Bonding With Your Rat Imagine your sitting in your home watching TV minding your own business. Suddenly, your roof is pulled off, and you see Godzilla reach in and try to grab you. He cups you in his tremendously large hands, and holds you in front of his face. He starts making some strange noises at you, but you have no idea what they mean or what he wants. He looks strange, he smells strange, he sounds strange, and he is gigantic! You are so scared that you release your bowels! Scary, huh. This is how we imagine it must be for pet rats. YOU know you are not going to hurt them, but THEY don't know that. So you need to prove it to them with your actions. Helpful Tips to Bonding Bliss... For the first day, always leave your new rats alone, so that they can become comfortable with their new home. Female rats and young rats will be more wiggly when you try and hold them, especially in the beginning. Young rats are brimming with energy and just love to play and run around, often not wanting to sit still to be held and petted, and females stay kittenish most of their life. Males on the other hand tend to mellow out as they grow older and learn to love to be petted. (This is the norm, although there are some girls that become mellow and some boys that can stay kittenish.) Petting is a good thing, and you should try to do it often, even if the rat isn't interested. Most males as they grow older will learn to love being petted if they are constantly exposed to it, and even some girls will learn to like it too. (Check out "Tips on How to Pet Your Rats" found lower on this list.) In general, all rats are scared of sudden movements. The quieter and calmer you can remain around them, the more comfortable they will feel. Patience. Patience. Patience. You will need to give your rats the time they need in order to trust you. You wouldn't trust Godzilla over night, now would you? The more time you can spend with your rats each day, the quicker and closer they will bond with you. It is going to be very different with each and every rat you try to bond with. The time it takes your rat to become comfortable with you will always vary greatly depending on the rat. Two or more rats will bond with you more quickly than a single lone rat would. Rats feel braver in numbers. And an unsocialized rat can learn a lot from watching a socialized rat interact with you. Always be gentle. When bonding with your rats you want the environment to be quiet and dimly lit, as this will help your rats to feel more comfortable. Also keep all other animals away from your rats as they can cause your rats to be more fearful. This can be hard to do depending on the rat, but try to never set your rat down when he/she is struggling to get away. If you do, it teaches them that struggling is a good thing because it gets them their freedom. Instead, try to wait until your rat is calm, if only for a second, and put them down then. Timing is critical. Be sure to do it right as they are calm. As you bond more with your rats and as time goes by, you can require them to be calm for longer and longer periods of time before you will put them down. Rats can sense your mood. Try to be happy, positive, and calm as you interact with them, and speak to them in a happy soft voice. Your goal is to show your rats that you are not going to hurt them and that being with you is a positive experience. How do you do this? With treats! Food is an excellent tool to use in the bonding process with your rats! (Be sure to use low fat, low calorie treats such as Cheerios or Rice Krispies, though, to prevent your rats from becoming obese.) If you are absolutely terrified that your rat might bite you, you can use those cotton gardening gloves with the rubber nubbies. But this will greatly impair your ability to bond with your rat. For Well Socialized Rats... If you were lucky enough to find a good breeder, you will have rats that were well handled since birth. (You can also find well handled rats that have been abandoned at many of your local shelters.) Bonding with these rats is easy and can happen in the first couple days. They should take treats straight from your hand the first day and be very easy to handle (although keep in mind that young rats and girl rats are usually some what wiggly even when they've been socialized.) You can start playing games with them straight off, and spend time with them in what ever play area you've chosen. Playing games with rats is an excellent way to strengthen bonds with them (we recommend many in the "Reviews" section of this site.) In the beginning, give your rats a treat every time you come up to see them in their cage. (NEVER feed them through the bars of the cage as this encourages biting. See "Biting Prevention" within this Guidebook to learn more.) Open their cage door, announce that you are there, and make sure they are aware of you so that you don't startle them, and then give them a treat, like a Rice Krispie or a Cheerio. Doing this will teach them to look forward to your visits, because it means treats for them! After a few days to a week of giving them treats every time you visit, start making your rats come to the door in order to get the treat. This will teach your rats to come to the door when you want them to, so you don't have to chase them down in the cage. Use a marker to signal them, such as saying "come" or shake the treat container. This will teach them to come to you when you call them. Our rats know that when they hear that shaking treat container, they are going to get a treat, and they come a running. Say each of your rats names as you give each of them their treat, and it will teach them to know their names. To make your rats easier to catch when out playing, shake the treat container and when they come to you, pick them up first, then give them a treat and quickly set them back down. Do this several times when they are out so that they don't connect getting a treat to being put back in the cage, and when you're ready to put them away do