# Abused Rat Taming?



## NecroDam (Apr 18, 2008)

Hey all, I'm a new ratty daddy. Well...when I was younger, out on the farm...I'd catch the 'wild' rats and tame them. But they were always babies and I usually eyedropper fed them. But...I just got two from a pet store...oh, six days ago?

Shiloh is a sweet girl. She's happy, full of energy..pretty darn big for an eight week old and...well, she loves attention. She's the dominant girly.

Then there's my poor little Randy. (Yeah...I named them, assuming the petshop workers were correct in telling me I had a pair of boys.) She's always hiding...never comes up to my hand. When I do pick her up to hold her, she screams and trembles. Sometimes she even pees or poops on me. I've tried giving her treats and stuff. Now she'll come up to me..but just to timidly snatch the goody away. I'm worried and afraid someone had hurt her. Maybe one of the workers squeezed her too hard? Maybe it's that she's so tiny and submissive. 

It's sweet how Shiloh tries to comfort her. She'll sit there and I swear hugging her..or grooming her head. I've never recalled having rats that gave each other food too. Shiloh will sit there, nibble a block, then pass it over to Randy.

Oh, these babies happen to be feeder rats. Why...do the feeders cost four dollars, but the pet rats cost seven? A ratty is a ratty...is it not?

Heh, sorry...just excited. I'm twenty-five and haven't owned a rat since...ten years old? The other farm kids and I would raise them..hold little races and eventually got 'pet store' rats bred into our 'wild' stock too. I miss the farm and being a kid.

Oi, yeah..I'm rusty at rat keeping, any help is much appreciated. I know it's not a housing problem. I build my own cages for all my small pets. It's about the width and length of a 55 gallon fish tank, one inch by one inch squares...and three feet tall. They even have special shelves with solid bottoms for floors. My boyfriend tells me I spoil all my pets, but I can't help it. This cage was for my ferret. A rescue, but he passed away last year. I modified it a bit. Maybe it's too big for them?


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## xampx (Dec 31, 2006)

Feeder rats are probably cheaper because they dont care about them and dont feed them right and they dont handle them. Although depending on the petstore, it may make no difference whether they are feeders or not....

You may just need to spend extra time with Randy (great name) As a feeder she wont have had much positive human contact, and is probably just scared. 

Does she come to you for food? Try giving her something like baby cereal on a spoon so she cant run off with it, be nice and quiet around her and gradually introduce noise, and just spend some extra time with her.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Firstly. you aren't planning on breeding these girls are you? I just wanted to get that out in the open first. You will find that there is a surplus of homeless rats everywhere so we are very anti-breeding unless you are a reputable breeder. I realize you were a kid before and thats okay, you didn't know better.  You sound like a nice, responsible person who is going to try the best for his rats 

Okay, Randy. Some rats are very timid, and will take longer to socialize. Sadly feeder stock are randomly bred (not bred for friendliness, health or longevity), which is very sad. Some wonderful rats have come from the feeder bins, but some also may need more patience and "work".

With all scared/new rats I put them on my lap under a blanket (chair or couch, make sure there's nowhere babies could get into, you might want to cover the whole thing in a blanket) Hands are like a hawk swooping down to grab/kill them, so minimize contact for now. Let both babies explore you and their surroundings while covered up (safe from predators). Read a book or watch TV, and just keep an eye on them randomly. They will eventually relax a bit and might even stick a nose out from under the blanket. LOL.
A couple of days of this and the timid girl will start to take the lead of the more confident one. 
You can talk to them, but try not to touch them too much at first. Eventually they will crawl over you and on you and you can do a gentle stroke down the back as they pass. They will figure out you are not trying to kill them. Then you can offer them food and see if that does the trick of getting them to like you more. Some rats will not eat outside the cage...mine are all piggies 

If you are having issues in the cage, offer something like baby cereal in a spoon so they have to come and lick it up and stay near you. Talk softly and lovingly to them, no quick movements at all. 
You will see a "lightbulb" over their head go off when their perception of you goes from "Scary/What the **** is IT?" to "Bringer of Good Things".

Slow, patient, watch the body language (rigid body, bugged eyes, flattened to the ground, ears twitching are all signs of fear and readiness to flee), and let the rat set the pace. 

In your nice big cage do you have hammocks. and hidey homes etc?


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## AppleCrumble (Apr 13, 2008)

Just a little thing, you say the squares are one inch by once inch? Just becareful you wee girlies don't esacpe from them, my little girl Crumble has a few times before I had to cover up the gaps! 

Congratulations of becomming a new ratty-daddy! You have lots of fun days ahead 

When I first got my 2, they were rescued and not well handled, I would sit in a very small space/room and let them sit on my knee, getting to know me, this also gave them a chance to escape from me if they wanted to, but keep me in eyesight, futhermore, this allowed them to come to me when they realised I wasn't a baddy and was full of yummy food


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## NecroDam (Apr 18, 2008)

Thanks for all the help guys. Nope, I'm not breeding them now...and I think Shiloh's pregnant. Do they just toss them all in the same bin or something? 

Shiloh is fine being held and petted..she even grooms me now. It's just little Randy. Oh! The ycan get out? Eeep...I need to do some work on their cage then.

Yes, all my pets have boxes, houses....pvc tubing, a few rocks at the bottom for sharp claws.. XD Easier than holding them down for a trimming. They got hammocks..um..these ones like a sleeve with one side held open...and I gave them some parrot toys too. 

