# New rat owner.. New rat... Need help



## crzyness101 (Jul 28, 2012)

I recently bought a pet rat for my young son to enjoy after our hamsters passing. The pet store informed me rats were better then hamsters but needed more attention and care. I felt this to be something i could do since i am a stay at home mom. 
We picked only on who was easy to handle and friendly and ended up with a young male about 6 months old. I worked at a pet store previously and new that the new little guy needed time to adjust after coming home.
Two days went by in his new cage and i started to notice some strange things about him. 
1. he refuses to leave his wooden box unless picked up and removed
2. when he sees people he freezes and rocks back and forth
3. whenever he is brought out all he does is lay flat and not move.

I made the decision to put him where he could see everyone in the house move about, he does seem to enjoy watching us from his wooden house (we see him peek at us). I also only take him out at night when my son is in bed, the cats are put away, and it is quiet. Yet nothing i have done seems to change how he acts.
Its almost as if he is too scared and depressed to do anything. 
WHen i contacted the pet store they said that they do better in pairs.. but with how he is acting he would most likely be bullied and picked on. They also said they would "trade him in" which i thought seemed kinda sad and refused to do.

I would like to get some advice as to what i can do. Its been two weeks almost and i am starting to feel i made a mistake.
Help please


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## DustyRat (Jul 9, 2012)

Cats would be one problem. If he senses predators, he would likely be terrified. However, putting the cats aside, take him on your lap as much as possible and talk to him and pet him. This will reassure him over the long term. Give him some treats when he is with you so he can associate treats with being out of the cage and in your company. It has been a month and one of my new girls is still reluctant to come out of the cage whereas my other girl is hopping at the cage vdoor wanting to come out when I am around. He should come around in due time.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

First make sure the room temperature is under 80 degrees F at the hight of the cage. Anything higher and he's not likely to move at about 85 degress he's likely to die.

Second get him out of the cage and onto your lap or shoulder. For a single rattie, 4 hours a day should be enough play time, but more would be better.

Try different lighting, one of my rats with very good eyesight withdraws when it gets dark, another rat I had only felt comfortable in the shadows.

Personally I find by 6 months old pet shop rats are often pretty screwed up. It's going to take a while to straighten him out. All in all you most likely did better with a shy one than an agressive one.


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## jarjarb (Jul 31, 2012)

I'm also a new rat owner, so I can't speak from much experience..but I have read a TON on rats. Like hours upon hours. So someone definitely can chime in if I'm saying anything wrong, but I just thought I would add my two cents.

I think when you introduce another rat, there are specific procedures you need to do (let them live in cages next to each other for a while to get them used to each other, introduce them on neutral territory, and then when in the same cage monitor them....I'm not totally sure, never had to introduce rats before), but I think having a partner would be great. Rats really do learn from other rats and gain confidence when they are around other rats. They also get jealous, whether it be food or human attention, and will be more outgoing because of that. I'm not sure it would solve all your problems, but nonetheless, I feel like getting your rat a partner would be good for your rat too - unless you can give him TONS of attention everyday.

My new rats came semi-socialized, so I was lucky. There still was and is (I've only had them for one week) a lot of work to be done to fully socialize them and get them trusting me since they always ran away from me at first, but I feel like in one weeks period, they have already come so far. I have dedicated hours of time to them in the past week, which I'm lucky to be able to do because I'm a medical student that is currently on summer break. I think it is worth it because if I can properly socialize/train them now, it will mean less headache later. When I first put them in their new cage, I let them settle in. I only waited about 12 hours, but most people suggest 24 hours. Being that two days already passed, I would start trying to bond with him immediately. Even if he isn't completely settled in, it's probably good to start getting him to trust you and setting a good trend rather than a trend of hiding in the cage all the time. Since mine were a little hesitant of me and didn't seem interested in my food/treats, I started feeding them just the right amount, two times a day - that way, whenver I came with treats they would feel more compelled to approach my scary hands. Since your pet rat probably isn't socialized, maybe put food on the ground near his hut and put your hand in the cage, but not too close to the food. Just let your hand chill there as he eats and talk to him. As time passes, move it closer and closer. Eventually start to either gently stroke him or make him come up to you to get the food. From there slowly lure him out of the cage to get the food. Once he takes food from your hand to eat, I would start using yogurt or baby food on a spoon to feed him (not too much and try to make it low fat). This way, when he eats, he has to remain close to you. If you see that he is licking the liquid food and not seeming so threatened, then maybe you can even start dipping your finger into the liquid food and feeding it to him by finger. I found that by doing this, my nippy rat learned to differentiate between my finger and other foods.

