Hard to handle

Question
I love my 2 new baby rats, they are a few months old and beautiful. Unfortunately they are very nervous.
I try everyday to get them used to me, putting my hand in the cage for 10 minutes, talking to them, trying to feed them treats from my hand, but nothing seems to make them want to come near me. They have a tendency of hiding, especially in these tubes that help them onto higher levels of their cage, so i removed these tubes and put in ladders and a hut for them to sleep in, do you think this is a good idea? It was initially for them to get more used to me being around rather than having to many options to constantly hide.

I just need some tips to try and coax them out of this fear and nervousness. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi Claire




I get this all the time about shy scared rats. They need to learn to trust you and if your always in there trying to grab at them this makes them hide. Do not take hiding spots from them because they need to be able to feel secure right now rather than be nervous if they cant hide.  Stress is not good and will cause their immune system to weaken. You certainly dont want that to happen.


My suggestion is to refer right away to my website. The page I will give you is for "How to train scared or biting rats" and this will teach you how to get your baby rats to learn to trust you.

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/trainingshyorbitingrats.htm


Also, you will need a place that is safe and secure for the to play outside the cage. People use tables and beds but this can be a real problem if they do fall off or get brave and jump off. Check out my page "Getting started" so you can find out how to construct a play wall to set up out of cardboard and you can make a fun enclosure for the rats to play in, cage and all, including yourself.

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/gettingstarted.htm

You will interact with them daily so they bond with you.  Rats need to learn that their surroundings are not going to cause harm to come to them and they also need to know your intentions are well.  The instructions about biting rats and if they bite, put them back in the cage without a treat will not pertain to your rats since they dont bite, but instead, I will discuss simply teaching them to come to you rather than you having  to dig them out of hiding and drag them out of their secure hiding spot only for them to run right back to it again.

I would give them back the hiding tubes for now....and read up on how to break that barrier that the new rats have up that they use to protect themselves from harms way.

Hope this helps.  Please let me know how its going!