How to Start Training Your Rats (Updated)!

So I finally (FINALLY!) got around to remaking my 2017 video on how to start training your rats. I still stand by that video however I felt it was lacking some vital information that could help prevent confusion and frustration when training. This video is about twice that videos length and I tried to go more in depth, addressing the most common questions I tend to get on the prior 2017 video. Anyways I hope you find this video helpful and as always, happy training!
Link to 10 fun and easy tricks to train your rats: • 10 Tricks To Train You...
Link to 101 tricks to train your rats: • 101 Tricks to Train Yo...
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Music:
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Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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[@ShadowTheRat]

Happy training! Check out the links below for tutorials on how to train some fun tricks! Link to 10 fun and easy tricks to train your rats: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4PLZaqbgpZsp8U Link to 101 tricks to train your rats: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5SmZ6Cles6VeMU

[@shrekkydevito1822]

ATTENTION THIS IS URGENT one of my gerbils got too stressed and started constantly salivating and then it dried and it is super hard to give him the applesauce with a powder we have mixed in that has a lot of nutrients for sick small animals. He is super lethargic and sleepy constantly. He doesn’t have stuff in his cheeks or inflamed cuts he is definitely stressed because I was dumb and took him out too much after he started being lethargic but before the saliva because I was scared. Any advice on what to do before the vet? It is on oct 23 on Friday please give me advice to help him out until then.

[@ShadowTheRat]

​@@shrekkydevito1822 Unfortunately it sounds like he's very ill - I doubt stress itself is the cause, gerbils like rats are just prone to hiding illness until they just can't anymore and so when you see symptoms they seem to hit all at once, when really the animals has often been hiding it for a while and they just finally get too sick to do so. Unfortunately this also means that when you see symptoms they are extremely ill and need urgent care - I would really try to get vet treatment before Friday (I've gone to the emergency 247 vet many times with hamsters, gerbils, and now rats) because there's a good chance he just won't last that long. In the mean time all you can do is reduce stress as much as possible, and keep him hydrated and eating. I wouldn't force any nutrient powder now, all you want to do is try to find something he likes enough to consume on his own. I'd recommend ensure, a nutritional drink for humans needing to gain weight because this is safe for gerbils (also rats and most rodents, although its very sugary so you have to be careful with dwarf hamsters and other diabetes prone rodents), its super tasty (especially strawberry), and it contains enough nutrients and calories to keep them going for a while. On top of that its liquid so easy to consume, and this also means it prevents dehydration. You can also try pedialite (great for preventing dehydration, but they don't tend to like the plain as much), or make your own rehydrating solution.

[@montanamvk]

@@shrekkydevito1822 what did u end up doing? Did he make it? 🤗💜

[@jordyplaysgamesAUTISMYEET]

I'm done with it all. Every time I try to move on someone gets in my way. So I'm either putting my rats down or throwing them away. I don't care anymore. Everyone else three me away like trash. Everyone else decided to hurt me over and over. Everyone else decided to bully me. So now I'll be cruel to a sweet animal. If they had a reason I wouldn't do this. But these people came after me for my past. Watched me thru what I did online

[@jordyplaysgamesAUTISMYEET]

Since I don't get to be free I'm gonna hurt them and then I'm gonna hurt someone human

[@Ella-tv9yt]

One of my rats can do spin! It’s a simple trick but still proud

[@ShadowTheRat]

Spin is an awesome trick! All of my rats have favored spin over any other tricks and it’s one of my favorites as well because it’s so versatile!

[@eviemay298]

I got three girls a few days ago and they are already coming right out and climbing all over me, they are 3 months and I feel like a certain one will be so good to train as she is very engaged with her surroundings

[@ShadowTheRat]

That's awesome - congRATs on the new ratties and have fun training!

[@emilyupton5995]

THIS IS EXTREMELY HELPFUL! Thank you so much!

[@suuyasha2496]

BABY ESPRESSOOOOOOOOOOO! SO SWEET!

[@mariahgrimes207]

I found a rat in my backyard. It NEVER even tried to bite me! I released him once he started to move around. I miss that lil fellow so much

[@miabenetinova5702]

this helped me a lot! thanks❤

[@morbiusgaming461]

Amazing content - You rock Shadow !!!

[@lornamattis9896]

My goodness you are excellent, with these babies, I deciding to get some of these babies but I am waiting to buy home first, the training is great love it, again you always do a great job with these babies God bless you all ❤️❤️

[@owlinatowl4146]

My problem is that I go to school and I don't have a full tie for training, while I am awed and impressed before your magnificent videos

[@ShadowTheRat]

I'm currently in college and I can tell you that you really don't have to train much time wise to teach new behaviors. I work each rat only 2-5 minutes a day on average (10 minutes at max, and that's rare), and during the week often only train every other day or two. They pick up new stuff fast and once you get the hang of increasing criteria as soon as possible they typically will be learning the basics of a trick or even the entire thing in just a few minutes. You definitely don't have to train them, but if you want to then give it a shot, they might surprise you at how fast they learn!

[@amberdawn0011]

I can't wait to train my rat!!

[@modelmanmark]

Hi and great video's. we will be using your training tutorials a lot shortly once we get our 2 baby rats. With regards to training is there much difference between males and females in learning time and trick skills?

