Rats!

[JGuitaristR]

We'll start from the biggest to smallest...
Noah is a very sweet rat. He loves to cuddle and have behind his ears rubbed.
A.J. doesn't care for the person who's holding him, he just wants to explore EVERYTHING! He also bites. I wash my hands before I handle him and he still bites. Should I just let him explore and leave him alone? Or should I try to spend some time with him? He won't ever stay still! And also, does anyone know why he's biting?
Chester is a very scared little rat. He wants to get away from me and is very hard to catch in his cage. He won't stay still to enjoy being pet either. This little guy doesn't bite your hand, he licks it. lol, I don't know why? Salt, maybe?
Anyway, these guys are only four months old. How long would it usually take for Chester to come around? And for A.J., what should I do?

Thank you very much!

[Desert Arabian]

I have/had the exact same problem with my two Agouti berkshire ratties: Nugget and Sweet Pea. They always run away when I try and grab them, and once and a while they bite. I got really sick and tired of them biting me, so what I did was put some baby food or yogurt on a couple of my fingers. That way, when I went to grab them, and assosiated my fingers as something nice. They really haven't bitten me much since, just a couple of bites now and then. They still try to run, I haven't conqured that yet.

[CathyBogart]

www.ratfanclub.org has a great article on trust training.

[wolfsoul]

For the ones who aren't social, hold them as much as possible :) Even if they try to run away, enforce that you will hold them, and let them go when they calm down.

A good thing to try is to try and get them to take food from your hand. It took Icarus about a month to trust me, and even longer to take food from my hand. Now he's as sweet as can be :D

Noah must be like Frisco :p Frisco was never scared of me and loved to be held. After that stage though, he grew into his hyperness. Now he just wants to run around like crazy :rolleyes:

Good luck ;)