Rat is terrified of me

[SilverMoon]

I don't know why, but one of my boys is scared to death of my hand. I have four boys, all littermates, and I've had them all since they were 4-5 weeks old. Three of them love attention, love to be handled and scratched and kissed... but the odd one out, Tommy, is super afraid. He's always been more timid than his brothers but I was a little shaken up tonight when I was giving them each a bath to get rid of their buck grease... I reached for Tommy, who was last to go, and he stood up on his back legs and stared my hand down. When I reached to pick him up anyway (I was afraid he was going to bite me!) he took off into a corner of the bathroom so I couldn't get behind him to scoop him up and stared my hand down again. Eventually I managed to lift him without getting bitten, but he was scratching me to get away and squealing.

It's not just at bath time (although this is the first time I've seen him display any aggressive behaviors at all). He doesn't want me to touch him at all, he doesn't like to be near my hand when it's in the cage... I'm at a loss because his brothers are so sweet and cuddly, but more than anything now I'm afraid he's going to start biting out of fear of me and I really don't want that at all.

I can't afford to neuter him, but I don't think it's aggression that's the problem. I think his behavior was more out of fear of my hand than anything else, and even as scared as he was he didn't actually go through and bite me like he was threatening to. He was friendly toward me at one point, but never to the extent of his brothers and now it's getting worse.

Do you guys have any tips for me on how I can bond with Tommy before it's too late? I try giving him treats and he'll take them if he's in the cage but it's not bonding us. He doesn't like to come out of his cage either, and spends all him out time trying to get away from me and back into his house. The methods I used with his brothers (lots of treats and attention) aren't working with him...

Please help!

 

[jorats]

It's never too late to bond with rats.
Have you tried the "down the shirt" trick? You could pick up your boy several times a day and keep him in your shirt for about 30 to 40 minutes at a time. Offer him treats when you are doing this. Keep doing this until the little guy is happy to see you.

 

[Fidget]

He's not being aggessive towards you - just your hand and even then it's fear rather than agression so I wouldn't think neuter at all.
I'd spend a little time with him on the couch or bed with me every day while I watch TV, letting him do his thing and relax but once in while handing him a bit of a treat, and gradually working towards petting him while he ate it. Then he associates your hand with pleasure & comfort.

 

[SilverMoon]

I haven't tried putting him down my shirt because I'm pretty allergic to rat scratches, unfortunately, but at this point I am willing to suffer through the hives. I will start trying that and hopefully he'll come around and come to love me like his brothers do. :')

Thank you for the tips and advice. I was pretty upset when I posted; It's hard to see him so scared like that.

Do you think I should try it tonight, or should I wait until tomorrow to handle him again? He was pretty upset about the bath and he was stressed enough in the water that he was hissing (and I didn't even know rats could hiss until today). Do you think he's too traumatized for the moment?

ETA: I did want to mention that he let me comfort him after the bath while I had him wrapped in a fluffy towel, so maybe things aren't too bad.

 

[Fidget]

The down the shirt thing seems to be a sure thing, the only reason I never tried it is because I'm allergic like you, I would get welts bigger than my female parts there lol! That's also why I can't carry a kid around on my shoulder. And why I do my bonding with them beside me instead of on me. He'll come around for you for sure, we can see you want to love him, he'll see it too. My opinion is just have him relax out on the bed or couch with you tonight and have treats available when he dares to come close enough to your hand to take them. And don't put your hand out to him after the first couple treats, he'll know they are there by then, let him learn that the hand is a source of treats that he has to come to if he wants them. 'The hand' will become a good thing in time.

 

[jorats]

Do you have a turtleneck you could put on under a sweatshirt? It might get warm but at least you will be protected from the claws. Also, the more you sweat the better it will be, he will bond to your smell.

 

[SilverMoon]

Really? I didn't know that (about sweating)! I have a really nice big sweatshirt I can wear when I'm holding him... It was the same one I used with his brothers when I first got them (I had them for about 3 weeks before I got Tommy... He was supposed to go live with my aunt in wiarton but that ended up falling through).

 

[xxchelle]

This is off topic, but bathing to get rid of buck grease actually makes them produce MORE buck grease, therefore they smell MORE, and can dry out their skin.

 

[SilverMoon]

Bathing isn't something that happens very often. I've had my boys for quite a while now (I think 7 months, maybe 8) and they have had all of three baths in that time frame. They were just super smelly and turning that gross sticky orange color so I figured it was probably time for a quite soak to clean up their fur... plus they like to pee in their hammock and on each other a lot. It's just a quick dip into the warm water and a scrub until they're looking white(ish) again.

I thought it was ok to bath them every once in a while???

 

[xxchelle]

It is okay, but I'm just warning that it does make them produce more buck grease. Rats like to smell like themselves, and will go into "overtime" to produce buck grease to smell like themselves again (that orangey coating is buck grease).

I don't like to bathe healthy rats as I find it stresses them out because they won't smell like themselves. I do give rats a quick wipe with a baby wipe if they get too dirty, but that doesn't really take off smell, just dirt, if that makes sense.

I do bathe sickies who can't clean themselves, and old boys who get penis plugs obviously get them removed.

 

[realisedsin]

I bathe my boys every 1-2 months. Not a full bath mind you, just let them romp in a partially filled and then give the back a short scrub and rinse with an all natural soap. This seems to keep them from getting the orangish tinge. I find letting them all bathe together makes them less annoyed about it.

 

[SilverMoon]

Ok, thanks for the heads up. I do have baby wipes around, because my nephew comes over to stay every weekend and he's still in diapers. I will do that next time. Tommy will probably thank me for it haha.

I wanted to add that I already am seeing a difference in him! I've been putting him in my shirt like you guys suggested and I've got him now and he's actually bruxing which is pretty cool! He doesn't like to stay IN my shirt so he's just chilling on my shoulder while I check my facebook and whatnot. I know rats can brux when they're stressed too but I don't think he is right now. I hope he's not anyway. He's doing better about letting me take him out of the cage too. Before he would never want to come out, especially not in my hand, but he's letting me pick him up and he's not panicking to get away!

realisedsin - I tried bathing them all together but three of my four are master jumpers... I leaned over the tub after I got the soap and suddenly I had the three jumpers all over me! I didn't know you could get so soaking wet from bathing a rat! Then it was hell getting them back into the tub so I could actually wash them... I'd put one in and turn to get his brother and turn back in time to see the other boy jump right back out again. I don't know how they manage it when it's so slippery, but they do! The only one who doesn't try to jump out is the runt... He's smaller and lighter than his three brothers and he's much more laid back about everything. He doesn't like the bath, but he'll chill there if I put him in.

 

[realisedsin]

Lol, I should mention that I also add things they can stand on to get out of the water, and toys to encourage them to stay. I tend to change into a tshirt and shorts or something, as my boys and I have an understanding, they agree to have a bath if they can give me one too. I'm always soaked. lol