[@ShadowTheRat]

Nope, the only really difference I've found when training any rat is that older ones tend to take longer with agility based tricks since they don't tend to enjoy them as much, but even this varies rat to rat since some stay super active even as they get older. Otherwise male, female, intact, desexed, young, old, etc. doesn't seem to have any difference for when you start, and the more experience they gain the faster they get at picking up new and more complex tricks

[@modelmanmark]

@@ShadowTheRat Many thanks for the info. A few final questions. How much time do you spend on daily training. Is say an hour each day enough when learning a new trick? What is a good timescale for mastering a skill such as fetch?

[@ShadowTheRat]

​@@modelmanmark An hour is pretty long - my training sessions usually last about 5-10 minutes and they can often get the main idea or even the full trick down within the first few minutes. The main exceptions are completely new behaviors like fetch which will often take several sessions but once they have those down chaining them with other tricks doesn't take long. Its better to do shorter sessions that end with the rats wanting more than to push it so I'd definitely recommend keeping sessions short but sweet. Especially in the beginning when you often won't get ordered sessions and the rats will instead be running up to you on occasion, during which you can get in a few repetitions of luring or teaching one of the simpler tricks like spin, before running off and then repeating this again. Once they get down a good 5 or so tricks though they will start to stick around for the whole session and that's when you can start working on more complex stuff like fetch or agility courses. As for timeframe for teaching a trick I always hesitate to give one because it just varies depending on so many things. Some rats have a longer attention span naturally and this can give them an edge when learning more complex tricks. Some rats have stronger stashing instincts which may hinder fetch initially. Some of it depend on their environment and how confident and focused they are in it. Some of it depends on you as the trainer and how good your timing and treat delivery is. Overall there are just so many factors that its hard to give you a time estimate. Its true that usually my rats get the main ideas for a new trick or even the new trick entirely down in a session, but this is more for the rats that have already mastered the basics of pulling things and fetching things and backing up and jumping and so forth and so they have a good pool of knowledge to draw from, plus they have an already established attention span. I'd say when teaching fetch or basketball for the first time it usually takes a few days of sessions for them to pick up the trick, and since I back-chain it they get the main idea from the start but we have to work up to the full trick. But for some rats it takes longer, and for some rats they might even find fetch to be their forte and master it right away (I had that happen with one rat - she picked up fetch on her first day home and I was just playing around with her and not even really trying to train it. She went on to be amazing at any item based trick, but her sister was the polar opposite, taking 3 weeks of on and off sessions to learn fetch (I worked other things as well with her at the same time, since I like to switch stuff up to keep it interesting) and longer to generalize it. But that same rat picked up backing up on cue right away and learned to do complex back-up tricks like weaving backwards easily - Latte on the other hand struggled to learn even a simple back up, so you can see that their individual personalities and talents do also play a role. In the end both girls became great at both tricks just due to experience alone but when you start out you can really see which rat excels at which tricks before it balances out as they gain more experience doing them). Overall I'd say just make sure you are always making progress each session and otherwise don't rush it. Often when you start out it will take longer to teach any trick especially if you haven't worked with rats before, so just go at their pace and they should get it down pretty quickly.

[@modelmanmark]

@@ShadowTheRat Thanks again for your detailed reply. It's our 2 children that we be doing most of the training. Our 7 year old boy is very creative and will enjoy making all the props for the tricks. Our 13 year daughter will follow your excellent training videos so I'm certain we'll do just fine. Keep up the great work and we look forward to more ratty instalments.

[@KellyDeRijke]

What kind a snacks do you use

[@AngelofGrace96]

when you say plain youghurt, do you mean greek yogurt, or breakfast yougurt with no specific flavours added?

[@SomerBednar]

i wish i had the space for rats! thank you for your lovely videos, if you ever want to do a crafting video together i’d love to!

[@LudicrousScotty101]

its real good stuff and advice but my rats are like really stubborn. i could only get out like a small fraction of neet tricks from my guys, and they are lazy.

[@ShadowTheRat]

My advice is to try and change how you see it. Your rats aren't lazy, they just don't have much value with training yet. its perfectly normal for rats, dogs, and heck even human children to not be super interested in learning at first. You have to build value by making it fun, going at their pace, and slowly increasing the difficulty. When I start training a new rat the first few sessions usually consist of them getting treats whenever they check in with me, and maybe training a lure. Its only once they can consistently follow a lure that I start to train tricks they find fairly easy like spin or paw, and then gradually we move to harder tricks as they build value and confidence. So stick with it, and you will see progress. training is like anything else - its a learned skill for both you and the rats, and to get better at it you both have to work at it consistently.

[@LudicrousScotty101]

@@ShadowTheRat shhaaa , well its a good way to look at it. but jus try that with this fatt boy here wen he jus sits there and stares at you in his play pen like " u dont really expect me to jump thru that for a treat do you? Wheres my dinner". ant sayin its not possible but i should of started that type of training since he was a baby like u do. + lots of time is required for that kind of rat response, i only get a couple hours a day if lucky with ratty in the play pen.

[@LudicrousScotty101]

@@ShadowTheRat Believe me though i do love my rats and i do want the best for them.