the same thing, only don't set them right down, put them back in their cage. For Semi-Socialized Rats... Semi-socialized rats have been somewhat handled in there lives, but are skittish and wary of people. You can still handle and manage to hold these rats but they are obviously scared of you and need some extra work to bond with. Many pet store rats fall into this category. A Semi-socialized rat will usually not take a treat from your hand right away, so the first thing you need to teach them is this. Pick a tasty treat like Cheerios and put some in the cage for several days, so your rats can become addicted to them. When they start eating them readily, stop putting the treats in their cage and start only offering them by hand. (NEVER feed them through the cage bars as this encourages biting. See "Biting Prevention" within this Guidebook to learn more.) From now on they can only have a treat if they will take it from your hand. (be sure to use the same treats you first got them addicted to.) Eventually they will take the treat from your hand and that is a big step in the bonding process. Now that your rats are taking treats from you, give your rats a treat every time you come up to see them in their cage. Open their cage door, announce that you are there, and make sure they are aware of you so that you don't startle them, and then give them a treat. Doing this will teach them to look forward to your visits, because it means treats for them! After a few days to a week of giving them treats every time you visit, start making your rats come to the door in order to get the treat. This will teach your rats to come to the door when you want them to, so you don't have to chase them down in the cage. Use a marker to signal them, such as saying "come" or shake the treat container. This will teach them to come to you when you call them. Our rats know that when they hear that shaking treat container, they are going to get a treat, and they come a running. Say each of your rats names as you give each of them their treat, and it will teach them to know their names. It will take some time for a semi-socialized rat to bond with you. The more time you spend with them, the faster they will bond with you. For this I recommend intimate exposure. What you want is to spend time with your rats in a way that forces them to be close to you. Our favorite choice location for intimate bonding with our rats is the big stuffed chair in our living room. We simply grab our rats from their enclosure and bring them out and sit down with them in the chair. At first the rats will wander around the chair exploring it, and they will probably do so for the first several days. (Don't worry about them jumping off the chair. As long as you don't show them how to get down or let them climb up on to it from the floor, they should not know how to leave the chair.) Show your rats that they can climb under your shirt. They will feel safer there. Rats are more comfortable in dark places. (To keep yourself from getting scratched up, wear two shirts and lead the rats in between the two shirts to protect your skin. If you don't want them in your shirt, try throwing a blanket over yourself and let them crawl under that.) This close contact to you, being exposed to your smells, and forced to be directly on you will greatly help your rats get over their fear of you. Eventually when you take them out they will crawl straight in your shirt and go to sleep. After awhile you can start handling them more by putting your hand under the shirt with them and petting them. Every night for an hour and a half, we take our rats out to our chair and we watch TV together as they are nestled in my shirt. It's our special cuddle time together, and this time is separate from our time that we spend with them playing games and having fun in their play area. A stuffed chair can be a fantastic bonding location. Throw an old blanket over the chair to protect it from poop/pee. Eventually your rats will learn to "hold it" when they are out with you and will stop pooping and peeing, as long as you take them back to their enclosure for bathroom breaks when needed. The couch can also be a good location for bonding but doesn't have as much intimacy as the chair brings. The important part is that you choose a small space to bond with them so that your rats have no other choice but to interact with you. This will make the bonding process easier and faster. This space does not need to be the same space as their chosen play area. The couch can also be used as a bonding location. Throw an old blanket over the couch to protect it from poop/pee, plus the blanket will help keep your rats from wiggling in under the cushions. Eventually your rats will learn to "hold it" when they are out with you and will stop pooping and peeing, as long as you take them back to their enclosure for bathroom breaks when needed. In desperation, if you have no other place to use, you could lay in your bath tub with your rats. Lay a blanket down under you and maybe throw a blanket over you, or again, just let your rats get into your shirt. It's not the most comfortable place to be, but it forces that intimacy needed for them to get over their fear of you. When you feel that your rats have grown comfortable with you, you can start playing with them in their play area. To make your rats easier to catch when out playing, shake the treat container and when they come to you, pick them up first, then give them a treat and quickly set them back down. Do this several times when they are out so that they don't connect getting a treat to being put back in the cage, and when you're ready to put them away do the same thing, only don't set them right down, put them back in their cage. Once in their play area, you can start playing games with them. Playing games with rats is an excellent way to strengthen bonds with them (we recommend many in the "Reviews" section of this site.) Note: The younger the semi-socialized rat is, the easier it is to socialize