Alright, I need some baby cereal then. Um...my boyfriend accidentally sat on Shiloh...but she seems just fine, she sneezed for a bit. My problem is my small critter vet wont be in until tuesday...do I need to worry much? It's not like Shane weighs a ton..but to a small thing like her, I'm just going to take her to be sure.

I have lots of rescued hammies, gerbils and mice...I had a chinchilla once, but he was already old. I like rescuing them....that's why I chose feeder rats, they were going to be eaten anyhow. Um...mice and hamsters get along okay, would the rats like playing with the smaller rodents? I do keep all mine seperated by gender, to prevent unwanted babies. I get all the..yeah, my kid got one from the pet store, it was supposed to be a male...and well, it was pregnant. 

One time...I was so upset. Some guy in the apartments nearby told me about a hamster..he'd heard from people I collect them. Someone threw the poor baby out, in an empty plastic mayo jar. I think it was a little kid's pet...because not only was she pregnant..but after taking her to my vet, I found someone had squeezed her so hard, her eyes popped out! I thought she was just scared and that's why she never opened her eyes. She was still a very good mommy though. Just...nipped a lot. I can't seem to find any small pet rescues nearby. It seems there's so many people don't want, but they don't take the time to prevent unwanted pups. When you buy a pet, it shouldn't be so disposable.


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## xampx (Dec 31, 2006)

People do terrible things :s

About the bf sitting on her. I wouldnt worry too much, they are quite agile little things. Just check her out and watch her for a couple of days. If there are no signs of damage I wouldnt worry.

My bf stood on Pea the other day, then stood on her again when he was trying to get off her. Clumsy sod. She squealed, and was a bit quiet for half an hour but she calmed down and its been a week now and shes being her normal self.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

A definite no on playing with other rodents...rats are both predators and prey and you would have injuries or possibly death on someone's part. Not fun 

I am sure the sneezing is stress from the big butt descending on her. LOL

Okay besides the 1"x1" spacing on the cage sounds like you are doing pretty well.

How old are your baby girls? Can you post pics?


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## NecroDam (Apr 18, 2008)

Alright, thank you. The hamster, gerbils and mice get along pretty well. Good thing I asked first...I'd hate for my babies to hurt each other.

They are..nine weeks old now. Um...I'm not sure on pictures. I will have to borrow my cousin's digital camera when I see her. Shiloh's belly is bulgy..not so bad yet, but her nipples, the lower ones are real dark...but the upper ones you can barely see. It's just...she's fatter than Randy is. 

Whew...I'm glad. I was pretty worried. Yeah, I'm definitely borrowing my cousin's camera. I have to get pictures of my pretties.

Eh...I should have some half inch by half inch wire somewhere. I'll build another cage. Should I make one special, in case she is pregnant? Or would they be okay, both females in the cage with the babies? I'm kinda hoping Shiloh is just fat. I guess within the month, I'll find out. 

Since I have Shiloh's trust, will it be fine to touch the babies? With the other rodents...the babies lik crawling too far away and I worry about them getting cold or something. Would Randy help Shiloh out, or stay away completely?


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## dragonegg (Oct 2, 2007)

The girls will need to be separated before Shiloh gives birth. (Also, she should be in a one level space so the babies can't fall off shelves.) Randy might interfere or they could fight over the babies, so she shouldn't be there, although I'd put them together at play time so they stay bonded with each other. 

You can and should handle the babies from early on. Give the mom and her babies a day or two to settle and then you can take mom out for some free play time and handle the babies meanwhile (some moms get upset or nip when you try to steal babies out from under them).

Your girl is really young to have babies--but I recently bought two pet store girls who were both pregnant at that age, and it turned out all right. I gave the moms more protein during pregnancy and nursing (eggs, chickenbones, wet cat food). When she's so big she looks about to pop, give her some plain paper towels to make a nest with.

To build trust with your shy rat, oatmeal has worked great for me. They have to lick it off your finger and once they know you bring them food they'll love you. I didn't want to 'buy' their love at first, but this method has worked for me...

Good luck with both of them!!


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## AppleCrumble (Apr 13, 2008)

hey just a little pointer, I'd wash your hands inbetween handling rats and smaller rodents, i once had a not very nice experience when a friend came over and handled my young gerbils, they all froze up and kinda keeled over 9they were fine after about 5 mins though), apparently it was from the 'rat' smell on her, smaller rodents are naturally scared of rats, I know in universities where they have rats and mice, you need to wait 3 days before passing between the 2! Think a good hand scrub will be fine in your case though, they'll soon get used to the smell and stop fearing it one htey realise its nothign scary!

Can't wait to see piccies


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## NecroDam (Apr 18, 2008)

Bah, Shiloh refuses to eat the egg. XD She keeps stuffing Randy's face in it. I guess it's soft kitty food.

Randy wont lick it off me, she tries to bite/nip it off. Luckily she didn't break skin. Little booger. Now she curls on my hand and bites at me when I put her back in the cage....she doesn't want out or back in. 

For the babies, a glass tank will be fine? It's a 2 foot by 1 foot 20 gallon.

Thanks AppleCrumble. :3 I was wondering why my littler critters didn't want to climb all over me like usual. (Shiloh loves climbing me and sitting on my head)

I know this isn't the place for random questions..but I'd rather not waste space with a million threads. 

How big do pet rats get? Out on the farm the wild ones and the ones we tamed grew to cat sized or a little bigger. But maybe it was because I fed mine on high energy horse feed. XD Dad does show arabians and had a few racing thoroughbreds. So...I stole their grain for my rats. Or is it that the wild ones tend to grow huge just because?


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