# Very anxious blind rat



## OscarandAxel (Dec 6, 2017)

I have two rats, Oscar and Axel. Axel is bigger and the first rat we got, Oscar is a bit smaller. They get along great, cuddle all the time and Axel will even bring food to Oscar when he's scared to leave the home. But that's just it, Oscar is a very anxious and scared baby. We haven't picked him up or held him a lot since we got him, about two weeks ago because he starts breathing very heavily and his heart starts racing. Every day I pet him and let him smell me, but whenever we try to hold him he gets very scared. He doesn't explore his entire cage a lot, unless he is right behind Axel. We believe that Oscar is blind or has poor eyesight because he sways his head frequently and has red eyes as well. He's very sweet and has never bitten, but he's just much more timid than his brother. Is this just his personality, does he need more time, or is there training to make him less timid? Thank you!


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## Coffeebean (Jan 6, 2017)

Poor eyesight might cause a rat to get spooked more easily by sudden movement, but it wouldn't generally be the cause of a timid personality. Rats don't need to rely on vision to get around, they mostly use their whiskers to explore the world along with that big nose of theirs as they're generally most active at night when vision is limited. Different rats have different limits as far as how quickly they will become stressed or by how adventurous vs cautious they might be in different situations. With temperament being largely genetic, Oscar is probably just much more anxious and might be more affected by new situations or a lot of movement. 

I've had a couple rats who were extremely fearful from the day we brought them home as babies, it was how they were born honestly, and it took a lot of work for us to bring them out of their shell. The sad part is, we spent an entire year working with one of these girls using very gentle trust-training methods. Completely hands-off, go-at-their-pace methods in which the only contact she would accept would be- after much effort- some non-dairy ice cream from our hands. There wasn't much improvement until I decided one day that she just would not push herself beyond the comfort level she'd set down for herself (which wasn't comfort, it was a constant state of unhealthy stress). She was still hiding in the corner, she'd jump when we walked in the room, she'd scream when we needed to pick her up to clean the cage and she would run and hide given the chance. It wasn't much improvement, given that the first day we brought her home she escaped into the tiniest crack under our sink and was hiding in the wall for 3 days before we could get her out with a havahart trap. 

To my partner's disapproval, I just decided one day that I would take her out and that I would let her hide inside of my clothes while I sat at my computer for a few hours. There was instantly improvement after that. Within a week she was no longer screaming upon being picked up, she only ran from our hands if we hesitated too much, and she would actually begin to fall asleep on our lap. Fast-forward a couple months and she was confident enough to free-range the room with the others, we were able to pick her up from the floor when we needed to, and she was no longer spending her time in the corner in a state of constant stress. 

With certain rats, they will just not push themselves out of their comfort zone because some rats are so fearful that they can see nothing as worth the risk no matter how much time or treats you give them. The more space you give them, the more they isolate themselves. When that happens, it can be best to make the process as quick and painless as possible, by just wearing a long-sleeved loose set of clothes and relaxing at your desk or tv with them tucked away inside. Being inside of dark clothing helps them to feel safe, and within that safe environment they will quickly get used to being in contact with you and will quickly realize, hey, if they wanted to eat me by now then they would have. I regretted not doing such hands-on socialization with that girl sooner, because she suffered that way for a year before I decided to bring her out of the cage, and in no time at all she was climbing into my sleeve as excited to be with me as all my other rats. 

Obviously nowadays I stuff all of my rats into my clothes from the very minute they come home, and I've had huge success that way. Treats and dark clothes will help them to associate you with safety and food. I think there are definitely cases where very slow socialization is necessary and beneficial, but in my opinion most rats benefit from every minute you can possibly spend with them. They don't really learn anything about you while they're alone in the cage, so it's mostly wasted time. But I feel that it's important to make their time out with you feel very safe and positive, so you should have sleeves for them to hide away in and treats for when they calm down enough to accept them. And at first, if the rat is quite fearful you should avoid keeping them in your hands for longer than you need to, just because even some well-socialized rats won't enjoy being restrained or sitting out in the open in your hand. Just scoop them up and give them an elbow or a sleeve to hide in while you sit down with them for awhile.


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## Shadow <3 (Jan 25, 2017)

It sounds like he has a timid (nervous) personality. Also, I doubt he is blind if he sways, as that's something rats do to better their depth perception. Red and pink eyed rats are more likely to sway than black eyed rats, as they have poorer vision. But some black eyed rats have been know to sway as well. (I actually had a super timid fawn hooded with pink eyes. She learned to do basketball and fetch and everything my black eyed girls do. I've even seen a blind AND deaf rat perform basketball and fetch on YouTube! Rats don't really rely on their vision, so worse vision or even no vision at all doesn't really effect them)


Now how you go about socialization is up to you, but I tend to be very hands on with my rats. All of my rats have come under socialized, and as none of them have been bred for personality, most are more nervous/timid than you'd typically want. So what I do is I extensively handle the shy ones (well, all of them really) from day one, bringing them out into a small playpen (think just larger than a person sitting cross legged). They get no toys or other cover in here, just me (and possibly a blanket/hoody if it's cold). I let them run around here, and pick them up/put them down multiple times. At first they are terrified of this (my current most nervous girl Cream fear pooped, peed herself, and would squeak so loudly it sounded like a scream when you touched her), but after only a few days they begin to tolerate it. It helps that I pair this handling win meat baby food, which they get to lick off my hand as I touch/handle them. 


I also make sure to free-range at least one of my more social/tame rats (if I have any) with the scared one, as this way they can set a good example (in most circumstances, nervous rats will follow confident ones. They also tend to learn much quicker from a fellow rat than from us humans).


Anyway, other than this handling and liquid treat feeding, I also stop by the cage whenever I walk past to give the rats a treat. If the shy one is hiding, I'll get out a super valuable treat and make sure the shy one at least pokes out their head before releasing the treat. 

I find that shy rats often become more comfortable with me in the free-range area quicker than in the cage (if your going the typicall trust training route it will probably be opposite for you), mostly because they interact with me in this area much more. At first, I'll often be physically grabbing the shy rat from the cage (I never chase them, as that frightens them way more than a quick yet gentle grab). I usually develop a routine where I only take them out at a certain time (currently 10pm), so they know to only expect being grabbed/handled at this time. This means that they'll learn to interact openly with me during the day, and be a bit more nerves at night. But after they begin enjoying free-range, I find that they'll begin to greet me both at night and during the day (at which point I teach them to jump to hand in order to make handling even easier).


Going back to my girl Cream, she came to me as a 5-6 week old "oops" litter rat. She had never been properly handled, and that combined with a super nervous personality made her very wary of me. From previous experience, I knew slow taming never worked well for me. I extensively handled her and generously dispensed liquid treats off my hands. Within a few days, she went from soiling herself and squeaking when touched to tolerating handling without issue and even eating solid treats in my hands. It's been 6 months now, and she's improved immensely. Now she'll volunteer for handling, greets me at the cage, and loves to do tricks! She'll never be a confident people rat, but she's come a long way. 


I know this way of taming incorporates some elements of force socialization, but honestly it helps me tame down the "antisocial, nervous, and skittish by nature" rats. The way I see it, it's better for the rat to be more stressed for a short period of time than generally stressed for weeks or months on end.


I wish you luck with taming down your skittish boy. I know it can feel horrible when they squeak or freeze in terror, but if you push through it even nervous rats can make awesome pets


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