How To Tame Fancy (Pet) Rats
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- čas přidán 3. 07. 2017
- In this video, I go over how I tame my pet rats. If you have any questions, feel free to comment them below. Otherwise, I hope this is helpful. Enjoy!
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It’s so cute how your rats just pop out of nowhere and run towards you when you make that sound for them to come 😂
Rats are SO FRIKEN CUTE
Cat : Am i a joke to you?
Agreed
Ikr
i know they are way too cute my mom finally got me one its a boy he is soooooooo cute
rude words
I wish you had a million subscribers, so everyone could see how awesome you and your rats are.😀
Awe, Thanks! :)
Shadow The Rat how often do you publish videos
Hamsterkitty Cat iii
Me too rats are awsome
That would be awesome :)
Thank you so much for the tips mine went from hiding in her igloo this morning to cuddling with me while i watch Christmas movies
Aww :-D
awww :) i might be getting a couple
I reccomend talking to your rats a lot, like reading a book maybe. One of my rats, rufus is not sure of my hands but boggles most of the time when I talk to him :)
3:47 turn on captions lmaooo
Would more people get rats if they were called ass?
HAHAHAHAHA
😂
How the heck did CZcams get ass from rats
Hahahhahahahhahaha
Lmaoooo
Okay so here is a question.... what if my rats don’t take treats from me and I can’t get them out of the cage to do free range? I’ve tried almost every method you talked about.
Really it depends on what your comfortable with. In my case I feel confident in just scooping them up so that’s what I do with new rats, but it’s also perfectly fine to focus on taming inside he cage first.
What you can do is try amping up the treat value - if your using solid treats, try switching to a liquid ones like meat baby food or yogurt for example.
Usually what I do is I offer them a bit of the new liquid treat off a spoon several times a day or even leave a bit in the cage for them to try on their own. Once they try it a few times and realize it’s not only safe but delicious, you can use it to connect your hands and presence with something really positive. And once they take it off a spoon you can switch to giving it off your hands, further relating you to the yummy food and forcing them to stay with you and eat.
If you have shyer rats it might take a while to build their trust, some rats just need more time and convincing before they start to enjoy being with you. In the case of Cream in this video it took a long time to really win her over, she tolerated handling pretty quickly just due to repetition but after that I had to take a step back and make it all about her coming to me so that she learned to enjoy being with me.
@@ShadowTheRat what if they bit
呆萌的九月 Theyre biting out of fear, which means you haven’t tamed them yet. Don’t touch them or try and handle them, and instead follow shadow’s instructions for in cage taming
@@virtuelita thanks a lot, my rats are fine now and are very cuddly eats treats from myvhand just fine now.
I know it’s been awhile but I’m the 100th like 😊
"Shoo many frenndleey ratsss"
I never thought of liquid food thank you so much
Before, I gave them dry food and they would grab it and run of and bite my finger
try to use the spoon first. My rats parents were miss-gendered and ended up being opposite genders they had a litter of 20 rat pups, so they were good at being handheld. But rats are bread not to bite so if it happens again I would talk to the pet store you got them at
Same -^-
One of my rats bite alot, she runs up attacks my hand and runs off again, it might be the fact we got her when she was older but we tried ignoring the biting, making a squeaking noise when she does but nothing has worked. My parents say we might have to get rid of her, cause she won't stop. Any advice?
@@blueUnicorns87 give her time to get adjusted. i have hamsters, and not a rat. but usually, you give them 2 weeks to get adjusted, and then you feed them off spoons(as said in the video) if not, that's just how the rat is. the rat may be skiddish as a personality, so if she continues to bite, then i suggest to keep her as a lone rat but give her the attention, or to find someone (NOT ANYONE. please make sure to find someone who won't just abandon the rat. ask to visit the rat once in a while to make sure that it is being properly taken care of.)
@@blueUnicorns87 or buy a rat that may be easier to tame so she can have a partner to socialize with (preferably a female if it's a female)
You're the best! Great job on this taming video so many have been asking for :-)
Welcome, Cookie and Cream!.
Shadow lives on in them and Latte and Berry 💞💞
💗My experience, perfect timing to adopt two young ones is always when my older girls are 1-1 1/2 years old so the older sisters can help calm/tame/train the newest pack members.
