Help needed for new rescue!!

[Mialee]

Hi,

Yesterday I adopted a little girl rat (about 10 months old) who was treated really badly in her previous home. The owner let her get so bad that she had such a bad respiratory infection that she is no longer allowed to live with other rats. She was kept on her own her whole life and I feel awful that she has to stay alone - but I want to make her life as great as possible for her.

The only problem is, she is terrified of people (probably due to her previous owner) and apparently has some cage aggression. I haven’t seen her be aggressive and she has been taking treats out of my hand in the cage but she is very shy and hides in 1 corner or in her hammock most of the time.

I just need some tips on how to make her happy and feel loved. I understand she will need a lot of time and care before she trusts humans again but I would love to get to the point where she is happy to come out and play. Are there any ways which I can get her to trust me?

 

[AYA]

I'm not experienced whatsoever, but my baby girl Sneki was also afraid at first.

I get her to completely trust me by becoming her safe spot myself.
I wore an old hoodie with "kangaroo pocket", a zip up jacket, half zipped on top and let her in the play area inside the jacket. I sat still there, carrying some treats and lured her out. She soon find out she can be safely hidden in that jacket so she always came to me to hide. She climbs all over me now just for fun.

I have no idea if this would work for your rat, however, it worked well for my girl.

 

[Mialee]

I'm not experienced whatsoever, but my baby girl Sneki was also afraid at first.

I get her to completely trust me by becoming her safe spot myself.
I wore an old hoodie with "kangaroo pocket", a zip up jacket, half zipped on top and let her in the play area inside the jacket. I sat still there, carrying some treats and lured her out. She soon find out she can be safely hidden in that jacket so she always came to me to hide. She climbs all over me now just for fun.

I have no idea if this would work for your rat, however, it worked well for my girl.

Thank you so much, that’s a really great idea. I’m not sure if my girl will let me get her out the cage yet as she is absolutely terrified and I don’t want to spook her! I feel awful that she has to stay alone but I’m trying to spend as much time with her as possible, sitting by the cage and talking to her so she knows I’m not here to hurt her. Did you have any tips on how to get her out of the cage to begin with? Or is it a case of picking her up from inside the cage? I’m worried that if I try and pick her up when she’s inside the cage her aggression will come out and she will lose trust again!

 

[AYA]

Sorry, I have no answer for that one. My girl wasn't and isn't cage aggressive. Although she didn't like being held at first, she did tolerate it. For some time I sat by her with my hand in the cage and treats. She was curious enough to come and take the treat.

I guess we'll have to wait for more experienced owners advices.

 

[Mialee]

Sorry, I have no answer for that one. My girl wasn't and isn't cage aggressive. Although she didn't like being held at first, she did tolerate it. For some time I sat by her with my hand in the cage and treats. She was curious enough to come and take the treat.

I guess we'll have to wait for more experienced owners advices.

Thank you, your advise was really helpful. I haven’t seen her be cage aggressive yet and she has taken treats from my hand in the cage but I was told by the adoption centre that she used to be really bad (they had to keep her out the back for a few months as she wasn’t ‘adoptable’) - I haven’t experienced that yet though, although I’m taking things very slowly with her as she’s very sensitive. I’ll try the jacket method once I am able to get her out

 

[AYA]

How about sitting by the cage while somehow playing friendly ultrasonic rat sounds?

I have no idea, if this is even possible, nor if it could be effective. I'm just thinking aloud and trying to be creative
Did anyone ever tried it before?

 

[Mialee]

How about sitting by the cage while somehow playing friendly ultrasonic rat sounds?

I have no idea, if this is even possible, nor if it could be effective. I'm just thinking aloud and trying to be creative
Did anyone ever tried it before?

That’s a good idea!! I’ll try it, I’m giving everything a shot at this point.

 

[SQ]

Awww …. she looks like a wonderful little girl. So glad that she is safe and well cared for.

Do you have any other rats?

Why, exactly, can she not be with other rats?
Did a vet tell you that?
- I am asking because a chronic respiratory infection is not a reason to keep a rat isolated.
Did they say that she has/had streptococcus pneumoniae? CAR bacillus (Cilia-Associated Respiratory Bacillus)? or Mycoplasma (myco)?

http://ratguide.com/health/lower_respiratory/pneumonia.php
http://ratguide.com/health/bacteria/car_bacillus.php
http://ratguide.com/health/bacteria/mycoplasma_mycoplasmosis.php

There are good suggestions for trust training rats at joinrats.com

You will also find the links in the Reference Thread to be useful https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/reference-thread-read-only.35894/

 

[Mialee]

Awww …. she looks like a wonderful little girl. So glad that she is safe and well cared for.

Do you have any other rats?

Why, exactly, can she not be with other rats?
Did a vet tell you that?
- I am asking because a chronic respiratory infection is not a reason to keep a rat isolated.
Did they say that she has/had streptococcus pneumoniae? CAR bacillus (Cilia-Associated Respiratory Bacillus)? or Mycoplasma (myco)?

http://ratguide.com/health/lower_respiratory/pneumonia.php
http://ratguide.com/health/bacteria/car_bacillus.php
http://ratguide.com/health/bacteria/mycoplasma_mycoplasmosis.php

There are good suggestions for trust training rats at joinrats.com

You will also find the links in the Reference Thread to be useful https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/reference-thread-read-only.35894/

Thank you! I don’t have any other rats, just her. Yes she had myco, which will not ever go away properly. She’s not in any pain, but she makes little noises when she’s sleeping (due to the myco) and if housed with other rats she would most likely pass the myco onto them or her condition would flare up. I went into the centre which I adopted her from yesterday because I feel awful that she has to stay alone and I wanted to check that she was 100% not allowed to live with other rats and how great the risk would be. They said it was probably not worth the risk to harm another rat. Myco can also flare up in times of stress, if she was introduced to another girl or neutered boy she could become unwell again. I would LOVE for her to live with another rat more than anything but I have been advised not to, although I can’t find anything about housing rats with myco with others online - I really need advice on what is best to do for her. All help welcomed to make her life better

 

[SQ]

I responded to your other post about this …..

All pet rats have myco, although there are different strains, so you do not need to be concerned abot other rats catching myco, they already have it.
All rats have myco flare up from time to time and when that happens, they are treated promptly with antibiotics - because rats get ill and die fast

If you have not done so, you may want to take her to a good vet with the knowledge and experience to treat rats. This will give you info about her health and if she needs to be on meds.
Having a good relationship with a good vet is essential when owning rats

From what you have written, there is no reason why she should not be introed to at least 1 other rat
and as you have mentioned, living with a rattie friend will make her happier, less stressed, less afraid, and will give her a much better quality of life