[@ShadowTheRat]

I've trained rats at 1.5 or even 2 years old for the first time - yes they are less active, but they very much can learn and learn just as fast as any young rats once you get into a training routine. My boy Mallow even had ind leg degeneration and was still wanting to participate in training - this was the same rat that I got at over 1.5 years old, quite overweight, and who took a week for even someone experienced training rats to learn spin! But after that he learned so many things - fetch, basketball, walking on a barrel, spin, paw, backup, etc. I never asked for anything too agile because he was old, heavyset, and after a few months started developing hind leg paralysis, but that doesn't mean he didn't enjoy some simpler tricks (even at nearly 3 years old he enjoyed doing simple stuff like paw or tunnels - I never asked him for tricks at that age, but he had built up such value doing them that he would try and do them whenever he saw the other rats coming to train. So of course I gave him a treat for his efforts

[@LudicrousScotty101]

@@ShadowTheRat ehhh this is a book u should be a writer, and i did not label my rat as stupid infact he often time has better common sense than me most the time. Im jus saying there are some tricks that these Rats jus Refuse to do like obstacle courses they like to examine the course and tear it down before going thru it and no treat has persuaded him to try. This ratty i had to remove most the softer fabric furniture out the cage caz he loves to shred fabric. i sewed up a nice plush hammock for them and added to the cage and they pretty much tore that to shreds aswell. Males. I will try again with some of these tricks and more often but i do not expect Rat Miracles.

[@Goho_me]

Hello! my rats are 1-2 months old now and dont trust me fully yet. They cuddle sometimes, play with me and aren't scared of me, but mostly do what they want. Should i wait until they trust me fully?thank you

[@ShadowTheRat]

Training is an awesome way to build trust and voluntary interaction, so personally I'd jump right into it! The best tricks to train new rats are to hop onto your hand (leads to voluntary handling and rewards approaching & interacting with you), come when called (best trick to train any animal, really reduces the stress if a rat gets out and again rewards them for approaching you), paw (great way to reward voluntary touch, amazing for skittish rats since it involves minimal touch while also being super easy to learn), spin (teaches them that hands above their head don't mean anything bad), and nose touch (like paw this is super easy to teach and rewards them for approaching and interacting with you while not overwhelming them). I pretty much always train those tricks first, but especially work them with skittish rats to help build voluntary interaction and trust. Once they get those down then you can move to more complex tricks, and by that point they will have a firm base of experience training wise which makes training more complex stuff easier, plus they will have built trust in you and so will be more actively engaging with you and much less wary of any movements.

[@Angels_Dragons_]

I just tried using cheerios and it took my rat a few times and then he just gave up and stopped eating them

[@nalyrosenalyrose6173]

Hi, thanks sorry i don't speek well English What IS the liquide on your finger, yoghourt isn't Bad for them ? ( cow milk?) I understoud babyfood, what IS biscuit oil please help ? Tks

[@abrahamrodriguezperez-i7w]

A qué edad debo de empezar a entrenar a mi rata?

[@possumaintdead]

My first time owning and training rats ( 2 are a year old, two are 8 months). All from a pet rescue. This was a great help, thanks. And I love the little pumpkin outfit at the end! Was it difficult to get him to wear it?

[@ShadowTheRat]

I spent quite a bit of time last year teaching certain rats to actually put the costumes on themselves (I’d put down the pieces and they would walk into them to put them on), so they were very comfortable in them by the time I asked for separate tricks. I released a video on my FB page of Espresso putting on her costume herself however I don’t think I ever did on KZbin, so maybe I’ll get around to that as some point (I went a bit crazy and made about 50 different costumes last year so maybe I’ll do a tiny fashion show with the rats lol. Right now only Bean and Peaches have been taught to help out on the costumes so that would give me some incentive to teach the others as well.)

[@possumaintdead]

You are an amazing rat momma! I would love to see them putting on their costumes. Thanks again for this video and for your reply 😊

[@mannatbhatia431]

Hello please help me mere pass white rat m Galti se unke upar baith Gayi unke pair m lag gai please help me vo chal nhi pa Rh h Sahi se please help me please please please please please please please please please please please

[@woollyprimate]

This is wonderful! Very thorough. You really know your stuff. I used clicker training with my dog. Cool to know it will work with rats.

[@lindasmith8793]

Dont use rats and mice like they are not worth anything let them feel good about their own value and teach them tricks but dont overwhelm them.❤

[@lilyruth4186]

is malt paste a healthy treat or an unhealthy treat??

[@ShadowTheRat]

Healthy, but like any treat it should be given in moderation. I wouldn’t do more than a small squirt for a session and I’d supplement it with other treats as well

[@godx214]

I think my rat are not enjing what I have to do

[@zoestafford9193]

What treat did you use? 11:47

[@ShadowTheRat]

Wafer paper, aka rice paper.

[@frejacriesvarg8396]

I got two girls two weeks ago and they are super friendly and I'd love to start training them tricks! But one has very poor eyesight and hearing and while she trusts me now she likes going into dark places to feel safe and she can't see my hands or objects near her very well at all. Sometimes she bites (not hard enough to bleed) when she thinks I or something else is food, for example. Any tips on how to train her? I dont think she'll see hand motions and stuff like that very well and i dont wanna make her too confused when she already sometimes cant see her treats (she smells them of course but sometimes she misses while trying to bite a treat even if its laying on a flat surface and it takes her a lot of sniffing to find them if i put them in my hand for her) She also doesnt like being picked up with hands or being touched without warning (shes okay climbing on me and my hoodie though, its the grabbing thats uncomfortable for her) Any and all tips on how to handle her and play with her so that shes comfortable and not confused would be awesome!

