The Rat Lovers Club! ~MODS PLEASE LOCK!

[eternalglitch]

Sigh, my rat hates humans at this point. She was never trained and is about seven weeks old, so she is barely letting us hold her. Any ideas how to tame this rat?

[MoonfallTheFox]

She's a young, nervous baby. I'm sure she will warm up.

Try offering treats, talking softly, and just spending time in the same area as her. That can help. Also, she is likely to become much more outgoing if you get her a buddy.

[eternalglitch]

I tried to get my parents to get a buddy, but they said that she wouldn't like me as much. There is no way at this point I can have two.
And on top of everything, she hates all food I offer her. She just gobbles down her gross blocks. Should I be concerned?

[MoonfallTheFox]

She's probably just nervous.

However, she really needs a friend. It's unfair to her to make her be all alone- they can become very depressed and neurotic. I've rescued lone rats and have had lone rats (before knowing better) and they were all depressed. One of my rats very nearly died because he was alone, he started starving himself, wouldn't play, wouldn't do anything but sleep or stare at the walls. I got him a companion and he's now coming up on his 3rd birthday! He perked up and started eating again and playing and being a normal baby rat after he got a friend.

[ru.]

I'm getting two male rats during spring break, but man it took a little bit to convince the parentals.
How I convinced my mother was to talk to her about them a lot and show her some super cute pictures. (At first she thought rats were ugly, but now she really likes the dumbo eared variety) I told her how intelligent and clean they are, how they bond really well to people and can be trained, and how they are about as distantly related to wild rats as dogs are to wolves. My dad didn't care as long as I pay

[ru.]

(Sorry, psp character limit)
for everything and it doesn't stink up the house.:P

[Sadies]

I know lol but he has the fancy rat shaped ears but on tbe side :)

There's 2 types of ears, top eared and dumbo, he's a dumbo.

Dumbos have different ear shapes. If you compare the ear shape of a dump and afancy rat they are different shapes. I used to own a pure dunbo and pure fancy rat. :)

[rachaelandrats]

He sounds gorgeous. If I ever was able to get rats then I'd go for personality also. There was a gorgeous brown hooded rat who I was chatting to the other day in the pet shop (though he was sourced from unreliable places, according to my research). He's got a very knowing face, and seems friendly.
Another thing: consider getting a friend for your rat. Maybe there's a reason why you're not, but he'd be so much happier with a sibling/cagemate.

yeah I know, i was planning on getting him a buddy but the other rats were females and I play with my little buddy a ton so he doesn't get supper lonely though I know he would like the company of his own kind. I am also only allowed to have one. I plan on getting him a friend later on in the future, I know how to introduce them and whatnot.

You are much better getting him company now, the older he gets, the harder it will be to introduce him.

[rachaelandrats]

I know lol but he has the fancy rat shaped ears but on tbe side

There's 2 types of ears, top eared and dumbo, he's a dumbo.

Dumbos have different ear shapes. If you compare the ear shape of a dump and afancy rat they are different shapes. I used to own a pure dunbo and pure fancy rat.

I know that they have different ear shapes, but your boy isn't a mixture, he's a capped variety with dumbo ears. You don't get mixtures, they are either dumbo or top eared.

[Sadies]

He is a mix as his ears are shaped more like a fancy rat than a dumbo, the image i posted prob wasnt good cas it's small but he is a mix as that is even what the rescue center told me and the woman has over 30 years experience with rats told me that.