A very shy rat

Question
Hi Sandra,
I'm worried about my rat Penny. Penny is about eight weeks old. I have had her since she was around four weeks old and during this time she has been on her own. Recently I bought a new, bigger cage for Penny and also introduced her to Polly who is a bit younger. Penny has always been quite a shy and nervous rat and I thought that getting her a friend may help bring her out of her shell. They seem to get along well enough, there have been no fights, but Penny is even more shy and nervous than she was before! All she does is climb into a pipe and stay there. I'm not sure that she's eating as I have not seen her do so. If I get her out of the pipe she's happy enough to stay with me but as soon as I put her back in the cage she crawls back in the pipe. What can I do to coax her out and have her happy and playing with her new friend (who is quite keen to do so!)?
I look forward to your response,
Zoe.

Answer
I am so sorry this just now got to me. I dont understand why it took so long!

I usually answer in 12 hours or less, so I am so sorry for such a delay!

As for your girls, I get alot of mail about this issue so I have made a page on my website about trust training shy or biting rats and exactly how to go about bringing them out of their shell.  

I trained a wild rat a few years back and she was the best rat I have ever owned after we bonded.

A gentle voice and slow movements without trying to pick her up are the first few steps to take.  

Check out my site and if you have anything you need to go over, please let me know.  You wont have to wait a week to hear back from me, I promise. Now that I have your message it stays in my IN box.

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