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Thread: Any rat owners???

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Haines, Alaska!
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    6,333

    Any rat owners???

    I was wondering if anyone has taught there rats tricks? If so how did you acomplish it??

    Thanx a bunch,
    Ash
    Dogs: Nova, Konnor and Sitka

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Oak Creek, Wisconsin
    Posts
    3,843

    Rattie Tricks

    Good question.... the only "tricks" my rats do is come when their name is called. And they only do that when they feel like it. But most of the time they come, because they know I probably have treats or something for them. I wish my rats were potty trained.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Pennsylvania
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    18,854
    When I was in school, a LONG time ago, we were to teach a rat a trick. So I got a white rat, named Ivan, and taught him to push a lever for food. The secret is repetion and reward. It takes time and patience, but rats are very smart. Just be consistant, and the more time you can spend doing it the better.
    P.S. Ivan turned out to be the smartest rat in the class!!
    .

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Upstate NY
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    8,040
    It is simalar to teaching a dog. When I was younger I had more time & my rats knew many tricks, now they only know a few. Tricks I have tought some of my rats to do: sit pretty, come, shake, give kisses, lay down, crawl, walk on hind legs, push a ball, jump up & roll over. Short training sessions, lots of patience and lots of praise. It is easier to teach tricks to rat when the trick comes naturally. Like the rats that love to lick is easier to teach kiss and some like to stand on the back legs which makes walking & sit pretty easier to teach. Also most females are more active and easier to teach active tricks to as they want to have something to do. Most males are just lap rats and love to cuddle. In the past my rats cages were always left open and I was lucky as 95% of the time my rats just went back in the cage to potty, now that I close the cages when I am not there some do potty out of the cage but not a lot, luckily it is easy to clean.
    Soar high & free my sweet fur angels. I love you Nanook & Raustyk... forever & ever.


  5. #5
    When I was in school, a LONG time ago, we were to teach a rat a trick. So I got a white rat, named Ivan, and taught him to push a lever for food. The secret is repetion and reward. It takes time and patience, but rats are very smart. Just be consistant, and the more time you can spend doing it the better.
    '
    We saw a show on that in psychology - interesting!



    My babies: Josie, Zeke, Kiba, Shadow (AKA Butter)

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Oak Creek, Wisconsin
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    3,843

    Grass 4 Rats

    This may sound kind of funny..... but I was thinking about growing some grass for my rats. I was going to fill a 12x12 pan with soil and grass seeds etc for winter. They love to nibble and play in the grass, and I figured since they can't in the winter- I'd make them a little grass "playpen." What do you think?

    Ha- Ha, the more I read this the more silly it sounds.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Pennsylvania
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    But if they like grass it is not silly. I think it's kind of a cute idea.
    .

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
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    Oak Creek, Wisconsin
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    Here.. look at this picture. It's Skittles.
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  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Haines, Alaska!
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    My rats have a plant in there cage. And they dig and LOVE to throw the dirt EVERYWHERE! LOL. They just love there lant thye eat and stuff. When I hopefully build them there bigger cage they are going to have a taller plant with a big pot they can dig in cause they love it so much. I have thougth about growing grass for there cage in this cat box I have but I never did. I think it is a good idea.

    My rats don't really know anything.Al they know is up (step onto my hand) down (come down from my shoulder or head) come and now they know come out (come out from my shirt, there house, under Teddy, pretty muhc from w/e they are under) Now I'm just trying to think of ways I can teach them sit stand there names and stuff. I don't know. We will try!

    Ash
    Dogs: Nova, Konnor and Sitka

  10. #10
    All 40 something of my rats are trained! Well at least litter trained. Some of the tricks my rats know: basketball, agility courses (like ones for dogs), rescuing a doll from a building, jumping rope, catch, etc. Rats are very easy to train! For more info on training, check out these websites. I am also the founder of the Rat Fanciers Association of Oregon, and we will have a website up shortly with training ideas and tips. We are planning our first show in February of 2003! We still need people to help oraganize so if anyone lives in Oregon or Washington and wants to lend a helping hand email me. Oh yes, the links, lol!


