mori (The skittish one) on the head- which she seemed fine for about .5 seconds before biting me pretty badly. 
I've heard about biting because of this (I do it all the time to my ferrets so I guess my mind was in Ferret-Mode, not Rat-Mode) that's why she bit me right? >.< Not because she's really the vicious mousey I've been thinking she was all along. Yes?


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## Alethea (Jul 14, 2010)

Rats don't have the best vision in the world and placing your fingers through the cage interests them. If you were in a cage and someone stuck something inside your cage, you would want to investigate it as well. They do this a lot of time with their mouths, hence the biting. To start I would avoid feeding them treats or food through the bars, because they will keep biting if you happen to do that. Always open the door if you are passing treats while they are in cage. If they continue to bite, like my female Ruby did for the longest time, I finally began 'bop' training her. What I mean by this, is when she would run over and attempt to bite me through the cage if I was just petting their heads, I would take my pointer finger and lightly bop her on the nose. Not hard or anything to cause harm, but a little love tap to get her attention. Soon she learned that biting was not allowed, because she would get 'bopped' lol. 

As for the one female being very scared, it can take a long time to trust train a scared rat, but once they learn that your hand is not something to fear, it becomes an awesome rattie bond. When I had my second rat, Sensi he was so afraid of me touching him, let alone taking him out of the cage. I began making sure to keep him balanced when taking him from the cage and setting him safely on the bed(play area outside of the cage). Outside of the cage, I allowed him to do his own thing and come to me as he pleased, rather then forcing him to be in my company. I would lay out an old sheet, which helped him learn that my scent was a safe and fun thing to be around. And ohhhh lots and lots of treats will assist you with teaching your rattie to come by you. Just be patient and take your time. Don't try to over do it :3 It took me almost two months, but after Sensi got over his fear and learned to trust and love me as much as I did him, he was an amazing and cuddly rattie <3

I wish you luck with your rattie adventures. Let us know if you need more help or have more questions. I am not an expert, but just stating what I know and have learned from the real life experince. 

More information about timid/aggressive rats can be found right here on the site:
http://www.ratforum.com/index.php/topic,21404.0.html


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