[@RebekahInspires]

Hey do you have any tips on training a rat that's hearing impaired and has poorer eye sight from having red eyes? I know she can hear really loud sounds but she doesn't respond to her name and she used to come me when I would call her name but she doesn't anymore . She's also a bit shy and timid but once she's out of the cage and exploring it's hard to get her attention. Just wondering if anyone has any experience in hearing impaired rats and how to train them?

[@loreta.k.k]

Is it normal when at first my rat i pooping every where?

[@ShadowTheRat]

Do they have access to the cage so they can return to potty? rats can't hold their pee/poop for very long so if you don't give them access to the cage or another area to go in they will be forced to go out in the open. In addition to this rats can have stress poops if they are nervous in a new area, and if that is the case as they adjust they will stop stress pooping. As a side note if your rat is alone and doesn't have a ratty friend I would highly recommend getting them a same sex buddy - rats are extremely social animals and really need to live with other rats, and no amount of human interaction can make up for lack of another rats companionship. Having another rat around will also make them more confident, since rats are group animals and so feel most confident when in groups.

[@loreta.k.k]

@@ShadowTheRat Thank you so much! Also do you have some begginer video about everything. About food, training, peting, materials which i can use for rat home and playing stations..

[@ShadowTheRat]

@@loreta.k.k Yes, I have a video all about rat care here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bXLdlGeHhNtoq9U

[@leinderave1258]

What soort of good are you using??? I wanna know it

[@ShadowTheRat]

I’m using plain yogurt, Cheerios broken into bits, Gerber puffs broken into bits, and occasionally meat baby food.

[@annaklepatch2765]

Hello again. Sorry, I've been asking you a bunch of questions lately. I am currently trying to start training my ratties, but they will not take treats from me while free ranging. I've tried apples, sunflower seeds, and small chunks.of cheerios so far. They're fine with me handling them, and take food from me no problem while in a cage. Do you know what might be going on? I'm trying to teach them to come to me first, following the steps from your video, they just ignore the treats

[@ShadowTheRat]

Try starting with liquid treats like yogurt - these are more valuable to rats, plus the rats don't have to chew them and so they will be more willing to eat them when nervous. Other than that I'd recommend letting them have a few days to just explore at their own pace. Add lots of hides, tunnels, and so forth, scatter some small treats (pieces of cheerios work great), put on a blanket or loose hoody, and just let them do their own thing. Whenever they come up to you offer them some liquid treats off your fingers, then let them run off. Don't add any expectations yet, just give them treats freely for checking in. Some rats will take a few weeks to settle in to free-range - I even had a few that stayed nearly frozen in my hoody for over a week, before finally slowly starting to explore and then gaining confidence. Looking back I wish I had modified my pen like I do now so that I can just open the cage door and they can come out on their own, because I find this builds their confidence faster than anything else. But if you can't connect the cage to the free-range area then a travel cage with bedding from the main cage, a hide, and some water can also help. You also want to take out all the rats at once at first, just to give them that extra group confidence. Once they are comfortable walking around in the open that is when you want to start training - work on luring first, then some simple tricks to build confidence, and from there your good to go.

[@annaklepatch2765]

@@ShadowTheRat Thank you for all the tips, I'll definitely try it

[@Jay.bug.]

can I train my 1 yo rat successfully?

[@ShadowTheRat]

Yup! I've started rats at 1.5 years old and even 2 years old and they learn no problem! As long as they are mentally and physically able to do a trick they will enjoy it and the only real difference between training younger rats and older rats is that younger rats tend to enjoy super active tricks like agility more than older ones.

[@otterfish9464]

do rats like baby talk?

[@ShadowTheRat]

It depends on the rat - I've found more confident and social rats tend to like it and it tends to make them more enthusiastic and excited...but more skittish or timid rats tend to find it overwhelming and may just run off if you do it, so it varies rat to rat. You really just have to work with the individual rats and see what they find motivating - for example in my last group I had a rat called Sugar who disliked baby talk/excited talking, was kinda meh on treats, but LOVED stashing tissues! So we used tissue stashing as her reinforcement, which eventually built up her value of treats as well, which in turn made training easier (tissues are awesome, but take longer to dispense and stash than a treat takes to eat lol).

[@soultrick7474]

love rats and all rodents

[@Mystic_chaos_420]

I wish my rats were nice enough to train, instead they just scream at me and diarrhea all over the floor, it seems all my rats do is piss me off, they don't eat treats, they've been to a vet, nothing is wrong with them that's causing any of this, but they're just horrendous, I wish I had rats that would let me bond with them

[@ShadowTheRat]