    Rat Fan Club they will give you all sort of tips for training your rats.
    Desert Sands Rattery lots of info to help get training off to a good startagility training

    There are many clubs online you can join that are dedicated to rats. Yahoo has plenty!

    Rats are easy to litter train also. I use a combination of aspen pellets and carefresh (make sure if you use Carefresh you stick it in the freezer for a day to kill mites- has been known to carry mites) and stick this in a litter box. If you have a Martins Cage the litter box should fit fine. If you have a smaller cage you can use a Kleenex box and cut the hole a little bigger. Just keep on scooping the poops up and putting them inside the box, doing this several times a day keeping the rest of the cage clean. It will take them a few days to catch on. Some rats will only urinate or deficate in the box, doing the other bathroom chore somewhere else in the cage. In other words, one can poop in the box but prefers to pee in the cage. Do NOT use glavanized wire for bucks. Thier urine corodes the iron away and can lead to zinc poisoning!


    Grass is a grat idea! My rats have a "digging" box. They have one full of grass and soil and another one with toilet paper shreds. They love it. Make sure you use gardeners soil. Do not use the soil from your backyard as this harbors nasty parasites you do not want your rat to have. And make sure if you use a plant it is ratty safe.

  11. #11
    Oh yes, Aspen and Misty, do you have pics? I would love to see!

  12. #12
    Here is a pic of one of my kittens. He is a hairless dumbo carrier buck named Dimples.


    Let me know if the pic is too big and I will take it out, actually maybe I can do this.
    http://www.geocities.com/luckies4me/Dimples.JPG
    Hope this works!

    Ok I am going to add some more pics ok! http://www.geocities.com/luckies4me/banditbigboy.jpg
    http://www.geocities.com/luckies4me/banditbody.JPG
    http://www.geocities.com/luckies4me/...double_rex.JPG
    http://www.geocities.com/luckies4me/blackcat.JPG
    http://www.geocities.com/luckies4me/cassandra013.jpg

    since yahoo does not allow remote linking you need to copy and paste the urls into your browser. Highlight the url by pressing the left mouse key, right click the highlighted area, chose copy. Go to your browser window and left click it, this will highlight the area. Then right click it and chose paste. The url should now be in there. Press go and you can see the pics. This was written just in case anyone does not know how to c and p.


    Last edited by luckies4me; 10-16-2002 at 01:19 PM.
    Fuzzies for Furries
    Northwest Opossum Society
    Zoology Major
    2 Virginia Opossums, 6 cats, 4 bearded dragons, 1 iguana, 1 red foot tortoise, 1 tripod chihuahua, 5 mice, dubia and hissing cockroaches as well as other misc animals that wander in and out of my home.

  13. #13
    Last edited by luckies4me; 10-16-2002 at 01:23 PM.
    Fuzzies for Furries
    Northwest Opossum Society
    Zoology Major
    2 Virginia Opossums, 6 cats, 4 bearded dragons, 1 iguana, 1 red foot tortoise, 1 tripod chihuahua, 5 mice, dubia and hissing cockroaches as well as other misc animals that wander in and out of my home.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Haines, Alaska!
    Posts
    6,333
    O you sounds just like me! LOL. When my friends come over the first thing I do is drag them to my room and make then see my rats. Usually threw the galss because they are like eww rats LOL. I just love my baby girls! I am going ot attempt training them and I'm going to join those groups you posted about! Thanx a bunch. O yes here is a picture of both of them.

    Melony (Grey hood) and Hope (Black hood)
    Attached Images Attached Images  
    Dogs: Nova, Konnor and Sitka

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Haines, Alaska!
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    Melony....
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    Dogs: Nova, Konnor and Sitka

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