#trust training

[cherioke]

Little love

[lotsaheart]

in trust training my rats I’m just making one of them real fat lol no more treats for Mr. Keaton, I need to use broccoli and get some baby food

[ratbliss-blog]

Trust Training Update

Over the past WEEK the boys have changed so much. Before they were too scared to eat treats on my lap. So I've been working on encouraging them onto my hand, my shoulder, and my lap with Cheerios. Mack is so smart he hops right onto my shoulder when he knows it's time, and I'll put him on my lap with a few cheerios and he'll munch away. Nikko is still shy about climbing onto me, but he does so well on my lap! And Ollie is so clumsy and huge and perfect. AND I CAN PET THEM NOW TOO!! They get more nervous after they finish eating, so I've been letting them hang out on me for a just little while before putting them back. They all desperately want to run around my room but there are too many hazards with all of the moving stuff for me to be comfortable with that. But they're less nervous than they were a week ago! I think my next goal is to encourage this awesome behavior and then maybe add more intermittent treats during lap time and extend it. 1 minute of socializing with me, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, until we reach the big 20 over the next month or two. I guess this is "forced socialization" but I'm doing it gradually and they don't absolutely hate me/are terrified of me, so it should be okay. Progress!

[ratbliss-blog]

Trust Training

I’ve always been a little sad about how the boys aren’t super cuddly with me. I take them into the bathroom for free time often, in the past it was every night. Although they’re much more mellow (they don’t try to run away as much, and I can pick them up much easier in the cage), they still aren’t cuddle bugs. They’re much happier away from me than with me. When I let them run around the bedroom, they pretty much avoid me unless I have food. And if I put them on a chair with me, they don’t ever hide under my shirt or in a pocket. They just sit beside me on the chair or try to figure out a way to climb down.

Part of it is my own inexperience. I would do so many things differently if I could back in time to when they were babies. As new a rat owner, I was scared of hurting them, scared of holding them. 

Now they’re almost a year old and I think I’m going to do some more trust training. It’s not too late, I don’t think. Start in the cage, and lure them onto my hand for baby food. Then onto my arm, and onto my lap. Then, have them be picked up and put down before they get food. Then, have them be held before they get food. Something like that. And then once they’re comfortable with all of that, I’ll go back to chair time and make them sit on my lap and/or be held for food.

It’s hard to figure all of this stuff out. I sometime think of these boys as my “guinea pig” rats, because it’s been such a crazy learning experience with giving them medicine for respiratory problems, mites, bite wounds. But they’re genuine and sweet and I absolutely adore them, even if they don’t feel the same way about me (yet!). Please feel free to message me if you have any suggestions!!!

[violinistpoops]

Impressions of rat ownership after day 2: 

Trust training your rats takes HELLA PATIENCE. 

I was lucky enough to have one rat who took to me right away. On the first night he let me hold him for about a half hour, he just sat on my lap and cuddled, and he let me pet him as much as I wanted. The second night he seemed a little more scared, but he still let me hold him without completely freaking out. I’m naming this one Remy. :) 

I managed to coax rat #2 into my hand with some treats and a comfy piece of fleece, however, my mistake was not holding him in an enclosed space. I sat on the bed with him, he escaped, and he promptly ran under the bed. I then spent the next 20 minutes trying to get him out from under the bed. That was a bit traumatic for both of us. I was really worried he was gonna get lost somewhere in my room and I’d spend all night trying to get him back in the cage. I then got the idea to lure him back with the spare hammock I bought. They LOVE their hammocks. After that let me carry him in the bathroom (while curled up in the hammock), and he sat in the hammock on my lap for about 20 minutes. 

Rat #3 is the most shy of all. This morning I tried to pet him and he gave me a small nip (it didn’t hurt though.) So, I’ve just been putting out my hand near him with a treat on my fingertips. He cautiously approaches my hand, grabs the treat, and then scurries back into his hammock with his food. I haven’t been able to hold him yet. 

I haven’t named rat #2 and 3 yet because I want to learn their personalities a bit more, but they will be called Linguini and Emile. Just haven’t decided which one gets which name yet. :) 

I’m soo looking forward to when all 3 are bonded with me and I can just pick them up and play with them as I please, but I know I can’t rush it. They’re still adjusting to their new surroundings and to me.  Hopefully it won’t take too long for them to be comfortable with me though! 

***UPDATE UPDATE***

So apparently they go CRAZY for yogurt. I held out a spoonful of it and they all flocked to me. All three of them were exploring my hand and arms and licking me, even the really shy one!! :) They all got instantly more adventurous too, they were trying to get out of the cage to play. I knew I’d win them over with something. I really feel like I need to build them some sort of rat-safe play pen so they can freely leave the cage and I don’t have to worry about them getting lost in my room. That’ll be my next project! 

[ratabulous]

Day 5: Cheza is warming up

So today I had the day off and was doing laundry most of the time so I could spend time in the bedroom with Cheza. I’ve noticed when she is sleepy or just wakes up she needs time to wake up (like Arya) before I should try to give her treats or anything, unlike how my boys are/were. She has started to show her playful side, too. She started tugging the fleece in through the cage bars, so I started making noises with my fingers and moving them along the outside of the cage and she started chasing it ^_^ gonna see if she likes chasing straws later. But yeah, progress!

[rosenrot234]

More ratties

And before someone asks. I've tried turning my phone on it's side for video but it didn't change when I uploaded it.

That and I never was good with computers. But here's some cute rats to make up for it.

Still wish I could tell how old they are.

[hazelandjuniperdos]

Today I am curious and playful!

-Hazel