Litter training, following the leaders, can be even be accomplished in a day or two.
However, it's the playful, joyous, loving "out time" every day that is everything!😍🐁🐀🐁🐀
My experience over 16 rats - none are biters. They may nip out of nervousness in the beginning or, with others, playful curiosity nibbles are a part of their personality :-) - like kissing, bruxxing, boggling, etc., all signs of a happy rat.
Shoulder sitting, sleeve running, sweatshirt lounging, arm & lap snuggling, tricks & treats over time, the precious time we are given with them, is most important.
Again, thank you for being such a great teacher, Shadow the Rat 😊
Thanks! :)
Michele4Fitness ive had five rats so far and only one of them has bit me and my family. That monster went missing and I still blame my mom
Thank you because after watching your videos I bonded A LOT with my rescued rats. They used to live in a lab and were so scared of hands and humans! You are great!! 😊🙏❤️
YOU are great too Benny :)
brilliant advice, thank you. My young boys don't like being picked up and run off. One daren't even come out for food, but the spoon method looks amazing.
Ive been watching all your vids for a while, i used to own rats a few years ago but i was young and inexperienced, school also hindered the amount of time i would spend with them. They loved cuddles and were tame but i feel i never got to bond with them as well as i hoped.
After watching your vids and learning more about how to care for and tame them, I wanted ratties again. They're the best little pets and so smart. So now i have two.
Bowie (male) and Coco, we later found coco was a girl so its gonna be interesting... ive been following your tips and tricks and they work amazingly. They love cuddles and come up whenever I go out to greet them. They're toilet trained.. almost 😂😅 and theyre so playful. Thank you for your wonderful ratty wisdom!
they’re such pretty girls, I love them 😭💕💕
that is so helpful! the dialogue is rlly helpful and clear! I'm definitely using these methods (if they work!) keep up the awesome videos!
Your rats are so cute.
We adopted four 14 week old boys last week who are already quite tame but the can be skittish at times. So in love with them already and we have them out one by one several times a day for cuddles. We have done the hoodie method and once they're in there they refuse to come out 🤣🤣🤣.
Hehe I love the crunching sounds too cute! 😸
So far this has to be me favorite guide out there. Followed some of the early instructions in a playpen i can keep their cage inside of it and works like a charm.
I tried this for several weeks with no results and got so frustrated I almost got rid of them...about a week ago they started coming onto my hand for treats and coming up to the cage anytime I'm near it....just a few days ago the skittish rat that I was extremely concerned about started doing it too so thank you 🙃 she has even gotten better about biting
This is so helpful!! Will be starting your tricks today! Thank you so much!!
Never new how smart they were, I want to get two rats. I always had hamsters!
ruth mendez I’ve had hamsters and rats. Hamsters aren’t the brightest things 😂
**knew
@@idontevenusethisaccount6779 true lol. Definitely lacking a couple screws
I eagerly await your face reveal lol. Thank you for this video. Super helpful. The mistake I have been making is I have been securing my free range border around their cage, because I don't want them to be scared and traumatize them heh. Now I see I have been doing our relationship a disservice. They are still young, just 9 weeks, so there is still time. Thank you so much!!
Thank you! I'm going to have two rats and your channel really help me to get ready to welcome them! ^^ you wone a subscriber!
Thank you so much for this vidio! I love how you both explain and show what your rats are doing at the same time
Awww look at them little faces there just lovely
I might get a rat, they are my absoloute favorite animal and yours are sooooo adorable!! 🥺
Thanks you for these amazing tips xx
Thankyou! I found this video so helpful! I’m getting my first pair of rats for Xmas! X
Thank you for explaining and teaching us. ❤
That's the video I was looking for! Thank you 😊
You and your rats are wonderful. Thank you for all of the great information, I love your channel and the baby food technique is super smart.
Glad it helped, the baby food and other liquid foods really are amazing when it comes to rats (both for taking and training and also for hiding and giving medicine!)
Love your videos on rats
Thank you so much. From ur video i pickad My RAT up for the first time!
Love this video! My rats are now super friendly and social!
I met your channel too late!! thank you that's hugely helpful since I just got two new girls home 2 days ago ^^
I'm glad to hear! CongRATs on your new rats btw, I bet they're adorable
thank you so much for making this!! i need to work on making a 'play pen' sort of deal for my boys, since i have limited space for them to move around freely at. this is so helpful though, i appreciate it!!
