Taming Rats - A Beginners Guide

Rats can be nervous little creatures, so when taming rats a lot of time and patience is needed. They will need time to get used to their new surroundings and you as well. Their noses will twitch and they will spend time investigating their cage, climbing and clambering around or simply resting in their beds.

The sights and smells of your home will take some getting used to by your rat, be patient and allow plenty of settling in time. During this period it is a good idea to gradually introduce yourself verbally to your rat each time you go near the cage, call him by his name or nick name in a soft tone, this will help him to realize that you are his source of food and water and a friend that will not harm or hurt.

After a couple of days you could put a small piece of food onto the palm of your hand during feeding time and allow the rat to make his own way over to you to say hello and find out what you are offering, so make sure your treat is one of his favourite foods!

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When he has become accustomed to you, your smell and voice he will become more friendly and step onto your hand during treat time, once he has done this a couple of times you can gradually bring your hand ,with the rat riding on it, out of the cage. This will give you the opportunity to talk and stroke your rat, he will fidget and most likely try and climb up your arm, this is great keep a careful eye on him and allow him to explore you!

Training by giving treats as rewards is a very effective method; you will be able to tempt him back to you so that he can be put back into his cage. It is not unheard of for rats to actually respond to their name and return to you when you call him!

About the Author:

Jonathan D Hunt: Taming rats and caring for them is not always easy. For a great primer, check out http://www.squidoo.com/tamingrats

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