Rats are loyal and affectionate companions. Being trusted by a prey animal is a rewarding experience, but not every rat instantly bonds with you. Let get on with some tips on bonding with rats! š (thereās a lot of ways, this is what works for me)
-Go at the pace both you and your rats are comfortable with. Take it back a step or skip steps if needed!
Preface: If your rats werenāt positively interacted with as babies, or donāt come from good tempered parents, they sometimes never learn to accept pets. Some rats also have personalities that arenāt human-oriented, and thatās okay! They still can become comfortable enough with you to be shoulder or lap ratsš„°
The first 3 months of a rats' life is when they are most likely to imprint on other rats and humans but a bond can delevop at any point in their lives with enough patience.
Let's break it down into steps. This is best done when you first get your rats but if you're looking to strenthen your bond with them after you've had them a while you can absolutely start at any step and work your way down. For best results, you need to spend at least an hour with your rats each day.
Days 1-3: When you first bring rats home, let them settle in for *1-3 days. This means leaving them in a quiet room and only check on them to replace food and water. You can leave a peice of cloth or an old t shirt/socks that you've worn for a couple hours so that it smells like you in the cage and this helps them get used to your scent. You can continue to do this for the coming weeks until they recognize you if needed! Replace it with another worn cloth when you clean the cage. Keep them away from any other pets in your home and wash your hands between touching your resident pets and your new rats so that they donāt smell unfamiliar animals āthis will stress them out.
Days 1-7: When your rats seem to be comfortable in their cage and are exploring, hiding less, and curious of you, start spending quiet time by the cage. Read a book, do homework, watch tv with headphones, just make sure they can see you. Remember that rats do not have good eye sight, they can see maybe a couple feet. You want them to get used to your presence before you start trying to interact with them. Eventually, they will learn your scent and what you sound/look like.
As they show curiosity: If they seem to be interested in you and what you're doing, open the cage so that they can explore onto you if they choose to. I like to open the cage door and use my lap or shoulder as a bridge to leave the cage if they please. If they seem nervous, ignore them and don't make a big deal when they climb onto you. They can sense your emotions so if you're nervous, they will be too! Once they are comfortable climbing out onto you, start to make slow movements and judge if they are okay with it, if they aren't okay with it try again the next day. If they are okay with it, start to hand them small treats such as cheerios. You want to give treats that they can run away with at the beginning. At this stage I like to get them used to my voice so speak softy, hum, sing, say encouraging words.
When they take treats from your hand and climb out onto you: show them that you won't hurt them. Try to touch them as they are climbing onto you, moving slowly at first, and immediately offer a treat after any interaction. You want to build a positive association with touch= food. Build up to petting, touch different parts of their body (head, sides, tail) and work up to where they don't mind when you pick them up just 1 cm of the ground and back down. Donāt forget to offer treats immediately after!
Keep increasing interactions. This means picking them up for longer, petting them for longer, picking them up different ways. Some rats do not appreciate being picked up from a claw like appendage so scoop them from below by their belly and with two hands if necessary. Switch to a treat that they can't run away with. So add a bit of non-dairy fruit yogurt (no citrus), malt paste, meat baby food on your hand. If you're afraid of being bitten you can put these treats on a metal spoon so that it will hurt them if they bite it. If they take it gently then you can put the wet treats on the back of a closed fist or in the middle of an open palm. This makes them go out of their comfort zone and stick around in order to lick off all the food. Try to pet them as they lick the wet food off your hand. Build up to picking them up as they lick the wet food.
When they are ready to explore outside the cage, get a bonding pouch for them to crawl into, or put your hoodie on backwards. Entice them into it with some treats and then walk away from the cage for a few minutes at first and each day take them away from the cage for longer. They will enjoy the warmth/hiding spot and still be able to smell/hear/see you!
Start free roaming with them! When they are free-roaming, sit with them and donāt give them anywhere to hide the first few times except a bonding pouch that youāre wearing if you have one. They will associate you as the only hiding spot, therefore, the only safe space in a new environment. I like to leave my bonding pouch on in case they are overwhelmed and want to run up into it and hide somewhere they know to be safe.
Treats/items: Cheerios, baby food puffs, meat baby food, dairy free yogurt (check for rat safe ingredients, no citrus for males), malt paste. āBonding Pouchā on my MoomooChews Etsy page, or a hoodie turned backwards.
*(New rats need to be quarantined for a minimum of 14 days if you have resident rats at home already to minimize spread of illness and stress.)
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