Glad to help! :)
The point about having an open setup is so important; if you have to chase your rat for even a second it’s a huge step back.
i got three boys four days ago this video has helped me tame them surprisingly quickly!! Thank you so much for the help!!
Glad to hear, and congRATs on your new rats!
Great video! Thanks 😊
OMG UR RATS ARE ADORABLE X3
Just got new babies, super nervous boys so this is super helpful!
you deserve way more followers
Question: What type of liquid treats can you use?
She uses meat baby food on her finger and lets them licks some every time they do a good try :)
where did you get those hanging white baskets in the cage ?? x
Hi! I've been binging on your videos and find them really great! For the hoodie method, are we able to do other things and move around when we put them in, or is it recommended to just sit still while they are in there?
At first, no. After they are used to travelling that way they'll be fine.
So cute!!!!
hahahah the hoodie method is so nice
This is really helpful, thanks! I just got three baby boys and have been struggling to play with them and tame them as they are often skittish when touched and like to run behind my bed
Glad to hear! I'm sure they'll come around, if I had one piece of advise its to use liquid treats. They make a big difference because they stop the rats from running away, and rats find them super valuable.
Like what Shadow? Liquid treats?
Thanks a million
Thank's for this video. I'll try with my rats :)
Thank you for this!!!!!
thank u its very helpful.
Thank you 😊
Aawwwh they all are lovely!!
Thanks, they're all real sweethearts
My newest girls aren't extremely scared of me, as they are from a breeder who socialized them with children and adults, but they are quite young and show subtle signs of wariness around me, which is expected. However, my issue is that both of my girls are quite picky and aren't fond of most treats... any recommendations?
I'd try some meat baby food. Many young rats SEEM to not like treats (Cookie and Cream didn't seem to like any) as they still have the normal rat instinct of only trying a little food and waiting a few hours to see if it harms them. So you'll want to offer each food at least 3 or so times to let your rats see if they really like it or not. As they grow older and try more foods, they usually grow out of this (lol, both Berry and Latte will take a huge chunk out of any new food that I offer them :P) With the meat baby food, if they don't seem to like it just stick some on a spoon in the cage and leave it for a while. Once your ratties decide to eat it, they'll probably fall in love lol
If your girls are excited or a bit intimidated by your presence, you may be better off giving them a small bowl of different foods in the cage to let them sample what you have. Once they've tried the foods and determines that they're safe, they'll probably be much more motivated to take them from you when offered.
Shadow The Rat Thanks! Sure enough, Paris has started taking Gerber Puffs like they're the best thing ever. Willow is less willing than Paris when it comes to accepting things, so she hasn't taken any yet... but she has taken some Oxbow pieces.
I know I must sound overly concerned, but being a first time rat mom, I'm set off in worry with every little thing! Paris had some porphyrin this morning and I was so scared, but it's cleared up now.
By the way, thank you for the taming methods - the hoodie one is very smart... unfortunately I'm too ticklish to do that. I've been doing bathtub bonding with them, and they are doing well. Paris seems ready to begin clicker training.
I also thought it was coincidental that their mom's name is Latte! Hehe. :)
@lirbs: how are your rats doing now? I'm curious about them
Hamster or rabbit Dry yogurt treat my rat (Talulah) loves them. Also MUFFINS. See My channel
My boys are the same. I've tried puffs, freeze-dried fruits and veggies, freeze-dried fruit and veggie blend, rice, crickets, mealworms, and Yogies. They only seem to like the rice and yogies tho.
tysm im gonna try this tomorrow since i got my rats today
love love LOVE all your videos, I’ve got two babies and I’ve had them for about 6 weeks. One of them will skittishly wander the free range area and eat baby food, the other stays under the blanket. When is it ok to start “pouching” them, like putting them in the tucked in shirt? I’m always afraid of moving too fast and scaring them!
You can start now..they sound scared though especially the one hiding under the blanket..
1:12
the part you need
Thank you for answering me.
So me and my sister are both getting our own rats and we'll put them together but for tameing would we let them free range together and each tame our own?
Just What I got a rat the same time my brother did, and when one of us took out our rat the other took theirs too, so they weren’t alone. We also hold and pet each other’s rats, but for the most part we tamed our own.
