Mimic Shreiking to say "No"?

[TheHermit]

Since I first got rats I tried finding a way to get their attention and stop them from doing something without grabbing them and putting them elsewhere, since they run back to that spot/activity anyway. Stubborn little things.

So one day I kind of just put my two top teeth against my bottom lip and shriek/squeaked at one of my boys who was trying to dig into a couch cushion. It sounded, to me, a lot like a rat fighting or getting scared, and apparently it did to him too. He stopped immediately and even looked right at me, almost concerned. I made the noise again and he came running towards me!

Not all of my rats have gone so far as to come to me, but all of them have gotten the hint: mama shrieking means NO!
They do get startled at first, because obviously the noise isn't in ratty language, but it seems to sound similar enough for them to be very interested - kinda like the CGI Jeff Bridges in the new Tron. Attention grabbing and disturbing at the same time.

Has anyone else thought of this or done it?
If you have, have you gone so far as to come up with 'patterns'? Like one short shriek for "no", a longer one with a high note for "come", etc?
Just curious cause I just did it to tell Lilly not to enter the kitchen. It seems most effective when they're pondering something - ears perked, neck stretched out, examining a new location or a possible hole to disappear into...

 

[jorats]

Oh this is very interesting. I've never needed to say NO without actually being there to remove the rat from the situation but I can see that being very useful.

 

[Rachael]

I've tried it before and didn't have much success, mine just seemed to ignore me. A few of them though stopped what they were doing because they were confused by the noise.

 

[hopefloats]

Oh this is very interesting. I've never needed to say NO without actually being there to remove the rat from the situation but I can see that being very useful.

it would be awesome. I have a lot of wood in my room, so my rats eat it up. I am constantly calling names out. I think if you could train them briefly, they would catch on.


I totally want to see how it goes lol

 

[M0onkist]

I have an admonishing tone of voice that I use (it's hard to explain it without a sound clip) - sort of admonishing and exasperated, high/low tone for both (or multiple) syllables (CE-e/RA-a). Never fails to get a guilty look from the rats followed by a return to me. "I wasn't REALLY thinking about doing that Mommy!"

I know people use loud 'eep's to stop rats from biting them (especially useful for rescues from abusive households) - the general idea being it mimics the sound of a rat in pain, which they understand to mean that the biting was a not-good thing.

 

[SQ]

Nope, I just make sure they are not able to get into anything they shouldn't
Can't think of anything they do that would require a reaction like that
Mostly I accept them as they are and enjoy interacting with them
If they are doing something I would perfer they don't do I modify the environment, give a short (couple of min) time out if serious like drawing blood, or I use distraction ....

Edit: Mimic Shreiking to say "No" ........ sounds like a very bad idea to me
Something I would never be comfortable with

Eeeping like a rat so they know that nipping you hurts ... ok
Clicker training ... maybe, might be intellectually interesting/stimulating for person & rattie

 

[Aida]

I'm not sure where, but I read advice to do this on a ratty website. Tried it with mine, but all that came out of me were pathetic excuses for a rat noise. o.e
I should have probably done it louder, but I would feel too much like a ******* to explain to my family why I was squeaking at my rats running around my bathroom. :laugh4:

 

[TheHermit]

My bottom lip is big enough that the noises I make are never the same because my lip folds around my teeth weird, but starting with them young has really helped.

Penelope the Monster started ignoring it after the first time but that's... that's Penny for you.

My boys got used to it after a year (the different tones and pitches probably confused them) but following up, if they didn't listen, by picking them up and repeating the noise to their face seemed to reinforce the meaning. The last year of their lives I had two boys that stopped and walked away from things when I squeaked at them, it was great. The time it takes to really settle in is ridiculous so I'm not recommending it as the most efficient way, but I didn't know if anyone else did this and hadn't read anything online about it.

 

[Aida]

My bottom lip is big enough that the noises I make are never the same because my lip folds around my teeth weird, but starting with them young has really helped.

Penelope the Monster started ignoring it after the first time but that's... that's Penny for you.

My boys got used to it after a year (the different tones and pitches probably confused them) but following up, if they didn't listen, by picking them up and repeating the noise to their face seemed to reinforce the meaning. The last year of their lives I had two boys that stopped and walked away from things when I squeaked at them, it was great. The time it takes to really settle in is ridiculous so I'm not recommending it as the most efficient way, but I didn't know if anyone else did this and hadn't read anything online about it.

That reminds me of how many people recommend clicker training rats. I wonder...
(a clicker is just a little thing that makes "clicks".)