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Working With a Fearful Rat
My foster rat, Z Cool, has been with me now for 2 weeks. He was originally from a massive hoarding situation in NY. Understandably, he is fearful of me, so I’ve been taking things slowly with him, just as I would with a fearful dog. Though no magic has occurred yet, it’s clear that the way to his heart will be through his stomach, but it’s still been a slow process.
Here’s what we’ve been doing:
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From day 1, I’ve been supplying a variety of interesting foods to him to determine what turns him on and what is of little interest. (High on the list are scrambled eggs, cheese, blueberries, apple, and kiwi.)
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I observe from afar to see how long it takes for him to consume the food after I deliver it near to him in his cage. At first, it would take multiple minutes for him to eat the food, even though I departed right after food delivery. This latency to eat diminished daily, until he’d eat the food within a few seconds of delivery, even with me remaining close by.
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I also discovered the best times to deliver the food. Being more closely aligned to a wild rat due to his upbringing, Z is primarily nocturnal. So I have the best chance of him engaging with food in my presence in the middle of the night or early in the morning.
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A few days ago, he began taking food straight from my hand and would consume it immediately in my presence. This was a HUGE breakthrough. Sometimes he’s snatching the food with great speed and enthusiasm, so I’ve been skewering tiny pieces of food on a toothpick to protect my fingertips.
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I’ve now moved to the step of only leaving the high-value food IF he takes it directly upon offer. If he doesn’t, I remove it and try again later. Of course, he has plenty of regular food available at all times.
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When he is consistently taking food as soon as I offer it, he’ll finally be ready for more structured shaping and training. I can’t wait for this!
Despite the glacially slow progress, Z really tugs at my heart strings and I’m dreaming of the day when he decides I could be his friend. What experiences have you had when working with fearful animals?
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2 Replies
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First of all, how incredibly beautiful and generous a person are you to foster this lucky rat. I know you have trained many pet rats in your past, but I love that you are going to make such a great impact on this little man. I love rats!
I’ve never had a rat…
I know as a pet sitter that I’ve had a few dogs or cats in my care that would be stand-offish or show signs of fear when I entered their home, alone. With cats, it meant:
I never invade their space when they were busy eating or in litter box. I waited to take care of those needs when they were somewhere else, asleep, or they could observe me.
Sometimes, I would be quiet at the visit. Other times, playing soft classical music or just hanging out reading a book helped curiosity win.
Usually, upgrades of getting their litter box cleaned twice daily made them interested in who was doing this!
My own calm and quiet behavior usually paid off if it was for a time period of 5 or more days, twice daily.
With dogs:
All those calming signals we read about of Turid Rugaas really seem to make a difference with dogs! There have been 2 dogs (I was a substitute walker for those dogs) who I could not win over. If I had been the regular walker with a few more days, I believe I would have. Funny, both those dogs were small dogs and I was not the only thing they were afraid of.
As for what you’re accomplishing with Mr. Rat… I like on your post, that you are moving slowly, offering different foods and observing from a distance. All of this helps win trust! I wish so many people understood the value of baby steps in most interactions with animals, fearful of not. I bet you will be friends with him soon. He’s a cutie!
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@bernerlabreclectus , thank you so much for posting. You shared such great tips. I was especially interested in the cat tips because I don’t normally interact with cats and only had a few friendly cats of my own in the distant past.
I hope Z Cool will find a loving and patient adopter who understands the importance of baby steps. In the meantime, I’ll do whatever I can to move the needle in a positive direction. I’m jonesing like crazy to be able to hold and snuggle him, but know this may not happen. At least I know his life now is peaceful and comfy and yummy, as compared to the horrors of his first 10 months of life.
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