Its possible they are naturally skittish - some rats are just prone to being more skittish and freaked out, and unfortunately this isn't uncommon to see with rats from pet stores/feeder bins in particular as these places don't select for temperament when they breed. That being said, its still totally possible to work with these rats and raise their confidence. You see that orange and white rat eating on my hand near the start of this video? She was a skittish rat I got at 7 months old who REFUSED to take treats from me for nearly a month! She would scream if touched, bristled if I came near her, and when I offered treats even with other friendly rats encouraging her near me, she would come within a foot or two before psyching herself out and bolting away. I also had 4 of her daughters who were even more skittish - one even gave me the worst bite I've had from rats, another was territorially aggressive and would pretty much get panic attacks if removed from her enclosure (she'd shut down, not move, and her heart would beat irregularily - easily the most panicked response I've seen in any animal from just being moved a foot away into a carrier). All that sounds bad, and honestly it isn't ideal for pets, but all of those rats did improve and are featured in this video training ad being confident around me. It took a lot of work to boost their confident, a lot of hours and weeks and months of my hand in the cage and luring them with liquid treats on a spoon to come within a few inches of me, then to touch me for the barest second, then to keep one hand on me while licking up the food, then 2, then 3, and finally all 4. It took months to teach them to hop onto my hand so I didn't have to pick them up (something they all hated no matter how much desensitization and pairing with treats it got). Looking back I should have taught them to hop into a box or carrier, as they likely would have learned that faster - but regardless in the end they did learn to hop onto my hand, they learned to approach me confidently and to climb all over me, to not freak the second I moved, to be confident outside the cage even without their cagemates, to play in a hands-off way, train, and generally they had a great life. Now again I wouldn't consider rats like them to be ideal for pet temperament, but all I'm saying is you absolutely can make progress with rats like this. Its hard, it takes lots of patients and time and no expectations (I never thought I'd be able to have them take treats from me, let alone jump willingly into my hand, or willingly follow me around outside the cage), but its doable. That being said, if they aren't working out there is no shame in rehoming them, and getting more naturally friendly rats from an ethical breeder (3 of my current rats come from an ethical breed mainly because of that last group - I love working with rats, but having a large skittish group took a lot of work and I wanted some rats that I knew would be super confident and friendly from the start (which all 3 of them are, being some of my friendliest and most confident rats to date)). There are rescues out there that specialize in taking in rats who are "hands-off" so to speak - ie rats that would prefer to interact with other rats and that are fearful of humans and would prefer to stay away. Most of these places work with these rats through other more confident rats as well, letting them draw the skittish rats to them (having confident rats around, even just 1, helps skittish rats so much. In my past group I had mostly skittish rats and 1 super confident rat (ironically she came from a much worse situation than the others - but a lot of rat temperament is genetic so she just got lucky) - she drew all the skittish rats to me each time, was super great with new rats and would always help boost their confidence. Having a rat or few like that is so helpful if you take in rats from various situations because they essentially guide the rats to trust you and the environment far faster than any treats could). If you plan to keep them then I can recommend a few videos I did on working on handling and touch with my skittish group - one tip I will say is that to me, the cage is a sacred space I never invade to pick rats up. My free-range playpen attaches to the cage so my rats can come and go on their own - it helps them gain confidence when they are making the choice to come out. Add lots of hides and such, wear a blanket they can crawl under, and mainly let them choose to explore on their own. When it comes to treats, liquid treats are the best for skittish rats as they are more motivating to rats, and they can't run off with them. I've used plain yogurt, meat baby food, and even whip cream or chocolate syrup when working with my rats (for training since its a long term thing I stick to the healthier treats, but for taming I will use anything that is rat safe including the sweeter and more savory things). Try to remember that they aren't trying to antagonize you, they just want to feel safe first and foremost and for some rats it takes a lot for them to feel safe.

[@ThatPortaPottyGuy]

I have mice and they dont like coming near me and I thought could you make a video on how I can make my mice feel comfortable and safe around me?

[@ShadowTheRat]

I plan on making a video on some trust building exercises with my more timid rats, but until then I'd suggest working with them slowly and at their own pace. If they don't enjoy being picked up then you can teach them to hop onto your hand so you don't have to pick them up - some of my current rats really dislike getting picked up but because they know to hop onto my hand for food its not a big issue and they no longer have to fear me picking them up. It also helps to use liquid treats like plain yogurt, and to work wit them at the same time daily so they know when to expect you.

[@ThatPortaPottyGuy]

Ok, thank you

[@katielehr3139]

This was really helpful for me to figure out how to start training my 2 boys since its my frist time owning rats. I cant wait to sart!

[@GuineapigGuardian]

WELCOME to being owned by rats! You are in for a treat because rats bond very closely to their well-trained humans! You came to the right channel because Shadow the Rat is very knowledgeable so I’ve already started expanding my own first aid kit to be exactly like hers (from a different video).

[@shendaraalshedir1933]

@@GuineapigGuardian Well put-- l have been owned by Rats in the past, it was WONDERFUL!! Now, just 1 bad tempered cat owns me,lol! 😱😾🐾🌈🇨🇦

[@shendaraalshedir1933]

🎉 CONGRATULATIONS on your new babies!!🎊🎈🥳🎈-- the fun starts now!👍🏻 Wishing you 🤞🏻🍀🤞🏻all a long happy healthy life together, quilted together with beautiful memories!!👌🏻 🤗💖🐾🌈🇨🇦☮️

[@sizwesithole6554]

In South Africa every house owns a Rat. I can ship them for you if you want, free of charge 😀

[@mr.thammisses6119]

​@@sizwesithole6554 wild rats and domesticated rats are completely different bub.

[@sarahdinicola5579]

My rats are hard to train. My girl Dusty is too obsessed with me to focus on any sort of training. My other girl Sandy is very skittish and frightful. It’s hard for her to focus on training when she’s listening to noises around her. My last girl Freddie is smart, but she wouldn’t follow a lore. Even the simple circle is hard for them to do. I would love some suggestions on what to do with my girls😊 Anyway I love your videos and your rats are so sweet!