Oh yeah and within the cage, I would have maybe one hut, but not too many other exciting toys or other hide outs. Also, it might help if you put an old worn tshirt in his cage (or alternatively, wipe a paper towel on your skin/face to get some oils and make it into a couple shreds and give it to him to use as bedding) - this way he gets used to your scent.

Hopefully by now, he is willing to come out of his cage a little. Lure him out of his cage with your treats and spend some time with him out of the cage with the cage door open so he could run back if he ever feels threatened. I found a cardboard box that was about 2 ft tall and I cut out all the sides and duct taped them all together side by side so that it could form an impromptu wall that could fold up into the size of a single side or unfold to be about 6 sides long. With the cage door open, just sit outside of his cage and read a book or keep yourself busy. Scatter the floor with some random things to do - paper towel rolls, ping pong balls, pringle cans, random yarn, etc. just let him explore, have fun, and also get used to you. Slowly as he accepts more treats from you (hopefully he will start doing so from your lap) and trusts you more, you may be able to get in a quick scratch here or there. Depending how far he progresses, you might have to stay at this stage just for a short while, but not too long.

Once he has just a tiny ounce of trust in you, I would transition to 'forced socialization'. You can google it, but it's not as mean as it sounds. I wouldn't stay at the previous stage too long because I feel like he needs more interaction than just being okay with you being there. Pick him up (he may back up a little bit) and hold him in your hand for 20 minutes. He will probably squirm, but it's okay, just keep him safe and don't tense up. Standing up will probably be helpful so that he doesn't jump off of you. After just a week of having a session or two a day (always make it 20 minutes...or more. Time it) I believe you'll see major improvements with his trust and confidence. Don't let him down if he poops or pees on you. Just stand it and let him off at least 1 minute after the poop/pee. As you're letting him down back into his cage, feel free to treat him or let him come back to play around for a little while.

...and I think that's it. I can't say the end result because I'm not there yet..but my rats have progressed so far in trusting me. The results are quite visible. Like I said, it has been requiring time and effort - something that I'm sure not everyone can sacrifice with their lifestyle - but I think it'll pay off in the end. Especially if you're like me and you want to maximize the chances of them becoming a squishy lap rat. 

Good luck. Cheers on a great pet!


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## crzyness101 (Jul 28, 2012)

Thank you for the advice everyone. I think personally he is the sweetest **** thing. I took him out today so that i could scoop out and clean the dirty parts of his cage. He seemed a little more interested in what was going on around him but still didnt want to leave his towel. 
My sister held him while i was tending to my son and he moved around on her for a while then to her shoulders where he decided that he was done and reverted back to the towel. I was actually pretty proud of the little guy.
He is set on my desk where the cage is always shaded. He doesnt like bright lights so when we have the ceiling fan light on he typically closes up his box until it goes off. 
My aunt also pointed out to me today how strange it is that he doesnt like to leave his box.. he actually stretches his body so he can reach the water and food. I moved them both a little further so that he has to get out to get something.. and i honestly think he is catching on to this lol. 
I am so used to having ferrets and hamsters that his is almost an in between pet. They need a ton of attention but not as much as a ferret.. and way more than a hamster. 
I am still holding out hope that with time things will get a little better for him. I def am not returning the poor guy to the pet store. This house is full of nutty animals i dont think one more would make much of a difference lol. 

Oh and temp wise in my house... if this place is hotter than 78 the air is on. Im almost 8 months pregnant and i am not dealing with heat well.. especially with how how the summer has been. 

anyways.. thanks again everyone. Please let me know if anyone has any more ideas. I take him out as often as possible but with my young son time is cut shorter for him. My husband is away with military and will be back next week and already talked to me about buying a small critter play pen. One we had similar for the ferrets but.. smaller lol. Then maybe setting it in our spare room away from the kids and cats so that he can go out to play more often while we are busy


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## Mrm911 (Jul 6, 2012)

one of my girls will come to the opening of the cage a poke her head up and stare for a while and she moves her head back and forth, this is usually because of bad eye site, which mine has since she has pink/red eyes. And mine are terrified of my cat,even though she does nothing but stare at them, but once they notice the hide and won't come out for about 30 minutes. Also it takes awhile before they will won't to roam around,whenever i take my girls out(i had them for 2 weeks) they go straight to the carrier I brought them home in then slowly come out.


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## Caz4500 (Jul 28, 2012)

hey might just be a total coincedence but I did the same as you got one rat and he acted in exactly the same way went out and bought him a friend and within the hour he was a happy totally normal rat! Hope that helps!
Caz


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

He really does need a brother!


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

A friend would help I think, also I would remove his hiding place. This sounds cruel but it quickly shows them there is nothing to be scared of and they settle in faster. I don't have any enclosed beds (be that an igloo, house etc) until any new rats are confident and settled. To be honest I tend to prefer open beds regardless actually.


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