Hey guys! New member and first time poster.
A little background,
When I met my boyfriend over a year ago he had 5 rats. Two older feeder boys he took in with his ex, and three baby boys. His ex has the two big boys and we have the initially VERY timid baby’s (Puar, Mickey, Kush). I’ve been working with them hands on trying to get them more use to handling/petting and work on not biting fingers. Two of the boys are now the best little babies. Puar is the sweetest and more outgoing of the three. He loves to explore, but is a little more possesive with treat handling. Mickey has had the most improvement of the three. He use to bite so much and now he rarely does (only if he’s cranky/just woke). He loves little ear and head rubs. They both are still sometimes timid with being picked up, but don’t put up much of a fight about it.
Then there is Kush... he got to a point where he was getting better, but he’s starting to plateu. When we touch him he instantly bites, picking him up he screams. After the initial attempt to pick him up if we barely touch him he screams louder. He has started to explore more, but only on his own initiative. He burrys away in his igloo a lot of the time. Luckily he’s very fond of his brothers and will pile sleep with them, but is he is just so skiddish and I don’t want him to stop improving. He had surgery last winter for a tumor on his side, and he’s becoming more over weight. I need advice on what methods I can do to help get him use to handling, hand feeding, pets, and more social/actively moving. He seems to love the interaction and exploration, but he just holds himself back ;-;
THANKS!
A little background,
When I met my boyfriend over a year ago he had 5 rats. Two older feeder boys he took in with his ex, and three baby boys. His ex has the two big boys and we have the initially VERY timid baby’s (Puar, Mickey, Kush). I’ve been working with them hands on trying to get them more use to handling/petting and work on not biting fingers. Two of the boys are now the best little babies. Puar is the sweetest and more outgoing of the three. He loves to explore, but is a little more possesive with treat handling. Mickey has had the most improvement of the three. He use to bite so much and now he rarely does (only if he’s cranky/just woke). He loves little ear and head rubs. They both are still sometimes timid with being picked up, but don’t put up much of a fight about it.
Then there is Kush... he got to a point where he was getting better, but he’s starting to plateu. When we touch him he instantly bites, picking him up he screams. After the initial attempt to pick him up if we barely touch him he screams louder. He has started to explore more, but only on his own initiative. He burrys away in his igloo a lot of the time. Luckily he’s very fond of his brothers and will pile sleep with them, but is he is just so skiddish and I don’t want him to stop improving. He had surgery last winter for a tumor on his side, and he’s becoming more over weight. I need advice on what methods I can do to help get him use to handling, hand feeding, pets, and more social/actively moving. He seems to love the interaction and exploration, but he just holds himself back ;-;
THANKS!
