# Problems with pooping on us when she's scared?



## lovelykt (Jan 7, 2008)

We've been trying all of the things we've been advised to do. If we are holding her and she poops then she put her into a smaller cage we have set aside just for when she does this and we put the poop into the cage so she can see/smell why we put her in there and we understand she is just scared but she is getting to the point where she seems completely comfortable with our other (slightly older) rat and us (she'll climb into our sleeves, run all around us when we take her out onto the couch, and she is finally starting to respond to her name) but it just seems like she has a bowel movement problem. Has anyone else had this problem for more than a few weeks, and about how long does it take for a new baby to acclimate to her new home? We're patient, and we already love her dearly, we just want her to stop pooping! Any other advice?


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

this isn't a problem with her

rats poop & the poop a lot when they are babies.

There are poops & there are stress poops. In my experience those stress poops are 100 times worse smelling than regular poops.

I don't believe you are training the rat to not poop by placing her in a tiny cage with the stink but that is just my own opinion. I say this because if it is stress poops this is part of the rats natural defense & some things in nature you just can't change.

My suggestion is give it time. You may always chase a raisin when your rats are out but they may tend to do less frequent poos when they get older.


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

I think putting her in a tiny cage with her poo makes her think that being brought out means she'll end up in there.


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## lovelykt (Jan 7, 2008)

Well my boyfriend is on a different forum, and we've researched it, and this is what people and websites have told us to do. So we're just following the advice of others. And the point is, she isn't supposed to poop on us, so yeah it gives her the idea if she poops on us she goes back into the smaller cage. Thats the point, when she poops on us and we immediately put her in the cage, we don't wait around. We carry the cage with us when we take her out so it is within easy reach.


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## crapola (Feb 12, 2007)

i'm sorry, but rats poop, and they arent particularly fussy as to where they poop either. you havent noticed that they will also sleep in their poop if the mood takes them? mine all poop on me (and i have 14), and it doesnt bother me. one of them, loco, will poop on me to let me know its time for her to go back into her cage. and of course, the longer you have your rats out of their cage, the more likely it is that you will be pooped upon.

all you're doing is adding to the stress of the rat by putting it into a tiny cage with its poops.

the point is, she is a tiny animal... tiny animals do not have humongous bladders or bowels, therefore she will pee and poop on you more frequently. i would reconsider the other websites that your boyfriend is taking advice from.


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

I agree with crapola; rats poop, and unfortunately there's not a darn thing you can do about it. When the mood takes them - they just go. And with babies the mood takes them that little bit more often

Why don't you try litter training WITHIN her regular cage? If she can designate a specific pooping place in her home, then perhaps this behaviour will be encouraged outside the cage and you can pop her home every half hour or so to see if she wants to go.

When you say that she isn't supposed to poop on you, what are you trying to mean? At the end of the day, she's a wee little critter whos nature it is to poo everywhere. If you're tring to stick the human ideal of toilet etiquette on her, you're going to be fighting a losing battle. She'll poop if she's gotta poop - and unfortunately you're just the one that'll have to clean it up.

I don't wanna be mean here, but rather than you trying to force her to be a happy pooper - why don't you just accept that she will do it, and invest in a man sized box of tissues?


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## madeittothemoon (Nov 1, 2007)

I have a girl who poops A LOT when she's scared. And she would poop every time I let her out of the cage the first couple months that I had her. What I ended up doing was litter training her insdie the cage, and then bringing a small cage out for free range that had the same type of litter. I put her in the cage when I would let her out- but I left the door open. That way, she knew that she could always go back into the cage if she got scared.

I broke her of the pooping thing about a month and a half ago, but it did take a lot of work. Basically, it just took her a long time to trust me. She'll still poop when she's scared, but it usually only happens when someone makes her do something that's not her idea (i.e., picking her up and putting her on the bed when she's more comfortable being on the floor).

If you haven't had this rat for a while, they'll probably grow out of the stage. Just keep trying


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

I'd be curious to know what site is suggesting this practice


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## Emster (Dec 9, 2007)

It takes time and patience. You putting her in that cage everytime that she does what is _natural_ to her, could be scaring her even more and therefore making her poop more on you.

It took a few months for my girls to stop pooping when they came out, as they learnt to trust me and settle into their surroundings. They may still occasionally poop on me, but that's because they've either been out for a long time or because they've ate something which doesn't agree with them (Corn on the cob).
Admittly Roxy does have a tendency to wee sometimes when she is out, hence why I put covers down, but that's because she's either just got up, but she is also a very nervous and jumpy rat.


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## kaylaface (Sep 6, 2007)

My first two boys pooped a lot when I first got them, but the one I have left dosen't do it at all out of the cage anymore. Just give it time. I got another boy a few weeks or so ago who still does it, but is slowly getting better about it, and a new baby I picked up today who does it.


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## lovelykt (Jan 7, 2008)

Well, showing her that pooping in her cage (which we leave out and open for her) is a good thing, and when you don't you get to sit in the cage for 5 minutes isn't going to scar her. We don't lock her in the cage and throw away the key. When she goes without pooping or she doesn't poop on us she gets a reward. We aren't neglectful or hateful. It's not a harsh or rude punishment, it would be just like putting her back in her own bigger cage but she'd be away from us and without us. So really it would be more of a punishment. There is poop in her cage too, because you don't clean a cage every single day. So how is that any different?


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## crapola (Feb 12, 2007)

rats are not children that you can put in the naughty chair when they do something you dont like. what the **** are you going to do should one of them bite you? take away its pocket money? give it detention?

you are punishing a rat for doing what comes naturally and that is abuse!! they can be litter trained, but trying to train a rat to hold its bowels closed when its out of the cage could cause some serious internal damage. accept the fact that rats can and do ****, and if you're the unlucky recipient of that ****, deal with it in a manner befitting a decent human being, not by punishing a defenceless little animal.


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

if they poop from stress and you punish them by putting them in cage, it will only increase stress and they will learn to associate you with this negativity. It would be like punishing you for pooping from fear of being hurt by isolating you in a tiny shed.
In dog training it is a newly known that you cannot reward or punish emotions. Remind ourselves that our little buddies are just that, small animals.I think the best you can do is take it to a lower level where the rat is comfortable and slowly build up distractions.


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## lovelykt (Jan 7, 2008)

It's not as though we are yelling or screaming at her. She stays in the cage for a max of 5 minutes, you guys make it seem like i'm throwing her into a box to rot. And by the way, she hasn't been pooping on us anymore. Now she goes to the cage when it's out to poop. So I guess it is working. When she goes in the cage she gets a treat. She comes right back out happy as a clam and plays with our other rat. Thanks for all the input, but what we are doing seems to be working. she is learning that she needs to go into a cage. We are never asking her to HOLD IT. There is always a place for her to go and now she is learning where to go.


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