[@mitsukitai2713]

Just keep at it! The more theyre socialized to you (in ref to your skittish girl) the better the training will go. Some rats will take longer than others but keep trying. Also skittish rats tend to act bolder when they're around confident rats so keep that in mind

[@sarahdinicola5579]

mitsukitai2713 Thanks for the advice 😉

[@heathertaylor8904]

Sounds like the best thing to do is sit in an enclosed space and just let them become super familiar with you.

[@annamyers4066]

I hope this will help my rat to learn to spin, (don't worry I keep her with her sisters, she is the skittish stasher that gets distracted easily )

[@ShadowTheRat]

Just give it time, and lots of practice. It took weeks before I could work with my skittish girls alone and even now I will occasionally have to take out a second rat if something spooks them. It’s amazing to see their progress though and awesome to see how much more confident they are when interacting with me now

[@nookerdog2040]

What a great training video for ALL species, not only rats! I'm a certified dog obedience instructor and I don't think I've ever seen such a concise explanation of those three training methods. Well done!! Your ratties looks so happy!!!!

[@Po101080]

Awesome guide, appreciate the effort in putting this together!

[@Henrique2801xbox]

You explain so well and helps me a lot! Thank you so much. Your channel is my go to to learn about pet rats. Also, your voice is very calming. Thank you for teaching us!

[@jennifermorley9836]

What a great video. I will share this on Facebook so people can see how intelligent our furbabies really are.

[@xlxzuu]

I absolutely love your videos they are so entertaining and they help me train my rats, thank you so much for doing this

[@tinaheuts9165]

Do you have some advice for biting? I have 2 rats that are 5,5 weeks old and one of them is biting frequently. I wan’t to stop her behavior now cuz she’s still little. Do u Have any advice on how to stop this?

[@rauchschwalbelp7693]

Btw, most yoghurt drops in Germany and probably other countries don't contain sugar! They are still somewhat fatty, but not sugary. In contrast, the most Cheerios here have unhealthy amount of sugar. So be careful if you're in a different country

[@izzynobre]

Holy crap she basically taught a rat to read

[@Achalacha]

Now in paris, we need to learn to live with rats. So by training them it can easier (and maybe we can build a army of rats to clean the street...)

[@coweenuh453]

This is so incredibly helpful

[@tupapaesfidelcastro]

dont do drugs

[@aristorats6363]

Hey Shadow The Rat! I was wondering, how do you keep your comments on? I’m trying to start up a rat channel, and I’d like to know. Thanks 😊💕

[@ShadowTheRat]

I'm not sure I understand what your asking, whenever I post videos comments are automatically turned on. You can turn them off yourself, but the only way I know of that does it without your permission is if you label the video for kids.

[@aristorats6363]

Shadow The Rat Alright! Thank you so much, ❤️!

[@l___k]

Love this video SO MUCH. Thank you! I have three 4 month old female ratties, and I really want to teach them tricks. I’ve been looking for a video like this for a while. It’s perfect! I'm using the cap to a Gerber baby food jar as a clicker. I want to train one of my rats at a time, but everyone expects a treat when I click the clicker. How do I train only one at a time? Should I use the clicker or something else? Is it possible for only one rat to hear the clicker at a time? Thanks!

[@palakgautam6674]

Hii this is palak and I love urs all vedios I just loves urs vediosssss can u plz tell me how many rats u have.... Lots of love from India ❤️❤️

[@ShadowTheRat]

6 currently, although I’ve had 18 overall and helped care for over 25.

[@palakgautam6674]

@@ShadowTheRat yeah thnks to tell me and I really love rates❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ i m urs biggest fan yrr❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🙏🙏

[@palakgautam6674]

@@ShadowTheRat can u plz tell me that if ours rat becomes unconscious I think if a rat feels so hot so that's a problem for him or a how many years of life for him given by god...❤️ Can u please tell me thisssssss❤️❤️❤️❤️🙏

[@heathertaylor8904]

You're my hero ☺ I'm excited to start training my new girls.

[@ShadowTheRat]

Happy Training!

[@Simply.libz1]

I'm buying rats very soon but I want to know everything I can about training as well as care I'm wondering if you can use the luring and targeting and all that along side clicker training? or is it one or the other otherwise they would get confused, any help is appreciated thank you!!

[@ShadowTheRat]

Yup, you'll almost always be combing multiple training methods when training new tricks. Clicker training compliments any training method since its ust a way to more effectively communicate exactly what you like - it really speeds up training no matter if you are luring, targeting, free-shaping, or doing a combo of all 3!

[@Priyanka_05_Kumari]

Very tough training buy u finnaly got the .... well from where u r reply plz ??

[@lottierenwick8789]

I love rats so so much even we have a hamster well two of the hamster s dieed

[@ShadowTheRat]

Sorry about your hamsters :(

[@allthingschihuahua273]

This is very helpful! I trick trained a chicken, and now working on doing some harder tricks with her. Definitely looking at anything and everything to help me improve communication.

