Training & Toys

Training: When you get your rat home, he will be unaccustomed to the new surroundings so you will need to give him 1-2 days to settle in. During this time, place your hand in the cage and let him come to your hand. At the same time, talk quietly to him so he can get use to the sound of your voice. Make sure your hands are clean otherwise, if they have the scent of food on them, the rat may become excited and bite.

Try handfeeding your rat some little treats such as banana chips, cereals, avocado, Pip or Kim rodent chocolate, nuts, mince or cheese. Do not give these treats too frequently.

It is always fun to train a rat to come to his name. This can be accomplished by using a food reward. Every time you say the rat's name, you give him a little titbit (such as a cornflake). You may then hold the titbit further and further away so he has to come to get it. Eventually, you can stop giving him the titbit.

Alternatively, you can just say his name over and over again for the first few days and he will soon learn to come when he is called.

Rats can also be trained to walk in a harness, sit up, walk in circles, climb ropes, walk a tightrope and pull up a small basket on a piece of string. Rats can also be housetrained to a litter tray.

Make sure you handle and spend time with your rat every day. You can try sitting him on your shoulder for a little while but make sure he doesn't fall. At the same time, you can see if he wants to fit into any of your pockets for a sleep or just to hang around with you. Rats can be allowed to run around the house but the room or house must be rat-proofed. This means electrical cords should be covered or removed, all valuable items put out of reach (they will be chewed), and holes are blocked of to prevent escape.

Never Pick Up A Rat By The Tail: This may cause the skin on the tail to be stripped off. Place your hand under his entire body and lift him.

Toys: Rats seem to be able to amuse themselves quite well whether it be grooming one another, chasing each other, re-organising nest boxes or carrying food around. Toys can improve the mental health of your rat and create an interesting environment which may increase their lifespan. Toys that rats like to play with can be cardboard boxes with a hole cut in it, hammocks, ladders, PVC tubes, postage tubes (from post offices), chew toys for dogs, wooden toys for birds, ropes and branches from Lilli Pilli and Apple trees. Rawhide is not suitable.

Rats and mice, particularly ones kept in cages, enjoy having toys to occupy them. Toys can provide both mental and physical exercise for your pet. Both types of exercise will improve your pet's health and well being. In Australia the toys that are available in pet shops that are designed for rats and mice are really limited. I hope then, in this article, to give you ideas of homemade toys and using bird/ferret/hamster toys for your rats and mice.

One of the first rules to remember is - don't spend too much money on toys for rats and mice. They will be damaged to some extent, if not destroyed and you may have to replace them regularly. Mice and rats will chew toys and metal toys can become damaged when urine causes them to rust.

Rats and mice both enjoy climbing and toys can provide this sort of entertainment. Part of a rat or mouse's need to chew can also be provided by toys.

When you are thinking to provide toys for your pets, make sure you carefully look over them to make sure there are no sharp edges, no small holes, loops or slits which may catch a mouse or rat toes or tail. Make sure all materials are non-toxic as they will probably be chewed. If holes are small, a rat or mouse head may also become stuck. Metal should be powder coated to resist rust from urine. (Powder coating is like car enamel.)