# I need help with sudden changes of behavior with one of my little guys,



## ATez (May 5, 2009)

I don't understand.

Pickle for the last 5 days was doing awesome outside of the cage and kept on begging to come out. So whenever I would change their litter and foods when I wake up I also got into the habbit of letting him out for a few hours. Yesterday I took him out and he was so good and happy and chattering and begging for food! Today I take him out and the first thing he does is run away behind the TV stand and hide. My boyfriend actually had to corner him so we could put him back in the cage. Before I tried to offer him treats but he kept a VERY close eye on me again as if I was a predator. Later today I tried to take him out again but he leaped out of my hands and right back into his cage in panic.

Just yesterday my boyfriend tried to feed him a cricket but was having a hard time catching the bug in the container (like 5 minutes no kidding). And the whole time Pickle is running in circles around him with his lips smacking so much he was drooling at the idea of eating it. I SWEAR he even pretended having it in his little paws already and chomping it as if he was trying to show Johnny "Look look! I want to eat it! Gimme gimme!!!" I'm not kidding it was the cutest thing ever! ;D

But today... ****. I don't know what's wrong with him. He seems terrified.
What could trigger this sudden change of behavior?

I can't think of anything I might have done and I know it's not my boyfriend.
He's a sweetheart plus he loves these little guys. He call them his little babies.

Does this happen with anyone else?
How do you or can you fix it?
When he suddently decides to be scared would it be better to leave him in the cage and leave him alone for a few days?
Anyone?


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## Lea (May 15, 2009)

Could there be anything scary in the room that he sees sometimes? Like maybe curtains blowing in the breeze or something--someone mentioned a cord that their rat reacted to, the other day. Or maybe something that makes a noise or smell sometimes? Or can you think of anything different that is happening in the room on the days when he is scared?


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## Maple (Jun 9, 2008)

ya I agree its probably something outside of the cage that is scaring him..


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## ATez (May 5, 2009)

I thought about that and I did go the day before the my friends house. Pickle might have smelled something different on me or in the bag he was sitting in. I took my old NES and games over there and we played drunk NES. When I came back I put everything down and passed out on the couch. The next day when I woke up I changed their food and water then he got out. Maybe there was too much stuff lying around rather than one new thing and it startled him. So I cleaned up but he still wouldn't come out from behind the TV stand.

Plus the cage is the safe place and it happens to be RIGHT next to my TV stand so I thought he would've ran right back in there instead... and yeah I know people are gonna tell me it's a bad place for them because of noize but the TV itself is between two thick shelves plus being in a bachelor I got nowhere else to put them. I got them a fairly big cage so... there is the only option.

I let him out today and he seemed okay.

But I would still like to know! When something scares him at a point where I HAVE to corner him and force him back in his cage what should I do? Leave him there for a few days?


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

ATez said:


> But I would still like to know! When something scares him at a point where I HAVE to corner him and force him back in his cage what should I do? Leave him there for a few days?


Get him out again ASAP and frequently.


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## ATez (May 5, 2009)

Alright. I've blocked off accept to behind the TV stand and he seems to be doing a bit better. But whenever I turn towards him or lean over he tends to run away under the sofa or between boxes. But then I can't just leave the cage open for him to get used to me in there because he'll go out.

And so many people here say you can't force a rat to do things so I'm kinda stuck in my head. I can't force him in his cage and I can't force him out. :/ He's bored in his cage and scared outside.


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

ATez said:


> And so many people here say you can't force a rat to do things so I'm kinda stuck in my head. I can't force him in his cage and I can't force him out. :/ He's bored in his cage and scared outside.


Forcing a rat to get used to situations is sometimes the only way. If you're wanting him to get used to being outside the cage, then leave him outside with your other rats.


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## ATez (May 5, 2009)

Yeah.. yesterday he ran around for hours all happy and today I took him out and first thing he did was go behind his cage and hide there. He stayed for at least 30 minutes. To get him I have to move the cage and when I did he got scared, frooze up and pooped but I never moved fast or went to grab him. I leaned over and had him smell me but still he got terrified. I really don't know of what... just minutes before that I was giving my little guys broccoli and parsley they seemed fine. Then I noticed Pickle sticking his nose between the bars of the cage so I figured he might wanna come out. I took him and put him on my shoulder without getting much of a reaction from him. I was next to the cage so he ran over top and climbed down and just stayed there. :-[

If I'm doing anything wrong I really have no idea.
Yesterday he was willingly climbing up my legs and onto my shoulders and ran around everywhere.
I don't know why one day he's not scared of me and the next he's scared shitless.

It makes me sad.


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## Lea (May 15, 2009)

The only other idea I can come up with is, do you ever smell different, like use a different soap, cologne/perfume, pet a dog/cat, eat lutefisk lol ...


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## ATez (May 5, 2009)

Lea said:


> The only other idea I can come up with is, do you ever smell different, like use a different soap, cologne/perfume, pet a dog/cat, eat lutefisk lol ...


I've been using the same kinda shampoo and soap for years so I don't think it's that.
Maybe cat might've been what freaked him out once when he smelled it in the bag he went into...
Whenever I open the cage and try to encourage him to come out he has to get used to me again every single time.
Took him out last night and that's what happened.
Something I thought of doing tho is making him a little rat hideout under the table. I mean I got some boxes there but nothing to really hide into.
Like that instead of wanting to go behind the TV stand (which he tried again) or staying being his cage forever or going into the couch (which he also tried again). He would have his little place where I'd leave him alone. There's nothing he can chew on over there and it's by a corner. Oh and he also tried to go behind the laundry machines... I rolled up some towels and put them there but he realized it was easy to pull out. I'm gonna have to figure out something else.

I think he tried to make my boyfriend's full face helmet his home.


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