KillJoyLover I see that you just want to be nice, but please get yourself a second rat and your brother too. They shouldn’t just have a companion some of the time, but always. Also when they are in their cage.
Please just do that for the happiness of your rat(s), I’m sure they’ll appreciate it.
Have a nice day!
Lelelandra thank you for you concern, it is well founded. However, our rats live in the same cage, so they are each other’s companion. Thank you for looking after the well-being of rats everywhere!
KillJoyLover Oh, okay! That makes everything alot better!
I just absolutely love rats, so I ger concerned quickly, I’m very sorry.
I understood it, as you saying that they we’re ONLY together in playtime, what is obviously my mistake.
I hope you and your rats have an amazing day!
I Think she was talking to "JustWhat" Lele.
Thank you so much for the video! I'm working with my girls to get tamed and more comfortable with my hands- during freerange time in the box enclosure I set up, they either hide or try to escape and are very uninterested in treats- do you have any advice for this situation? As a rule, my girls aren't very treat-motivated. What type of baby food do you use?
Hiding and trying to escape is perfectly natural if your rats are skittish. This is why I recommend meat baby food in particular, as its smelly, tasty, and something that rats get easily addicted to. I'd start off offering small amounts on a spoon in the cage, and once they enjoy it, start offering it outside as well.
If they're too nervous to eat while your there, you can place some on a jar lid and leave it in the cage. And if they only take a bite and then ignore it, I would offer it again a bit later. Rats can't vomit, and they're survival technique for avoiding being poisoned is to only take a small bite of new foods and wait a while to see if it harms them. While this has been mostly bred out of our domestic rats, I still often see it in my new or nervous girls.
Anyway, I'd stick to offering liquid foods (like meat baby food or applesauce) for now, as these require the least effort to eat and are also the tastiest treats. If your still having trouble finding a treat, I really recommend meat baby food (any meat flavor works, but my girls seem to particularly enjoy the beef and turkey flavors). I haven't found a rat that doesn't adore it yet.
Lastly, if your not already doing so, covering your legs with a blanket (or wearing a baggy sweatshirt) can make you more appealing to your rats. I know that my girls love to burrow in my clothes, and my shyer girl Cream really took an interest in burrowing under the blanket I set over my legs. I actually affectionately call my girls the "shirt rats", as when they're scared they dive right into my shirt :P
I wish you luck with your ratties :)
Hey! Your cages always look super enriching for you little furry friends! Do you have any toys or puzzle boxes you would recommend? I have a pair of incredibly inquisitive rats and would love to know which ones yours enjoyed the most! xx
Bird foraging toys are awesome - I've been doing a foraging series actually where I review foraging toys (I have quite a bit of a collection - they are pretty much the only thing I get for the rats besides bedding and food now lol) and I review a lot of bird and dog toys (and a few small animal toys but most of those are a bit too easy for rats): czcams.com/play/PLGThSDBAdLEJCz3MLbBroobmYqsWtFOMB.html
As for specifics I'd say bird foraging wheels and bird food tumblers are my favorite foraging toys, and I also love the super bird creation ones (the PCV pipe one is awesome for small spaces, and the cups ones are great for multiple levels). There are a few others I use, but those ones are almost always being rotated through the cage.
Otherwise any interactive toys are awesome - my rats love their wheels, along with their large dig tank, and those go a long way to prevent them from getting bored.
*makes kissy noise* the ground starts to rumble and I am overtaken by the flood of rats
huh? why? I loved that they all came when called
You should do videos with your voice more! I love it, and I can watch while doing something else without having to check if there are words on the screen
Thanks! I plan on doing more voice over videos, it's just that right now they take longer to edit, as I'm not completely comfortable talking into a camera. But practice makes perfect, and I'm planning on doing voiceovers for all of my training videos, so that should give me plenty of practice!
Shadow The Rat great! I'm also super shy about my voice, and I keep making videos but not posting them because of this. Honestly I need to man up and post something :p
Maybe when I get rats later in the year I'll post a video where I try training them to do stuff based on your videos and see if they work for me :0
Anyway, I don't know where this comment was going. Ok bye. Ugh I need to stop being so weird
Hello, thank you for this great video! I have had three boys for a year now, but I was never able to properly hand train them. We ended up in a situation, where they would climb me, climb on my hand or up my legs and onto my lap, but if I ever tried to pet them or pick them up, they would just literally melt between my fingers and run off.