him/her. For Unsocialized Rats... Unsocialized rats are absolutely terrified of people and are usually very difficult to hold or even unhandlable. They might scream in fear as you try and touch them. These rats are not for beginners and take a ton of patience and experience to socialize. Feeder bin rats are frequently unsocialized along with some pet store rats. If you find yourself caring for one of these rats, the following is what we recommend to help socialize them. The first thing you need to do is get your rats hooked on a couple different kinds of treats. An unsocialized rat will not take a treat from your hand. So our first goal is to get them to do this. You will want to use Cheerios and a tasty baby food such as squash. Simply put small amounts of these treats in their cage and let the rats eat them at their leisure. Once the rats are eating these treats freely, you can move on to the next step. If it's been a couple days and they aren't eating the selected treats, try another type of dry cereal and another type of baby food until you find treats they will like. Once your rats are hooked on the treats, stop putting them in their cage. Now, as many times as you can throughout the day and night, offer your rats a Cheerio by hand. (NEVER feed them through the bars of the cage as this encourages biting. See "Biting Prevention" within this Guidebook to learn more.) Open their cage door, announce that you are there, and make sure they are aware of you so that you don't startle them, and offer them the treat. It could take a couple weeks or more to get the rats to take a treat from you. If you have tried for a long time and the rats still won't take the treat from your hand, you can try taking all their food away. With this, hopefully the rats will become hungry enough that they will take the treat from your hand. (Don't do this if the rats are youngsters/babies as their systems are too fragile to go with out food.) If it's been three days and your rats still won't take Cheerio's from your hand, you will have no choice but to give them back their food as you don't want them to starve to death. Note: Also frequently offer up your empty hand for them to sniff, so that they don't assume you have a treat every time you put your hand in the cage, as they might start biting at your hand assuming it's food. Hopefully you will eventually get your rats to take a Cheerio from your hand, and when that happens celebrate big time as it's a huge step forward in the bonding process. Visit their cage often and every time you visit, give them a Cheerio or two, talking softly to them, letting them know that when you visit, it's a good thing. Say each of your rats names as you give each of them their treat, and it will teach them to know their names. After awhile, when your rats are readily taking treats from your hand, start making them come to the door of the cage in order to get a treat. Again, this might take awhile. Only give them the treat if they come to the door. They get no other treats. When your rats start coming to the door for a treat readily, switch from Cheerios to baby food. Use the lid of a milk cap or other container and fill it with yummy squash or what ever you got them hooked on earlier. First offer it to them where ever they are in the cage, then start making them come to the door for it. The baby food forces the rats to sit next to your hand in order to eat it, as they can't take it and run off and hide. Now it's time to rat proof your chosen bonding location. A safe place where you can start teaching your rats to come out of their cage. We recommend the bathroom because it is small and enclosed, leaving it safe for a rat if they panic because they can't go anywhere and hurt themselves or get lost. You will want to bring your rats, in their enclosure (or in a travel cage), to this location for at least a half hour to an hour everyday, if not more. There is no such thing as spending too much time with your rats. Note: The rest of the steps will be described as if you are using the bathroom as your bonding location. If you chose a different location simply ignore the references to the bathroom. Throw one or two old blankets on the floor. A blanket is an excellent tool when used in the bonding process. Rats feel more comfortable and are more confident when they are concealed. They will love to be able to burrow into the blanket when they start exploring the room. Your rats will also be more willing to crawl on you, hidden under the blanket, so drape the blanket over your legs and lap to help encourage your rats to explore you. Bring your rats, still in their enclosure (or in a travel cage), into the bathroom and shut the door. Try to have only a night light illuminating the room. Rats are more comfortable in the dark. By putting your rats in a calm, quiet, dark small room with you, and being calm and non-intrusive to them, you are showing your rats that you are not a threat, and that being with you can be a happy experience. Your eventual goal is for the rats to come out and explore the room and eventually you, however let everything be on your rats terms at first. Let them feel that they have total control of the situation. Do not force them out of the cage. Try to sit very still and talk softly to your rats in a happy voice. You want them to get use to your smells and sounds. Note: The following steps could all happen in one day, or it might take many, many months. Be patient. Only move your rats to the next step when they are ready. Set your rats cage on one side of the room, open the cage door, and place some Cheerios on the floor of their cage, making sure your rats see you do this, and then go sit at the opposite side of the room. You've moved them to a new place so for the first several days they might be too scared to eat the Cheerios. Give them time. Once your rats will eat the Cheerios with you in the room, try it again, only this time sit half way between the cage and the other side of the room. Once your rats