[@shendaraalshedir1933]

Young lady your devotion and time spent with your little babies is inspiring!! I was born in 1960, Year Of The Rat, but am not nearly as cute as your sweet little angels! I had just 2 rats in my adult life, after moving into an apartment. I didn't have them at the same time. I was beyond devasted when my first boy D'Artangnon died. A few years later when my 2nd baby Ceasar died, l just could not do it again. I have buried many dogs & cats in my 61 years, and l can say that burying a tiny rat was NO different. The pain was unbearable. It sickens me how these super intelligent, clean, gentle, sweet natured, loving, affectionate, loyal little Animals are soooo maligned, and worse, what we do to them in the name of "science"...🤬😡😠 As well as other innocent defenseless Animals. I spoke to alot of parents with questions & l said l highly recommended Rats for children. You know kids won't keep up with a litterbox or daily dog walks. Rats like a regularly cleaned environment, a quick warm bath, & a leash if you want to romp in the grass, but for kids to learn some form of responsibility, Rats are soooo low maintenance, yet their rewards are the hugest. And with all the joy & companionship of a dog or cat. A loyal little friend they can carry pretty much anywhere!!👍🏻 What is not to love??🤷 Bless you and each of your precious little waifs, they are beyond adorable!! May they each live the longest happiest healthiest lives and leave you with joyful precious memories, as my little Gentlemen did for me. 💖🤗🐁🐀🤗💖🐾🌈🇨🇦☮️

[@purpleunicorn9351]

This is perfect timing! I have four 3-4 month old little rattle boys and I'm about to start training them when they wake up and free roam them. Im going to try teaching them the lure, spin and maybe up onto a plant pot as their first few tricks. This was really helpful. Cant wait to start training them

[@snekings5778]

Hello! I was wondering if I could get some advice. I recently got rats (almost two weeks ago) they obviously aren't comfortable yet with handling and are a bit tentative with petting but will allow pets most of the time. Any advice on how we can get them to be comfortable to be pet and handled, and be comfortable with me in general? I'm just worried I'm doing something wrong, although I'm aware it will take some time for them to be comfortable. I've had hamsters for a decade but rats are very new to me so I'd love your insight!!

[@user-ekaterina-beauty]

Айскрим 🍧🍨🍧🍨🍧🍧🍨🍧🍧🍨🍨🍨🍧🍧🍧🍨🍨🍨🍧🍧🍨🍨

[@fxnn_bruh6163]

Im getting rats in five dayssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ShadowTheRat]

CongRATs!

[@fxnn_bruh6163]

OMG thank you so much

[@sambishop2691]

Thankyou shadow the rat for all of your videos, your very talented 🥰🐾 xx

[@vendettarules1]

Thank you for this! I had like no clue how to get their attention for longer than a millisecond! I know they are super smart but I didn't know how to tap into that ;)

[@sophiafox4802]

Thanks for finally pushing me over the edge! I was debating in getting another hamster- nope! Would have been to sad because of the death of my other one. I also debated on a snake or bearded dragon- nope! I don’t want to be 30 and still have a pet to take care of. Rat- yep! Clean, happy, ADORABLE, friendly, smart, and (mostly) cuddly! Thanks!

[@abrahamrodriguezperez-i7w]

Thanks for such a beautiful and helpful video ❤

[@marylock3105]

Took me 12 months to train my rats especially claw she very nervous about everything getting in rat carrier I am patient with her she hates me holding her gradually she let me hold her 2 minutes then 5then 10 now 20 but her sister loves everything.

[@jackiescustoms3518]

My rat died two weeks after he was diagnosed with HLD

[@ShadowTheRat]

I'm so sorry :(

[@leedohy111]

Hi thanks for this great video I've been wanting to train my rats but didn't know how so thank you very much. I have an unrelated question: don't your rats pee on the carpet? Mine do a lot. How do you keep it clean? Did you train them not to pee on the carpet?

[@Jessie-ht7zm]

What should I do when my rat bites the spoon with baby food, and even nibbles at my free hand when I have the spoon in my other hand? If the spoon still has food on it when I take it away, he lunges and bites the spoon trying to take it. I'm scared if I use my finger, he'll bite it. Any tips?

[@hyperv1016]

Okay, but why are my baby rats so nervous? does it get better if I keep playing with them everyday?

[@missmassanesthesia]

Willard Stiles liked this video

[@LeahSalmon-fk5oz]

My rat take the liquid treats somewhere into the unknown

[@pokefanman3520]

my boy Ethan stashes his treats but then his brother Kenzo finds and eats them all

[@yikesforeverp8885]

I give my rats yogurt on my fingers and on a spoon and they bite the spoon but not my fingers

[@thedovahk9398]

Idk how to train my rats when they are almost always scared to death outside of their cage.

[@ariellegreenstone6165]

Thank you SO MUCH! This video is THE BEST for ANYBODY looking to train their rats. I love how you focus on going over the training methods rather than the tricks themselves, which makes it easy and fun to make up your own tricks. Also I like how you point out that you don’t need to buy a clicker! I use a pen and it works so well. I guarantee everyone has a clicking pen somewhere in their house.

[@tezzanoia]

Using a pen and generally things you have at home is a great idea tbh! I have a fidget cube that makes a soft clicking sound, so I think I'll actually give that a try

[@Wifgargfhaurh]

I need to know how to train them to attack intruders

[@babygorilla4233]

Aww they learn better socially

[@ratlover2004]

I love small animals like rats,hamsters, and gerbils

[@Matthew-tg1pb]

Nice vid now I can train my 16 rats Is 16 too many? I think not

[@ShadowTheRat]

Back when I had 12 last year I trained everyone, so I’d say you can do it for sure! I will admit one reason I like having a smaller group (now 6 rats) is because it’s easier to train and work with them one on one, but it was still a lot of fun to train with so many rats!