Then the four of us moved and even though the actual moving went well, they have become very anti-social! They don't come out of their cage, they don't even want to climb to the roof of their cage, which used to be their favorite thing to do. It's been 2 weeks now since we moved and I can't even get them out anymore to clean their cage. They just sit in one basket staring at me doing it! If you have any tips for me how to re-socialize them or even just how to make them active and lively again, I would be so happy!
Thank you so much for the video! A vet told me to hold my rats in my hands so they get used to it, bad idea since now they hate me 😫 I hope I can still take them
I had hamster from a pet store who only took a couple cheerios to be comfortable taking treats from me, let me pet her while she ate but never let me pick her up. I did get her from a petstore though
I've have 2 10 week old fancy rats, they are hiding the whe time, I put my hand in person a few day and talking to them. They've just bolted and won take a treat ever. My other 2 4 month old rats are really friendly from day I,
I love your videos! Just subscribed. ^^ Could you clarify what the hoodie is for?
The hoody is like a bonding pouch in that it gives the rat somewhere dark and warm (things they seem to associate with safety) to hide and explore. It helps them start to associate you and your scent with safety, and many rats will be more receptive to snuggling/being touched while inside the hoody.
Shadow The Rat Thx for your reply! I use pouches just for them, like a kangaroo pouch? This allows me to carry them around in their own little safe snuggle nest. It smells like them, though, so I'll use the hoodie trick for the next level. :) One of the three (my secret favourite) is already comfortable on my shoulder. She climbs up my arms from my desk and then I sometimes provide her with a scarf to snuggle in or she crawls into my hood spontaneously.
All three of them love their free range time, take snacks out of my hand easily and have no problem crawling over me. They're still very skittish when I try to hold them, though. I can grab them, but they'll slither away. I'll practice with this "pick them up for a bit, put them down, give snack" method and hopefully they can feel safe enough to relax in my hands after a while. :)
Sounds like its going well!
I'm a big fan of the "pick up, immediately put down" method because I find that more timid rats won't volunteer for handling otherwise. More confident rats like my Latte might just go limp right away, but others take quite some time to get that comfortable.
So initially, I do the whole "pick up, put down, give a treat" thing, and then I'll move on to "pick up, give a wet treat". Finally, I'll begin giving solid treats or once they get used to being handled, just not give treats at all.
If any of your rats are super skittish, I find that the "grab" is what they dislike the most, so perhaps try scooping from down below or desensitizing them to the motion. I had to do this with Cream (the desensitizing) because she was just so very wary of my hand coming from above. So I started out with it near her face then rewarding, and gradually built it up to placing my hand above her head and only rewarding if she didn't run away. And finally, I made a point to build up the motion of my hand from a slow descend (like I'd usually use when scooping up a rat) to a faster motion, just to make sure she was really fine with it. And now Cream is actually enjoys being held and will volunteer along with my other girls, placing her forepaws onto my palm to make grabbing her easier :)
As a note, if you want to see the two methods that i find easiest to use when picking up a rat (and the 2 methods that shouldn't be used) I actually did a recent video (featuring Cream!) showcasing these different method of handling: czcams.com/video/m9srOspUHXE/video.html
Thx for the details! My most skittish one, Muis (or Mouse in English, because she's so skittish and more interested in exploring her surroundings than the others) is getting used to stepping on my hand. Scooping her up freaks her out a little, but not like Cream, I think. I'll gradually make her get used to it. She doesn't need to become a cuddly rat if she doesn't want to, but it would be nice if I could handle her without startling her.
I made some baby food myself, from some leftover broccoli, rice and chicken. Way cheaper than store bought. I put it in an ice cube tray in the freezer for perfect sized portions. (My group consists of just the three rats, so baby food jars are a little much.) ^_^
Again, thank you for your videos! I was already okay-ishly close with my rats, but I believe I can take our relationship to a higher level with your tips.