are willing to eat the Cheerios with you half way away, try it again, only this time sit right next to the cage. Once your rats will comfortably eat Cheerios with you sitting right next to the cage, open the cage door, put your hand in the cage, and offer your rats some Cheerios from your hand. Hopefully by now they have grown comfortable with the new room. Note: As you're doing the bonding process, you also want to remember to visit your rats in their home throughout the day as well. Talk to them and open the door and put your hand in the cage for them to sniff, maybe even giving them a quick pat on the head. You want them to be exposed to you as much as possible. Make sure they are awake and know you are there before touching them. Only offer your rats treats now when they are in the bonding area though. Peanut carefully takes some Krispies from my husbands hands. Once your rats will steel Cheerios from your hand and eat them, trade the Cheerios for some squash baby food. Put the squash in a tiny bowl or better yet take a large lid from something like a milk jug and use that as a bowl. With the Cheerios, the rats will grab the treat from you, then run and hide to eat the treat. Using baby food will force your rats to stay by your hand and eat the food there. Be sure to talk to your rats as you try and bond with them. Once your rats will eat the squash from your hand freely, make it so that they have to come to the entrance of the cage to get the squash. Once your rats will come to the entrance of the cage for squash, make it so that they have to take a step outside the cage for squash. Keep doing this, moving the squash further and further away from the cage until you can sit on the opposite side of the room from the cage and get your rats to come from the cage onto your lap to eat the squash. Peanut is not happy about sitting on my husbands lap for so long, but will do so for some tasty baby food. Note: If at any time the rats just decide to come out and explore the room during this process, let them do so freely. Do not make movements towards them, or try to stop them. Just sit there calmly with the squash in hand and let them explore. If they come to you and eat the treat, let them. If they start crawling on you, let them do so freely without making any motions towards them. You want to make yourself completely non-threatening. It might take your rats awhile before they feel safe enough to come out and explore. Be patient. Let your rats return to their cage as often as they like. Remember that the cage is their safety zone. You want your rats to feel safe and in control. Eventually your rats will become brave enough to come and explore just what and who you are. Don't interfere, even if they crawl all over you. Just stay still and let them get use to your smell. Once your rats have reached a certain comfort level with you (skittish yet exploring you freely and willing to eat out of your lap), you should start interacting with them. Start with brief pets, then move to briefly picking them up and putting them down, then finally to holding them and petting them. At first, your rats probably won't like being picked up or petted. This is natural as they are not use to it. You will need to gently force this "love" on them in short frequent intervals to show them that this can be a safe and wonderful experience. Offer them a Cheerio every time you pick them up or pet them as a reward. If your rats won't let you pick them up, you will have to pick your moment and corner them to do so. However corner them as calmly and as gently as you can. You don't want to show them that being picked up is a scary experience. Again, once you have them in your hand, offer them a quick treat and put them right back down again. Start forcing them to endure being picked up and petted for longer and longer intervals as time goes by. They will not like it but you have to put them through it so they can get use to it. Some struggling is okay and expected, however if the rat is just freaking out and crying, move back a step to quicker interactions. When your rats have reached a level of comfort with you, go ahead and follow the steps of the semi-socialized rat starting with the intimate bonding location. Note: The younger the unsocialized rat is, the easier it is to socialize him/her. Bonding Alternative There is another bonding process that we've heard about that is quite different from ours. It's called forced socialization. Your goal is to hold your scared rat "hands on" for at least 20 minutes every day. The first thing you want to do is set up your rat's cage so that you can easily grab him. He should still have a sleeping den of some kind, just make sure that there is no where in the cage that your rat can hide from you, where you can't grab him. You want the rat to think that no matter what he does, he can't get away from you. Once your rat's cage is set up, pick a time each day and take your rat out. The best time to take him out is during the middle of the day when he is most tired. Take your rat out and hold him for 20 minutes. Be sure to time it, because it's important that you do it for at least 20 minutes. You don't have to squeeze your rat, not letting him move. Feel free to let him run through your hands or even go up to your shoulder. The only rule is, is that the rat must stay on you, your body, and be touched and handled by you for 20 minutes. This could be on your shoulder, in your lap, in your shirt, as long as the rat remains on your body. In the beginning your rat will probably squeak and struggle to get away from you. Don't let him. If you're afraid that your rat might bite you, you could wear those cotton gardening gloves with the rubber nubbies. Do this 20 minute ritual everyday for a couple weeks. The theory is that a rat can only stay scared of you for so long and by dominating him like this, but not hurting him, he will come to accept you. If anyone has ever tried this technique, we'd love to hear from you to see if it worked.