taming a young female rat

Question
Hello, my name is Lisa and I am happy to be a brand new rat owner. My questions now are; how do I get my young female rat to calm down, when I am near her? I've had her for 4 days now, and was told to let her aclimate to her cage for 24 hrs, and then put my hand into her cage to let her get used to me. When I did this, she jumped out of the cage onto the edge of the aquarium to get away. I'm worried that I'll scare her too much with this, chasing her around and that she'll start biting out of fear. I have her in our 2nd bathroom and set her cage on the floor to try to get close to her, while I clean her cage out and give her fresh food and water. I hope to train her to be happy on my shoulders, it seems to be the best way for us to spend lots of time together, so please, help! I would also want to know if there are toys I can give her, I didn't find any rat toys at the pet store. I have much to learn about taking care of "Cookie," and I look forward to any and all advice you can give me! Thank you, Lisa

Answer
Hi Lisa!

First thing to do is have her get used to your voice and smell, so Talk to her and give her an old sock you dont want anymore.

Next once she is sitting calmly when you open her cage to talk to her, allow her to come freely out of her cage and run around in a safe room with no cords of places where she will get lost or hurt. offer her treats and let her take them from your hand, give her lots of praise and eventually when she is taking them from you reach your hand out to pet her if you pet her give her a favorite treat and praise her. It also may help if you lay down because you wont be as intimidating.

Eventually with love and patience she will get used to you.

Good luck!

Emily Harris