female dumbo rats behavior

Question
Why does our rat seem agitated?  She runs around her cage alot, is in her wheel almost all night, she goes non-stop!  When we open the door to handle her she will come out but often runs back into her cage several times. During this process she will nibble our fingers, run up our arms, ect and then run or almost jump back into her cage.  Our previous male dumbo rat was very calm  & laid back compared to Mimi.  She is so "jumpy" that when we do have her out of her cage, you are cautious,because you are not sure of how she's going to act.  Can you give us any insight as to why our Mimi seems so nervous/jumpy? Is there anything we can do to help her? We've only had her for about a month.  Thanks ;0)

Answer
There are many reasons she can be more active or jumpy. One can be related to being in heat. When female rats are in heat they are jumpy and alot more active.

The other may just be her personality. Where your male rat was calm and laid back Mimi may just be excited and active. She may need more play toys and time to spend with you or a companion. It is always best to have two rats if you can so they don't get lonely or depressed.

The other option is that it is new to her so she is slightly nervous and curious. You can give her time to adjust and keep a routine with her to feeding. handling, play time, ect so she can adjust.

There is a lot of things you and do to develop more trust with her as well as tricks of coming to you, not biting, and others. A great website to help you with that is :

http://ratguide.com/care/behavior/training_playtime.php

Just remember to be calm and NEVER hit or holler at Mimi. Patience is the key in training, calmness, and trust building.

Thanks for using all experts ;)