After a long period of waiting, totnak and I went to the pet store and bought ourselves a pair of little boy rats last Friday. They are sweet and curious, eating and drinking well, and seem pretty healthy. (And who knew I was a complete sucker for beady little eyes?) But I’m curious about a couple things that I’m not figuring out on my own here…
First, sometimes they tussle around in their cage. This sometimes ends with Skinner, who is slightly larger, on top of Climber. It looks to me like Skinner is nipping/biting his brother. Climber squeaks a bit and Skinner lets him up. Is this just the rat way of determining who’s boss, or is it playing, or should I intervene? Climber doesn’t seem to be getting hurt and often they will end up curled up napping together a very short time later.
Second, how long does it take to get them to trust the bipedal creatures who bring them food? They are definitely curious about us and will come running to the cage wall if they’re up and about when we come into the room. They’ll climb up, sniff our fingers/hands, and accept treats through the bars. But they do not want to be picked up. I’m concerned because I know they need to come out of the cage to play and exercise, but I don’t dare take them out and let them run free until I’m reasonably sure they’ll let me put them back again :eek: (Not to mention what a challenge it is to clean the cage…) I’ve brought them out and let them climb on me while I sit in a chair. Skinner is getting marginally less afraid but Climber still runs and hides when I stick my hand in the cage, even if it has a treat in it. Am I expecting too much too early, or should I try something different, or what?
Congratulations on your new family members! Rats are fantastic pets - I miss my boys terribly.
I wouldn’t worry about the tussling - they’re playing and/or establishing dominance. As long as no one’s getting hurt, it’s no biggie. My boys scuffled to the end of their days, and as long as no one broke skin, I didn’t worry about it too much.
As for them getting used to you…it does take a bit of time. Treats and food are the way to go - open up the cage door and offer up a yogurt treat, and before long you’ll have two rats who adore you. Another good trick is to lock yourself in a small room with the rats (I always used the bathroom) and just hang out - let them wander and explore, and offer them the occasional treat. Handle them as often as you can and they’ll warm up to you pretty quick.
There are a lot of great websites on rat ownership - I’d start with the Rat Fan Club and work my way out from there.
My girl rats started fighting each other, decent scratches, a bit of blood, at about age one. I freaked out but did some research and found this is normal when rats get around that age. These two knew each other since birth, if you bought a pair not raised together and then put them in the same cage, the initial fighting would be for dominance I think. If they were raised together and not yet near age one, I would think they are playing, but I haven’t seen mine do that- maybe boys are different?
The more you play with them, the quicker they get to know you and won’t be afraid. I have had my current pair for a few months, one will run and hide every time I try and pick it up, but once I get her she will play and run around no fear at all, just the initial removal from the cage seems to be a problem for some reason.
And I also agree the bathroom is a great palce to let them out at first, so they can get used to being out and not get lost. And if I’m not in the mood to play with them I often leave them in the bathtub with the water running a bit, and of course something blocking the bottom of the bathroom door.
Don’t feed them through the bars of the cage - they’ll get used to the idea that anything that gets poked through the bars is food, and will bite curious fingers.
You can also get them used to being handled, if you have time, by hand-feeding them. But you have to have time.
Thanks all! I guess I was just getting unnecessarily freaked out, huh? This happens when you have a worried seven-year-old fussing along with you, I guess
The little squeakers seem to be getting more used to our presence, and even if Climber still doesn’t like to be picked up he does like sitting on my shoulder when I finally get them out. This weekend I’ll take them out and let them roam around the kitchen - can’t do it in the bathroom, as the tub is raised off the floor and if they decide to hide back there we’ve got a problem. But our kitchen has no space for a rat to hide and has a door that can be closed, so I’ll let them try things out there.
Also, Climber has started winning some of the tussles! I’m less worried now that it doesn’t look like the larger is always “bullying” the smaller…
