I just adopted 3 rats

Question
QUESTION: 2 are babies, they are only a month or so old. One is a older rat, she's between 2 and 4 months old, I could be off on this count but she's full sized. They are in separate cages. The older rat is extremely aggressive, and I adopted her from where I work at Petsmart because I didn't think anyone would want to adopt a rat that was so aggressive and I thought she deserved a good home just like any other pet. The problem is, I don't know how to handle her. She's very skittish, and when you go near the cage she runs up to the bars and sticks her little arms out, to try and get you I suppose. She won't run in her exercise ball, she accepts treats both through the bars, which I think may be a bad idea to do, and just from your hand inside the cage without much incident, but it's as if she thinks your going to snatch it away right after you give it to her, because she grabs it a little violently, chews on it a bit, and then slowly backs into her igloo, watching me the whole time. I've been told that there are ways to help her be less aggressive, but no one I ask ever goes into any detail, they just say "she'll be better once you get her home". So, I guess my first questions are, what are/is the best way to ...make her see that I am her friend, and not someone she needs to be afraid of? Will she actually become less aggressive? Should I be wary of placing her cage next to the babies? How often should I be interacting with her? What "games" should I play with her?

ANSWER: Hi Jerrica

First of all, thanks for taking her home. Your right, nobody would want her if she is aggressive, but does she bite and has she ever bitten you? I need to know this first.
Second, forget the exercise ball. That is a joke for any rat, actually, an insult to them. LOL!  They would rather run and play free than be inside a plastic ball where they cant interact with anything. I say put it in her cage and she will build a nest in it!! :)
As for the aggression, I have trained many aggressive rats, namely my precious wild rat Holly, who passed away in July and she was close to 4 years old. She as Little Miss Nasty McNasty so much so that she would bite down on anything that came near her. She would break a pencil in half! SHe was just 11 weeks old at the time of her rescue and she hurt even when she bit at that young age.
I had to do what is "trust training" and it works, but it does take patience.  Your heart is in the right place and she is lucky to have you and I am sure you can do it. I say within a week or less you will have a nice friend with her.  I have had many readers write in for advice about how to trust train aggressive rats and not long after that they would write and thank me, telling me how the rat that never would come out of hiding was now sleeping in their pocket!!

Before we start I have a few things to ask:
First, stop feeding treats through the bars. Your right that it is a bad idea because she may think even a finger is food (rats have bad vision as it is) this will teach her to chomp on anything that comes through the cage.  

Anyhow, do you have a safe area to take her out and let her play and run free, where there are no other animals, no way to escape, no holes in the walls or power cords to gnaw on?  If not, you can start by constructing a cardboard "rattie wall". All you need is heavy duty cardboard that is at least 3 feet tall and you can be creative and either tape it all together or whatever you come up with. Make it big enough so that you can sit in there with her since this includes you and her together in order to trust train her.

You will need to be able to have her cage in there too so you can open the cage door up and let her come out (on her own)

Anyhow, I need to know if she bites or not so I know how to instruct you to train her. There are a few ways, all done by using rewards. You will not be picking her up, she needs to learn to trust you enough to come out of the cage on her own.

I keep babbling and getting off topic...first thing I need to know is does she bite?

Let me know and I will talk your head off about how to get her to trust you and know you will love her for as long as she is alive!



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Yes, she does bite. I was the first person she bir at the store, and she bit 2 other people.

You story about Holly gives me a lot of hope, I'm sorry you lost her. Thank you for taking to he time to do this with me.

Answer


Glad you wrote back....and I am sure you will be able to do this no problem.  Just takes some patience which you obviously have plenty of anyhow or you would not have attempted to take this on in the first place. I am so glad she gets another chance at being a pet and having a new forever home. I thank you for that.

Lets go over briefly, what her "problem" is, which its pretty easy to guess...she is scared and doesnt trust humans in general. The goal here is to her her know you are there for comfort and your safe. She wants to be allowed to make her own rules and decisions and resents people messing with her cage and her, especially.  If you simply put your freshly washed hands in the cage and lay them down flat will she run up and bite them or hide?
One way to tell how aggressive she is, unfortunately, is to try this and see if she bites a hand that is laying flat, palms down, not moving.  She will either come and smell your hand, try to nibble your nails or even nibble you, although sometimes they do this and dont mean to hurt but other times CHOMP!  Most of the time these aggressive rats do not know your intentions and think your there to hurt them. After all, that is what man originally does to rodents, spend millions a year killing them. They fear humans by natural instinct which is why the breeder should handle the pups from birth. Socialization of these pups are the ONLY way to avoid skittish rats or biters.
A prime example of a rat regressing back to her natural instincts comes to mind now....a lady wrote to me once and she owned a Cafe up north. A petstore adjacent to her cafe was closing down and the last feeder rat they had escaped behind the walls. She was presumed dead. A few days later, Lindas little dog that they bring to the cafe with them, smelled out the rat and heard the rats scratching.  Only after an employees horrified screams were heard by the cafe owners did they know they had company. A little white feeder rat was seen roaming the kitchen, running off with an empty ice cream cone. Linda was determined to rescue this rat and finally after several months, they caught her by using a glue trap.  They waited for her to come out of the wall where she had lived for many months and once she got stuck to the trap the dumped vegetable oil on her feet to free her and put her in a cage.
This was acted exactly like a wild rat. She was stunned and terrified. Having no conact with humans since she was a baby and having to fend for herself, sneaking out of her safety zone in between the walls to find food and water (Once they knew she lived there, they started leaving her food and water) and on top of it all, this rat was PREGNANT by a wild rat that also probably lived in the wall.  She had the babies a few days later.  I told her all I could about at least trying to get the pups social since they were part wild rat...and happy ending and long story short, the little white rat learned to trust and love and happily let her owner handle her after a few weeks of trust training and the pups were given to good homes with experienced rat owners and they too were also being trust trained and it was working.  The key is simply early interaction with these critters and they bond for life, but it can be done later in life as well, as it was proven with this lucky little feeder rat!!