Lol, as I'm typing this in our small free range area (the bathroom!), they're peeing all over me. What's that, making me part of their territory or something? I'm*€8 Aww, Lily wrote that. :p (She's crawling over my arm onto my phone.) I don't mind the pee all that much. I'm wearing old clothes anyway. :)
Hi I’ve just recently got 2 males at 12 weeks going to start trying these methods but I’d like to know the best diet for them! I’ve got these really good pellets that cover all the diet but just wondering if there’s anything else I can do to make sure they grow nice and big and healthy!
ive actually taken in a group a couple days ago , and they are older so im giving them baby foods as a treat but they still bite the spoon
My newest rats are already great at being handled, but I'm worried it'll be harder to bond with them since they're already accustomed to other people handling them? Is this a possibility? They're 8-10 weeks old
I just put yogurt further and further up my arm until they were basically on my shoulder just chillin, from there they got pretty comfy with me just takin em to their play area. And they would come to me if they wanted to be carried places ^_^
what bedding do you use
Wat are you using for wet rat food?
What baby food did you use to tame your rats i have 2 boys and they are very skittish and im finding it difficult to tame them
What kind of wet food do you use?
what wet food did u give them on the spoon?
Where did you get your cage
I've been trying the wet food method for a while now with my 2 youngest rats
they will eat off the spoon, but when it's on my hand, they just bite me (they draw blood) and they won't let me touch them no matter what
they're both 8 months old
What did you do to fix this?
I have a question!! I just got 2 three month old baby boys 4 days ago. They both get really excited and stand up on the cage walls whenever i approach and one of them is completely fine with being held and grabbed already. However, the other baby, even though he stands on the cage walls and lets me pet him in the cage, desperately tries to avoid being grabbed or held. Im using the hand flat in the cage method but i just dont know if im doing the right thing. He doesnt seem to be interested in treats either. Is this just new rat nervousness? Thank you!
omg why do you not have 3million subs
So, I got three adorable boys a awhile ago. They're really comfortable with me, except for when I pick them up. They'll run away whenever my hand gets too close. What's the best way to pick up a rat? I try to scoop them up with two hands, but it really doesn't work well.
I got two girls just over a week ago and they're already taking treats from my hand, licking baby food off a spoon and coming to my hand to sniff it when I put it in. They still try and bite the spoon tho so I'm not about to put wet food on my hand just yet lol
Where did you get your cage?
hi my new boy wont eat off the spoon, but doesn't mind being petted at all. How can i get him to eat the wet food ? i want to train him using your videos but i am having trouble with it.
My baby boys still test nibble, one of them bit down and drew blood on me but hasn't done so since. He didn't lunge at me or anything, it was almost like he did a test bite and held on a bit too hard. It has made me wary when they sniff my hands now but I'm going to try this way you've shown to further trust train them. They do come to the door of the cage to greet me and see what I've got and will now run up my arm to get a treat off my shoulder but I think I need to work on picking them up now and getting them used to handling.
I'd definitely discourage the test nibbling if it's going that far. In my experience, sound doesn't always deter my guys. So if they nip, I'll gently shake them off and say "ouch!". "Eeping" works for some rats, but I find that physically removing yourself (if the rat isn't actually intentionally hurting you) is much better at getting the point across.
For example, when my girl Cream first encountered my socks, she had lots of fun nipping and mock biting them. But when it started to hurt me, I began to shake her off with my foot and say "ouch!" In a loudish tone. Cream's a super shy girl, so initially she'd skitter backwards and stare at me. But after a few attempts, she got the message, and now she ignores my socks just like the other rats do.
As for the picking them up part, I'm much too impatient to wait for new rats to learn to climb my arm :P All my girls have learned to accept handling rather quickly, and if you consistently pick them up and put them down (make sure to not chase them around the cage when trying to catch them) several times a day, they should quickly grow tolerant of it. And pairing a liquid treat like meat baby food definitely helps make the action into something positive. My girls have learned that by hopping onto my hand/shoulder, they get taken out to free-range. Initially I took them out by physically scooping them up, but now I can usually just offer my palm and they jump on, ready to be taken to the free-range play pen to run around.
Funny thing is, they've also learned that by hopping onto my hand or shoulder while I'm sitting in the playpen, I'll either take them someplace else (if they jump onto my hand) or back to their cage (if they jump onto my shoulder), and this has considerably reduced their efforts at escaping the playpen. I'm always amazed at how well they've learned to communicate with me, the sneaky little things have got me trained to answer their beck and call!
