Trust Training??

[lilratsy43]

I currently have two girls that are really shy and DO NOT like to be picked up at all! I have to devise plans to get them out of their cages without picking them up. I know a lot of the different methods, but I am unsure what to do about the cage situation. Cora is still housed alone, while Minnie is housed with 4 other females. Cora is doing really well with intros, most of the time there only a couple a tiffs but they work it out. So I am not sure if I should just put Cora and Minnie together so I can work with just the two of them or should I put all six of them together and just take them all out at the sametime but sometimes giving Cora and Minnie more one on one time. The plus of having them just Cora and Minnie together is that I can easily get to them and they will have a lot more one on one time, the downside is they are both shy so they won't be as tempted to come to me. The plus of having them all together is that the other girls will tell them its ok for them to come sit with me, but it will still be very hard to get them out of their cage, with four girls happily trying to get out.

I was also wondering how I should go about getting them used to being picked up?

Any suggestions welcome!

 

[mercurydust]

I am going through the same thing with my Lucy. She does not like to be picked up, sometimes allows me to pet her...jumps from my hands. She is very sweet just hand shy. She has made progress. She has no problem coming to the cage door when I open it, I get a few scritces in and she allows that because she knows the treats are on the way. I figure that when she is all grown up the shyness will lessen...atleast that is what I hope. During out time, she will hop on the couch and visit me and climb on me, but when I go to pet her she scampers away. If she isn't shy then she is just a mega rebel and stubborn! :whip:

 

[lindsayfawn]

We've had a few shy girls and some so shy they'd run and jump and squeak when you tried to pick them up. Bella was a girl that was like this and would panic when we'd pick her up she'd do the whole plant the feet on the ground and dig her feet in. Now she comes to us when we call her and loves to be picked up and carried around. All we did was just contently pick her up. We don't cater to their fear. They have to learn that we're there to help them and be their friends so picking them up and talking to them as you do so and cuddling them seemed to work for us.

Another thing that you can tell when your rattie trusts you is when you put your hand by the cage and call them and they are willing to go on you with out picking them up.

I'm no expert but this is just the life experience that we have had so far. I think most rats go through some different phase's and you just need to do what you feel you're comfortable with doing. I think spending some one on one time with shy girls works wonders too.

That's my two cents anyways.

 

[RatsForever]

All we did was just contently pick her up. We don't cater to their fear. They have to learn that we're there to help them and be their friends so picking them up and talking to them as you do so and cuddling them seemed to work for us.
Another thing that you can tell when your rattie trusts you is when you put your hand by the cage and call them and they are willing to go on you with out picking them up.

I have a very similar method with shy rats I've adopted and this also works for me. Poe loves scratches, taking food from my hand, hand wrestling, comes to me when called, but he use to HATE being picked him up. I use to also bribe Poe. If he let me pick him up, I would offer him a small treat. But I didn't cater to his fear and would constantly pick him, in a gently matter of course. Now Poe is fine with being picked-up.

It's similar method to what my grandfather used to socialize barn kittens - lots of soothing talking, kindness, gently picking them up if even if they would hiss up a storm, cuddles, slowly approaching them, bribery with treats, etc. It worked for my grandfather because the kittens turned into very loving cats. Geesh, that was off topic. :giggle:

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

persistence is the key I used to have 2 shy little boys who ran and hid when you opened their cage but by not letting them run and hide and bibery :giggle: they now run towards the cage when anyone approaches