# Can you tame adult rats?



## Jo81 (Aug 4, 2008)

As stated, can you tame adult rats that have never really been handled?


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

Im sure its possible will take alot of time an patience though i would reckon : victory:


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## Esarosa (Jul 13, 2007)

I think it depends on the start in life they have had. We took in two adult rehomes the other year. Puck was a nervous wreck at first but with a lot of patience she came around and is now an absolute sweetheart who I adore. Rolo came to us as a biter and has stayed that way. She had large patches of fur missing, part of her tail missing and will launch at anything through the bars. The owners couldn't explain how she got in that state. With all the patience in the world she hasn't 'tamed' down. When I'd free range her she would crawl over me find a bit of bare flesh n bite down. I don't mean a nip I mean a full on bite with lots of blood. She trusts us now in the sense that she will let us put her in another cage for clean outs will nicely take food from us, and shes lovely with the other rats, but she's still a little biter!


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## Jo81 (Aug 4, 2008)

These two will tollerate me touching them, infact the black/white one (mrs nibbs) will fall asleep to me tickling her behind the ear.  The white one is nervouse and freezes when when you touch her. They both freak out though when you go to pick them up. Maybe it's too much too soon. I got the off someone that had kept em in a dark room for six months.


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## Esarosa (Jul 13, 2007)

Quite a few rats dislike being physically picked up. Ruby & Ghost like being stroked and having their bellies tickled but they hate you to try and pick them up from above. I presume it goes back to the prey instinct? And you're the sort of predator picking them up from above? If you let them walk onto your hand or scoop them up they're fine, so maybe try this with your two. Try not to pick them up just let them wander onto you. Sitting on a bed with clothes they can grip onto may help with this. A handy thing I found was to wear a top with a hood or large pocket on the front, so the rats see you as a safe area, and get used to your smell and that you're not going to hurt them.
A bit of patience does go a long way though and if they've been left to their own devices in a dark room for six months it sounds like they're being pretty good so far.


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## elliottreed (Jan 9, 2008)

In my opinion it depends entirely on the rat.

As Katie mentioned, some rats (as with other animals) are completely against being handled/touched. You can make them feel more comfortable but as far as being "dog tame" goes, it is sometimes highly impossible.

I have a trio of 3 girls who are a good example of this.
Pickle is as lovely as you can get, very affectionate, likes being handled, you can pretty much roll her around on her back and she'll love it.

Little Mo is slightly more nervous but still handleable, she will be picked up, but she has a very particular place she sits to feel comfortable (on your shoulder) she won't move from this spot but will tolerate being tickled and cuddled and stroked. She wasn't very handled much in her previous home but with regular handling she is becoming a little treasure.

Cruella.... well.. where can I start. Cruella bit a child (hence the 3 being rehomed) and because of that, people daren't handle her, and if they had to it would be done with gardening gloves. When she came to me I did the usual test to see what taming methods and approaches would be needed. I picked her up and she went into a defensive stance, she squeaked when lightly touched and bared her teeth.

Being a confident handler I went to pick her up, she tried to bite me and screached at the top of her lungs. I had a controlled grip of her and she went very rigid and hackles went up, she excreted a lot and continued to screach as if in pain. She has been vet checked and there is nothing physically wrong with her to warrant this.

My assumption is that with a bad experience she has become terrified of what will happen when handled, OR that there was no particular reason and she was just purely defensive and unused to handling.

In this situation, Cruella has become more tame IN the cage, she will come to the door when food is present, but she will still not be comfortable when handled. This is fine for me as I would prefer her to be comfortable and I don't NEED to handle her. But for a pet owner who wants to cuddle and kiss their animal, she wouldn't be the one.

In my opinion it matters greatly how an animal starts off in their first few weeks/months of life. However some animals will be an "odd ball" and very precious, but will not be handled.

If you are asking this question in relation to your own animals, please don't hesitate to PM me and I can go through some of the methods I use in taming rodents.


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## Mischievous_Mark (Mar 16, 2008)

my boys are still little buggers and ive had them 2 years never really been able to handle them although they did used to lauch at me and bite really hard, they dont anymore and will put up with me replacing the food.


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## Lover (Apr 3, 2007)

Depends on how they were handled before. With no fear of humans they should pick up and tolerate you. If were mistreated and not handled they may be very scared for a while and be harder to tame up.
Our rescue lad we can only handle him from 10mins at a time as he squiles to go back he will sit when stroking him.


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## Jo81 (Aug 4, 2008)

Thank you for all the advice. I don't think they were handled much, if at all before I got them so I'm guessing the fact that they already after 2 weeks tollerate being touched is a good thing. 

When I was given them they given as a trio, 2 females and a young male. Turns out I had 1 female 2 males. The young male has been rehomed and the white male is being 'done' next week (bless him). The blach/white female currently has babies so I'm hoping that it is the fact she is a mum thats causing her to object to being messed with. What ever it is they are amazing to watch, can't beleive I've never kept rats before. One of the babies is staying here and I've found homes for most of the others. 

It would be nice if they tame a bit but if not it's fine, I'll be spending a lot of time in the kitchen observing them regardless.


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## ownedbyroxy (Jan 27, 2009)

was just reading - being nosy i no!!! i cant comment - as i have no idea, but just wanted say i love ur pic in ur sig, made me giggle and i needed it after a down day (my corn died 2day), so thanks for cheering me up!! :2thumb:


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