[ashleighcooper1]

almost a week ago, me and my mum bought two male rats.
we did our research beforehand, and we knew what we were taking on.
yesterday i got MY rat out for a cuddle, but he is a little skittish.
he immediately ran up my top, and stayed there for an hour.
However, when I tried to pick him up and put him back in his cage, he urinated on me, but not just little bits, immense amounts, like- literally emptied his bladder. He's never done that before.

Please tell me if there is anything wrong with him.
xx

[ashleighcooper1]

i have two rats, Cecil and Seymore,
Cecil belongs to me, and Seymore belongs to my mum.
As soon as we got them, Cecil was always the scared, timid one- however, he has recently come out of himself a little bit.

But it gets too much at times.
I want to take him out and cuddle him, but whenever I do, he runs and cowers away.
Its very disappointing, as i want him to get used to me.

Please help me.
I will appreciate any advice.
Thank you.

[Alty]

You've only had them a week, give it time. Go slowly, rats aren't used to being handled by humans, it can be frightening.

As for training, I have no idea, hopefully someone else will come along that does, or you can Google.

Good luck.

[Silverfoxkit]

Where did you get these rats from? Was it the average pet shop? Most every day pet shop rats are sold mostly for snake food and receive very little positive love and attention. Sadly rats are not what the average person thinks of when they want a pet. Also how old are the rats? Are they young or adults? I myself own rats and we got them at a very young age and handled them often. It may just take time, patience, and yummy treats to help ease Cecil out of his fears.

[tickle]

Hi silver, what do you consider 'yummy' treats for your rats. Maybe I don't want to know, but tell me anyway, okay

Tick

[Silverfoxkit]

They have all sorts of things from yogurt drops to little seed and nut mix treats. You need to be careful how much you give them though, and never give a rat chocolate! Its not good for them. Its best to stick to things like plain yogurt, yogurt treats, fresh fruits and vegetables, and seeds. Every now and then I admit to giving them a peanut butter cracker, but for the best diet I would suggest sticking to the more healthy snacks.

[tickle]

Thanks silver.

Tick says in a little voice, okay, anyone like ferrets. I know about ferrets.

[templelane]

I got rats from a breeder and they still spent the first week peeing and pooing on me!

When you think about it the whole new home experience is scary. They don't know who you are (you might want to eat them!) where they are, where their old friends are, where the best hide outs are if they feel scared.

Get an old dressing gown. Always wear it when you get them out. It is good for several reasons:
1) you won't ruin your clothes when they have little accidents
2) It'll get their scent on it making them feel better
3) They like soft things and pockets/sleaves to hide in - as you found out

This will help but it's really just time and calm handling. If you have a space you can let them out just open the cage (they feel better if they can run back to it whenever they want) get something interesting just out of reach to tempt them, seafood sticks, peas in water, toilet roll and then sit away from the cage and read a book. Completely ignore them, they are very curious so soon enough they won't be able to help themselves and go over to see the funny big thing being quiet in the corner.

It works my rats are little terrors now, running here there and everywhere and learning tricks. But even from a good breeder they were very nervous when I first got them.

[turtlegirl16]

Continue loving him, when he get used to you, he won't pee on you and eventually, he will come to you FIRST. If you feed and love them, they will come. Good choice in your pet, too. Rats are great creatures♥

[ashleighcooper1]

Thanks for all of your tips.
Cecil and Seymore are little characters now.
They couldn't be better.
Love my boys now :)
They're definitely used to me. And I took all of your advice on board! Xx