Confidence Method
What is it: The main principle of this approach is to approach the rats confidently and treat them as you would a confident rat. It can sometimes be called immersion, forced socialisation or pushing technique. It utilises confident handling and lots of repetition
Why: This method works on the principle that exposing a rat to what they may feel is a scary situation for long enough (in a suitable protected environment) will result in the rat realising that there is nothing to be scared about.
Strengths: It works well with the majority of rats and tends to bring them on faster than other methods. Most rats adapt within a few weeks, faster if they are already confident.
Weaknesses: It doesn’t work well in an environment where the rat mentally withdrawers and freezes (sometimes called flooding) this can happen where rats have a traumatic past or have been hurt by humans (or in some cases they are that way inclined). A one off incident of doing can be ignored, however if it reoccurs then it’s a sign this isn’t the method that suits the rat in question.
Hints and Tips: If you have a nice busy area of the house you can put the rat cage in this really helps socialisation. If this isn’t doable then try leaving the radio on in there room (though not all day, they need to sleep too) Take into account the rats age and ability to adapt to changes when deciding how long to do a session for. Very young kittens and the old or unwell do better with short stints of half an hour at a time. Adult rats and the particularly stubborn may need longer to come round.
Why: This method works on the principle that exposing a rat to what they may feel is a scary situation for long enough (in a suitable protected environment) will result in the rat realising that there is nothing to be scared about.
Strengths: It works well with the majority of rats and tends to bring them on faster than other methods. Most rats adapt within a few weeks, faster if they are already confident.
Weaknesses: It doesn’t work well in an environment where the rat mentally withdrawers and freezes (sometimes called flooding) this can happen where rats have a traumatic past or have been hurt by humans (or in some cases they are that way inclined). A one off incident of doing can be ignored, however if it reoccurs then it’s a sign this isn’t the method that suits the rat in question.
Hints and Tips: If you have a nice busy area of the house you can put the rat cage in this really helps socialisation. If this isn’t doable then try leaving the radio on in there room (though not all day, they need to sleep too) Take into account the rats age and ability to adapt to changes when deciding how long to do a session for. Very young kittens and the old or unwell do better with short stints of half an hour at a time. Adult rats and the particularly stubborn may need longer to come round.
How to use it
- Start off by setting the cage up right, focusing on no hiding places or enclosed beds. Open hammocks and tubs make the best beds and making sure that you can reach all parts of the cage. If you have a particularly big cage or one with poor access it may be worth starting off in only part of the cage or a smaller cage if you have particularly nervous rats, this helps make it easier to pick them up if you are uncertain.
- Get yourself in the right frame of mind. For this you need to be calm and confident, if you approach the rats like this they will respond much better than if you are nervous or scared of hurting them. It’s useful to know that rats are strong little things and are not going to break if you handle them firmly.
- First of spend some time on “in cage” socialisation. This is all about getting them used to you being in and around there environment as well as used to being picked up and touched. Get yourself comfortable so you can have your arm or arms in the cage. If there are other rats in the group that don’t need working with on this and they are liable to escape or cause issues take them out and pop them in a temporary cage, though if they are fine to pop in and out then having them around can really help show the new rats there’s nothing to fear. Start off by moving stuff around, tidying up and stroking any passing rats for a few minutes, if the new rats approach you then let them have a sniff and say hello, if this goes well a quick stroke then continue messing around in the cage. If you’re worried the rat is going to bite watch carefully for fluffed up fur and a hunched posture or tail wagging (this is a sign of aggression), you should either go to pick these up quickly grasping firmly around the shoulders or not approach them as they are setting themselves up to bite. Most rats (and I would expect all of our rats) will at most sniff and do an exploratory nibble (essentially tasting you as kittens in particular explore a lot of things with their mouths). This is fine and should be encouraged.
- Next start to pick up the new rats, keep this brief and hold them firmly, if they try and get away move quickly but make sure they know you are there (a polite hello and stroke is ideal but if they are very scared or look like they may bite moving fast is kinder for both involved). Once picked up hold for a few seconds (supporting the bum of bigger rats) then put down. If they squeak or squirm in this time ignore it. Make sure your holding them firmly and they will learn it is secure. Once they are down give them a short time to settle (time to pick up the other one) and then repeat. You’re aiming to get this to the point where they don’t flinch or back away from your hand. They may still squirm or protest when up (what kitten doesn’t want to be exploring the world rather than being restrained) but should allow you to do it with no fuss. With rats from a background where they haven’t been handled much, particularly adults, this can take a number of sessions. I tend to not do this for more than 20 minutes at a time, but can repeat multiple times a day with tricky rats. With well socialised rats you can often skip or limit this to a few goes at picking them up as they are very used to it, just keep picking up a few times a day for a few weeks with young rats to make sure they see it as a normal part of life.
- Once you’ve spent a bit of time in the cage spending time out of it together is very useful. To start with don’t free range in a large area, you want to spend time establishing the bond first so the rats are both easy to retrieve when free range is over, and they understand that you can be just as exciting as exploring the world. I find a sofa or bed useful for this as it is somewhere you can very much be part of with restricted space (make sure to move anything they can get onto such as side tables away. Some people also use a bath, though if you do make sure to put a towel in the bottom as they can find the slippiness distressing. Take the rats out of the cage and transport them to this area using a rat bag, carrier or similar (something secure whilst you get used to how slippy they are and they get used to the idea of shoulder riding – most our babies should be reasonable at this but some like to climb down your back or slide down your front etc.). Then settle down with something good on the tv or music. This session is all about spending time together, feel free to play, stroke, and pick them up, if they spend time being scared or frozen then back off a bit but don’t allow them to completely withdraw. Most confident rats will relax within a few minutes but it can take some rats 30 mins plus before they relax enough to explore you or the sofa. After a while (faster for kittens than adults) the rats are likely to settle down to sleep. I tend to prefer keeping them out in the open for this, so discourage clothes diving or settling in a rat bag (helps them get used to being in the open). Again aim for the sessions to be over 30 mins and play it by eye. You want to see the rats visibly relax at some point during the session, this can mean going to sleep or confidently exploring, however you want that loose body language as a rat that is huddled asleep isn’t necessarily relaxed. It may take a few sessions for the scared rats to relax well.
- Repeat this at least daily until the rats are interacting confidently with you and are happy to be handled. After this you can consider full free range. If you have a large free range area then you may want to start off smaller and build up. Also expect new rats to be a bit hesitant the first time they are in a large open space, especially if it doesn’t already smell or rat, or it smells of a predator species. They will adapt in time so just keep it up and if they are struggling then try adding a few familiar objects to offer them some continuality.