SO, where to start?  You need to have a place to play with her and to set up her play area for starters. Depending on her age and size, you can buy a play pen fence made for small animals. Its tall and it extends pretty far (I paid about $40 for mine) and I spread mine around in a huge circle, about 12 feet in diameter.  Small rats will fit through the holes, however, so in that case, or just simply to save money, you can construct your own play pen corral out of cardboard. All you need is some large flat cardboard boxes and you can tape them with heavy duty tape or if your creative, cut notches so they fit together like a puzzle.  Make sure its high enough, at least 3 feet.
Next, you will need some toys for her to play with and they are reserved ONLY for playtime. Again, homemade toys are fine, from empty boxes turned upside down with holes for doors cut in them are a hit with rats and also a box with old clothes, socks, rags etc...for them to burrow and hide in. A solid ball like a ping pong ball is a big hit too as is paper bags!!!!!! Huge hit!  LOL
Next, a treat for rewarding her, which is how you will train her not to bite. Cheerios, rice chex cereal(unsweetened) etc...are good to use. Again, the treat is reserved ONLY for training and should not be given to her any other time until of course training is over and after that she can have them as a snack in her cage.
SO, now you have the barricade to keep the rat in for play time, some toys and a treat for rewards, now all you need to to is put the cage  with the rat inside the play area and of   course, yourself, with freshly washed hands and clothes that are free of animal scent including the family dog or cat or another rat.
Next,what you will do is get inside the play area with the cage door open. Let her see the door is open and she is free to come out. Be sure she has a safe way out of the cage door is high, such as putting a box for her to use as a step to get out. She may not come out at first, but eventually she will poke her head out the door and look around. One wrong sound  and she may run back in to her hiding spot. I assume you have some type of hidey house or for her in the cage like an igloo or plastic house etc...since this makes rats feel secure and they need to be able to hide from the outside world.
Anyhow, whatever you do, DO NOT pick her up to bring her out of the cage or force her out. She may not choose to come out for a few days, or she may come out the same day but it may take an hour, maybe less.
The second she comes out, offer her a cheerio or whatever snack you have for a reward. Make your moves slowly so she is not startled but the entire time she is debating on coming out, you can talk softly to her. If the room is totally quiet and all of a sudden you talk or sneeze she may run for cover!!
Anyhow, once she is out of the cage, let her explore the play area. Talk to her, show her the toys you have for her, you can even lay down and see if she climbs on you. My rats climb on my back and love my HAIR!  LOL  However, if she run up and bites you, back in the cage she goes with no treat.
She will learn very fast that her beloved playtime and treat will be taken from her by biting you and she WILL catch on eventually. She will stop biting because she will prefer to be out of her cage playing and exploring.
You may need to work with her for a few days, maybe a week, maybe a few weeks....but eventually she will get used to you and trust you, your voice, your scent, the play area and the sounds she hears around her.  Its all a matter of trust. Again, no matter what, do not pick her up and take her out of the cage during this time until she stops biting you and YOU learn to trust HER too. It works both ways too. Your fear of being bitten is noticed by her just by the negative energy your giving off which may make her more nervous. This is why she keeps biting you and doesn't trust you yet. Once she sees your hand as the friend and not the enemy and she relates you to treats, play time and all good things, she will stop biting and she will pick up on your positive energy. Just try not to show fear as much as possible during the first few days of training.  Also  when its time to put her back in the cage, if you can lure her back in to the cage without picking her up this is a good idea. You can put your hands flat on the ground and tap them gently and call her name, and also make a noise with your lips....best I can describe it would be like a soft KISSING sound...rats take to that sound and tend to come to you when you do that.or snapping your fingers..almost like when a cat owner calls their cat by saying HERE KITTY KITTY KITTY.  Its a universal response. Studies show cats that never have heard that before will respond to that call the first time they hear it.  I have several cats and the little dummies all think their names are KITTY KITTY!  LOL
Anyhow, when calling your rat, call her name and make the kissing sound with your lips while rubbing  your fingers together like you have something to give her (which you do, because when she comes, you will give her the treat)
She will probably let you put her back in the cage without biting before she lets you pick her up and take her out of the cage.
I had a reader tell me her rat freaked out over the kissy kissy sound so if you think your rat is scared of it, of course, your free to come up with any kind of noise you want to make to communicate with your rat.  
Anyhow, good luck with this and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.


Sandy