Other thing I'd recommend is buying a liquid treat. Something like meat baby food (which is strong smelling and tasty) is ideal. This way, the rats get into a habit of licking your hands rather than nibbling them. I actually use a metal spoon to discourage biting/nipping in more extreme cases (rats hate biting metal, so if you present it before you touch them they'll learn to think twice before biting), but if it's just test biting gone too far some liquid treats and "ouchung"/moving away should help your boy realize just how hard is to hard when it comes to mouthing humans.
Thank you so much :) I got them out tonight in a childs ball pit (which they could climb out of I found) but they were good at letting me pick them up to put them back inside it and none of them squeaked when I picked them up which is a first. I was able to pick them up to put them back in the cage too.
I'll definitely try moving away if they test bite although they're not doing it as much now. I'm going to get some meat paste as a liquid treat as I tried meat baby food and none of them like it much. They tend to lick a metal spoon now so will try some on my hands then try stroking their heads while they eat it, get them used to that, then try their backs and then practice picking them up.
Ordered a clicker as well so can't wait until they are fully hand tame so I can start teaching some tricks.
Is there a particular brand of wet food you use for treats while training? Most baby food I find says use it all in one sitting but I only have 2 rats lol
Also, one of my boys bites when theres food on my hands. Stan locks the food off my hands but Gerber noms and tries to run off with my finger. I have yogurt drops and Gerber puffs but they'll only take 1 then they're no longer interested in me and stay in the hammock, which is very difficult to scoop them out of, and they wont go into a box lol
They're 5 months old, their first family didnt take them out much because their dad was allergic. They're very curious but very skittish. I usually do hoodie while I'm working but getting them into my hoodie is very hard
Hi! Just wanted to ask for help. Coz my rat is showing aggression( i was bitten). I wanted to tame it like that. Badly need it for our final requirements. Thank you so much
thank you! my rats are sorta skittish ill try this.
Good luck, I'm sure they'll be tame in no time! :)
What type of baby food brand do you use?
Gerber meat baby food :)
so i recently got 10 week old rats and ones very skittish but still allows me to handle her and the other is the same, but whenever i move like a slight bit they run off really quick to a corner or a hiding spot ;-; how do i fix that? and whenever i let them out to roam they usually just sleep or hide. they sometimes allow me to place them on my shoulder and they sleep there, are they slightly getting tame or what?
Hello firstly I just want to say how amazing you are with your babies 😍! I have recently got some male baby rats but every time I put my hand out they keep nibbling me and sometimes biting but very gently but it's making me weary 🙄 I wash my hands have no other animals do you why this would be ?
Thanks you!
Your boys sound like lovely young ratties, and the "mouthing" is totally normal. Baby rats (or rats with little previous human contact) often don't really know what our hands are, and they go about testing it just like other baby animals. So this "mouthing" your seeing is akin to nipping in puppies, albeit much less painful. If it bothers you, just make a high pitched "eep" whenever they nibble too hard. Alternatively, move your fingers a bit away from them when they go to mouth. No matter what you do, they should stop these behaviors pretty quickly, and none of my ratties have ever continued this "taste testing" for more than a few days after I got them.
I wouldn't worry about these behaviors becoming actual biting, as if the rats actually mean to harm you they can and would do so. In this video the largest black hooded (Blackberry) was a territorially aggressive rat when I got her, and she made sure that we stayed out of her space. If you got too close to her while she was in an enclosed space, or if you reached inside her cage, she would lunge quick as a snake, bite, and draw blood. She had no reservations about harming me or anyone else, and it took quite a while to change this behavior.
Rats have very precise control over their teeth, so if they're drawing blood or leaving puncture wounds, its no accident. Playful "mouthing" or "taste testing" as your experiencing is really just the rats getting a handle on what you are and how you differ from them.
Shadow The Rat ahhh thank you so much this has been so helpful!
@@ShadowTheRat how did you change the biting behavior?
