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Baby Rats Taming
I have had rats in the past growing up, my last rat was solitaire, I never got another because my mother had a problem with just one being in the house; however I spent much much time with her. And she lived 5 years and passed when I turned 18. I am now 21 and last Monday went out to the city and saw a few baby rats. The litter was abouy 7 weeks the lady told me. And I looked at the babies and fell in love with two adorable little girls, I brought them home with me. (Over the past month I had Gotten a tank with everything needed, since I was expecting on getting either mice or a pair of rats.) While they grow enough to be put in a cage I have them in a 25 Gallon tank with igloo, waterbottle, food bowl, bedding and some chewblocks and pieces of soft fabric and soft paper towel for them to tare and nest with.
I have picked them up for short amounts of time and whisper to them since when I speak out normally they tend to skitter and hide...I call them each by name as they settle a bit in my hand. I will pet them softly on their neck and by their ears and one took my finger and tasted it...or maybe tried grooming me? I'm not sure, but anyways they come up now when I come over to the tank. They peek out and look around when I am talking about on the phone or with a friend in my room, and when I move over they are slowly adapting to me speaking out, my voice is loud and gruff..anyways
Now whenever I stick my hand in they run up to me and start searching for food, since I have been feeding them periodically by hand and then watch them a bit and talk to them, once they come out after they are done eating I hold each of the at a time for a couple of minutes then place them back in.
But recently as of 2days ago, whenever I go and stick my hand in they grab at my fingers and nip kind of hard...I don't bleed but it does hurt and I don't mind it much since I figure they are being lil butts and want more treats. But will this go away? I haven't had a rat in so long and the others I had gotten were a couple of months old and not baby babies as these are.
Also what else can I do to tame them, and get them to recognize it isn't ok to bite hard?
Thanks in advance to everyone who helps! (:
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You need to make some sort of noise, a yelp or a squeal, and pull your hand back when they bite too hard. At their age, they are probably experimenting with playing. They need to learn that isn't how they play with you even if they is how the like to play with one another. A squeal and pulling away is how they teach each other what is too rough, and you'll need to do the same.
You never want to punish a rat. They don't understand the concept and it only makes them distrust you. So just leave them alone for a minute or two if they bite too hard.
Also, if you feed them from your hands, do not hold the food between your fingers and offer to to them. Put the food in your palm and let them climb on your hand to get it. That will teach them not to nip at your fingertips for food, but to gently approach your hands for their treats.
You also want to make sure they don't have too many places where they can hide completely from you. They need some coverage to feel safe, but if you give them completely closed places to hide, they might bite to protect their den. Making sure their cage is relatively open when they are young can help make them more amenable to being handled at all times.
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