Curiosity can kill your Rat...
When your Rats gone walkies - heres what to do'
Once the rattie is beyond your immediate reach, the first thing you should do is eliminate hazards. Put the dog or the cat or what-have-you in another room (although I have to say sometimes a friendly dog is good for pointing out the rat's hiding place. But if you have any doubts about whether your dog might harm the missing rattie, put him in another room.) Also, close all doors, windows, or other methods of leaving the room, assuming you know which room the rattie is currently in. Buckets of water, toilets, or any other standing water should be drained or covered. Make sure no toxic materials, including poisonous plants, are within reach of the rattie. These are things that should be done in any area where a rat is allowed to play, but when your rat gets loose in an area that is not ratproof, these considerations must be attended to.
Remove any source of noise. Turn off radio, TV, whatever. I try to use the "mute" button on my kids, too, but it doesn't work.....sigh. Anyway, if there is total silence, then you can hear the rattie moving, in many cases. This has frequently saved me a lot of searching. You are listening for little rustling sounds as the rattie moves around. This will hopefully help you pinpoint the rats' location. If the rat has been out for a while and fallen asleep, obviously this won't work.
When you have found and recaptured your Rat...
remember that this has been an extremely stressful and unsettling experience for the rat, especially if she was at large for a long time. She may act very wild at first. The best thing to do is usually to put her in her cage and leave her there for at least an hour, better two or three. This allows her to calm down and feel safe again. Don't take the behavior personally, as it is a normal reaction. As the rat matures and gets used to you, she will not hesitate to come to you if she gets loose. In fact it is very wise to train your rattie to come when you call her by holding treats just out of reach and rewarding her when she steps towards your hand, then slowly increasing the distance the rat must come to get the treat. My adult rats have been trained in this way and it makes it very easy to retrieve them if necessary. Youngsters can be helped to learn this behavior by allowing them to observe older rats coming when called and being rewarded for it. But if you haven't had time to do this yet, you may have a bit of a challenge on your hands.
Hope you never have to follow these suggetions but you never know when curiosity killed Rat
Once the rattie is beyond your immediate reach, the first thing you should do is eliminate hazards. Put the dog or the cat or what-have-you in another room (although I have to say sometimes a friendly dog is good for pointing out the rat's hiding place. But if you have any doubts about whether your dog might harm the missing rattie, put him in another room.) Also, close all doors, windows, or other methods of leaving the room, assuming you know which room the rattie is currently in. Buckets of water, toilets, or any other standing water should be drained or covered. Make sure no toxic materials, including poisonous plants, are within reach of the rattie. These are things that should be done in any area where a rat is allowed to play, but when your rat gets loose in an area that is not ratproof, these considerations must be attended to.
Remove any source of noise. Turn off radio, TV, whatever. I try to use the "mute" button on my kids, too, but it doesn't work.....sigh. Anyway, if there is total silence, then you can hear the rattie moving, in many cases. This has frequently saved me a lot of searching. You are listening for little rustling sounds as the rattie moves around. This will hopefully help you pinpoint the rats' location. If the rat has been out for a while and fallen asleep, obviously this won't work.
When you have found and recaptured your Rat...
remember that this has been an extremely stressful and unsettling experience for the rat, especially if she was at large for a long time. She may act very wild at first. The best thing to do is usually to put her in her cage and leave her there for at least an hour, better two or three. This allows her to calm down and feel safe again. Don't take the behavior personally, as it is a normal reaction. As the rat matures and gets used to you, she will not hesitate to come to you if she gets loose. In fact it is very wise to train your rattie to come when you call her by holding treats just out of reach and rewarding her when she steps towards your hand, then slowly increasing the distance the rat must come to get the treat. My adult rats have been trained in this way and it makes it very easy to retrieve them if necessary. Youngsters can be helped to learn this behavior by allowing them to observe older rats coming when called and being rewarded for it. But if you haven't had time to do this yet, you may have a bit of a challenge on your hands.
Hope you never have to follow these suggetions but you never know when curiosity killed Rat
posted by Lee at 2:59 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home