Getting frustrated getting my new rats still having issues with trust/ being skittish

DISCUSSION

Summary:

My first 2 rats from petco got my trust fast and easy, but these 4 rats I got from a breeder are very scared and still don’t trust me fully, I was under the assumption rats from breeders are better ? And they were temperament trained? I don’t rly believe these rats have even been picked up / handled much before I got them.

What’s your experience?

Hello second time rat owner here, my first pair of rats I bought from Petco they were around 10-12 weeks old, I had them basically fully trust me by the second week mark. Being able to be handled and being called by name to come to me.

After both of them getting cancer early and dying I swore not to get a petco rat again and only go with a good verifiable breeder ( it’s a pain in the ass finding one where I live + very long wait times)

Anyway I bought 4 rats from a breeder that had multiple great reviews, these 4 girls are very pretty they each are a different type coat with big ears. The actual names of the breed style of rat are hard to remember.

I’ve had these rats for over 2 weeks now, they were very scared the first couple of days they wouldn’t come out at all. Slowly I started doing the same trust training that I did previously, staying near cage for hours, treats for going up close to me / on my hand.

There is progress for 3/4 rats but very very slow, they will only put their 2 front feet onto my hand and are still very scared if I make sudden movements or even talk loud. The 4th rat is even worse she’s very sweet and is definitely interested in exploring around me but I’ve never seen a rat jump back so fast any sudden movements or slight noise and she’s gone. The other 3 have gotten better at not getting scared with movement but it’s still there.

Posted Jul 22, 2024, 12:47 AM UTC

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