That's called "grooming" you. That's all. Monica are yr rats biting hard or just nibbling? If they are biting you cant change that.They aren't pet material rats then :/
I know this may be a little late but i still have a question: i got four female babies around 2 months ago and i they climb onto my shoulders more or less voluntarily, but if i want to get them out of the cage i still rely on luring and catching them and i feel like that will discourage them from coming to me on their own because it's stressful. i tried picking them up while giving them treats but they still run away every time i try and they're too fast to catch them. do you have any other tricks or do you think it will just take more time? also is it possible to let them run free in my room if they don't chew on cables or something like that, they just don't come to me and it takes too long to catch them because they hide under my couch or bed so that's why i don't do it. i thought that it won't be a problem as soon as they can come when being called, do you think this is realistic? i know this is a long ass text and thanks in advance, i love your videos!
Yeah they aren't ready for free ranging until they will come when you call them! They should just be running out to you and not being silly like that. Tame them some more sit with them quietly and ask them to come out. Sit with the door open and talk to them and make them cuddle with you. That will tame them too- even if they struggle. :) Good luck!
Best liquid treat recommendations?
I have four (fairly new) boys, one I rescued two days ago.
Also any advice? Charlie, who I got two days ago, is either so scared or excited that every time i pick him up, he pees and poops either on me or in the bathtub or blanket I have him on; which is odd because I held him the whole 20min car ride home and he was fine and cuddled me the whole time.
I always recommend meat baby food (any meat flavor works). In my experience, all rats adore the stuff, and it's smelly enough to tempt them into trying it.
I'd wager that Charlie was either scared or shocked on the ride home, as almost no rat will sit still for 20 minutes. A fearful rat will stay stock still, or burrow into your clothing and just sit there.
Peeing and a pooping when being held is going to be a fear responce, as a tame rat will usually try and hold it until they get off you. I'd work a lot on conditioning him to tolerate and enjoy being picked up. If you get him hooked on something like meat baby food, then you can practice what I do with Cream (intially letting her eat in peace, then stroking her, then picking her up).
I've had several girls that initially peed and pooped themselves when I held them, with Cream being one of them. All of them would also sit stock still if I held them, as they were just too afraid to move. But now that Cream has warmed up to me, she's stopped these behavior altogether, and no longer tenses when being picked up. I'm sure Charlie will get there as well.
Anyway, good on you for rescuing these boys. I bet they'll warm up to you in no time :)
I know this is an old video and you probably won't reply but I thought I'd give it a shot. When you're demonstrating what to do with your rats, is this after they've already been tamed a fair amount? Because I'm doing everything you're doing and it is definitely working - one of them will climb on me now and the other two will put their paws on me. However, it's really slow progress.
Tl;dr: Is this footage filmed after you've worked on this a fair amount with them?
This video was made with my at the time tame girls, however I have a more recent series with my girl Mocha and S'more who are quite timid rats and it spans their first few months with me. One thing I do want to say is that I usually cut out any clips where the rats are feeling particularly skittish or running off because that's just boring to watch. I doubt anyone wants to watch a static scene for 30 minutes while I tried to tempt them out, so I'd just cut that and move to when they were moving forwards. Even so you can see how skittish those girls are, and the progress they make video to video: czcams.com/play/PLGThSDBAdLEK_jb6nq5XgI47mQ0YRpfWF.html
@@ShadowTheRat Thank you so much for the reply, this is really reassuring! Hopefully, our rats will get to this stage soon :) Good to know it's not a fruitless venture haha!
I wish my rats would let me pick them up this easily. I train with them everyday, but they still sqeak on some days and try to escape....Of course I wont grab on them tighter if they do. I even have the Problem that they always want to get out of the free range area, if I set up cardboard walls like you did, they even become scared, so I need to let them out in my bathroom, which kinda sucks for my roommates...
Hi, as a new ratter(lol) is it ok to let them run about all the time and choose their own sleeping places? Our pair seem to have got used to this and don’t apparently like being put back in their cage. So... any thoughts please?
As long as your room is rat safe then its fine - otherwise if you get them on a schedule they will learn when to wake for playtime and when to sleep, and won't mind returning to the cage for sleeping.
I am planning on getting pet rats. I have ordered a big cage and some interieur as well as bedding and when all is set up I want to go adopt three ladies. I have never had a pet rat (two hamsters when I was a kid) but I am watching your videos and I want to order a book about pet rats to inform myself thoroughly (is that written correct?) Before I get the ladies
WHat are the paper looking treats u tear off and use?
It's wafer paper, and edible rice paper used for baking.