# My girls don't want to be held



## totoro (Feb 25, 2008)

My one rat is quite friendly with me, will lick water off my fingers, and likes to play with my hair if I put it near her....
but she really doesn't want to be picked up.
Because they're in a tank for now, I have to put them both in a little cage so I can clean it,
and one of the girls FLIPPED OUT when I tried to pick her up.
She started squealing like crazy, and it really startled me.
I don't know what to do


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## Rattiegma (Jan 23, 2008)

How long have you had them?


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## totoro (Feb 25, 2008)

Not long, but people keep telling me that they had immediate connections with their rats and stuff.
But I guess I'm just unlucky, so I'll give them time.


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## Thomi (Mar 3, 2008)

It took my rat, Wade, awhile to get used to being picked up. What he likes the most is when I put my arm in the tank/cage and he'll climb up on my arm. You might want to try that first. It's part of forced socialization (a way to acclimate your rat to your presence). Just put your arm in the cage and once they're used to it, they'll climb on! I can pick Wade up now but he prefers if i let him climb onto my arm.


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## Rattiegma (Jan 23, 2008)

Not everyone has that immediate connection, I'll promise you that. My partner and I had some issues when we rescued Roxie, especially because she had babies only a week after we'd had her. So just give it some time, and do some trust training with her. Baby food on your finger, or if they're bitey, a spoon, has worked really well for us.

ETA: Try these links--
http://fatratcentral.com/interacting-with-rats/trust-training-rats/
www.ratfanclub.org/trust.html

Good luck!


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## Sami (Dec 11, 2007)

Gohma hates being picked up too. I kind of sit back and accept it... After all, Dust is really good about it, plus she likes to cuddle, so if I want to cuddle a rat I can always turn to her.  But sometimes I try to force Gohma to accept being picked up. She's not really scared of people... she just hates being handled. It's her personality, I guess.

Sometimes rats get spooked by something. They have very, very sensitive ears, so maybe your girl heard something that you didn't, and whatever the noise was it scared her. I think that happens to my girls every now and then.


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## Cameron (Feb 29, 2008)

You need to get him used to your hands. Try feeding them treats out of your hands regularly and just spend lots of time with them. Try having one on one time with them

Cheers
Cameron


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## Emster (Dec 9, 2007)

Thomi said:


> It took my rat, Wade, awhile to get used to being picked up. What he likes the most is when I put my arm in the tank/cage and he'll climb up on my arm. You might want to try that first. It's part of forced socialization (a way to acclimate your rat to your presence). Just put your arm in the cage and once they're used to it, they'll climb on! I can pick Wade up now but he prefers if i let him climb onto my arm.


That's exactly what I do with my girls.
Roxy will tolerate being picked up, but only if she has to or has no other way of escaping from me. Mavis runs up my arm, I've managed to pick her up a few times, she's more patient than Roxy, but still doesn't like it.
And Doris just doesn't like hands anyway :lol: Altho she does let me grab her quickly on cleaning out night.


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## totoro (Feb 25, 2008)

I put a little bit of yogurt on my fingers and they both were in their glory licking it all up, it was really funny!


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## BowlTipper (Mar 21, 2008)

Female Rats are generally more active than Males. It can also take MONTHS to have them get used to you. My ratties Brain and Nibble are both females. They both love to crawl all over me and won't stay still for long.


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## totoro (Feb 25, 2008)

They're already getting so much better.
Ellen never pees on me anymore.
She actually held a poop in one day when she was on my shoulder for a few minutes..
My boyfriend was like "well, something is coming out of her bum"
and I looked and it was just poking out, 
I put her back in her house and she pooped right away, aahahhaa.


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## HylaW (Mar 14, 2008)

LOL, yay! That is good to hear.


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