[@Matthew-tg1pb]

@@ShadowTheRat Thank you for the reply never got one

[@jethrocanela9243]

I love all of the cute baby pictures you got.

[@Account-ql3mc]

Omg baby espresso is so pure

[@ShadowTheRat]

I have so many clips of her as a baby, she was super fun to film because nothing scared her! One of my favorite clips is still from her intro where she was nomming on the older girls tails - she really was a confident little rat and that never changed.

[@Account-ql3mc]

Shadow The Rat Aww😭What a cutie

[@lauranorvell3405]

How can I get my rats to use their excercise wheel

[@bluhbie9105]

Amazing video wow

[@godx214]

How to trains pet my rat is red eyes tell me plz and

[@dongjunlee2969]

What do you feed your rat?

[@haydenvierra3528]

I’m obsessed!

[@mbrazeaumodetrats]

I love it !!

[@mikahmillion8584]

Hey this isn’t related to the video but my 3 rats ate my fourth rat and I’m just so confused

[@ShadowTheRat]

Rats and other rodents are prone to trying to "clean up" dead cagemates, as a way to prevent their scent from attracting attention from predators. Domestic rats might not have that problem but many still have that same instinct and will consume bits of dead cagemates. It sounds brutal but its completely instinctual and since rats are so scent oriented once their cagemates smell changes they really don't recognize them. All that is to say I suspect your rat died and the others tried to clean up the body. I've had this happen with a few rats, along with all my gerbils, and its a big reason that I try to remove dead rats asap and don't show my other rats dead cagemates bodies if they pass outside the cage. Its a sad thing to see but really is again just an instinct and doesn't mean anything towards how they interact with living cagemates. I'm so sorry for your loss :(

[@mikahmillion8584]

Shadow The Rat thank you so much. I was just so worried they had gotten hungry (I was away for the day) and killed her. It’s a little better to know that she most likely passed naturally.

[@faithfullypenny5990]

❤

[@Mads17309]

So, I got the rat I wanted. But he got hurt and really sick after 2 weeks of having him. I did everything right. He was not that old ether. He was fed 2 times a day morning and night I changed his water daily changed his bedding 2 times a week. And he died. He was really young and he was such a good boy. He had really big cages too. I would take him out daily and hold him for hours at a time. I just don’t know what I did wrong. It could have been my parents because they didn’t let me get 2 even tho I did my best to convince them. But I don’t know. Any suggestions on things I could do better for the next rat? I feel so bad for him and I don’t want it to happen again.

[@ShadowTheRat]

Hi there, I'm so sorry to hear your ratty passed away. Rats can be pretty fragile animals, and often those from pet stores or any unknown genetics don't have the best health - sometimes you get lucky, but I've also lost young rats and they can go from healthy to gone in a few hours from a number of things. Personally my recommend for now though would be that you don't get another rat. While I'm sure you did a great job caring for your boy, its just not fair on rats to get one and keep them solo. If your parents aren't even willing to get rats as a pair, which is one of the core essential parts of rat care, then how do you think they'll react if you have to go to the vet? I've spend hundreds on my rats vet trips, and while its always been worth it, there's no getting around that they can cost quite a bit at the vets. So if you are a dependent and can't pay those costs yourself, and if your parents won't go for proper rat care by getting at least 2 rats, then its really not fair to get a rat because you just can't support it properly yet. I understand that rats are amazing animals and I know how tempting it is to push ahead and get one regardless - but I really recommend you hold off for now and instead get a pet that can be kept solo. Even then, please make sure your parents realize that small pets needs are just as important as large pets - even with solitary animals like hamsters its not fair on the animal to get one and not provide it vet treatment or such if need be. Please consider what I'm saying here - I really do think you have the best intentions, but its not fair to get a solo rat, no matter how much time you spend with them. Solo rats are perpetually stressed - even if they don't show it, you have to remember they are prey animals and will try to do everything to survive. But hormones don't lie, and rats kept solo have been shown to always have raised stressed hormones no matter what enrichment they get otherwise - so there is just no way to ethically keep a rat solo, unless the rat has an extremely rare case of serious agression towards other rats (in which case the rat also likely isn't happy and will need to be neutered/spayed, because a well tempered and happy rat shouldn't be agressive to humans or other rats).

[@ambermazan4372]

Rats can READ? I have been researching rats for a bit now hoping to get a few as ESAs, and I had NO IDEA they could read.

[@ShadowTheRat]

Unfortunately no, they can’t read - but they can recognize patterns in symbols or motions, and learn to associate actions with these. So for example my rats know how to navigate a simple iPad symbol board to ask for things, and they know many hand and symbol based cues. In the case of Espresso spinning to a seeming read card cue, she’s actually responding to the motion of the card being flipped (which I trained as her go ahead to progress to the next part of that trick chain). They really are smart little critters, but that specific trick is definitely an example of a prop making a trick seem more advanced than it is.

[@gabrielgranadosg]

Woah! This video is so cool! Didn't know rats/mouses were so smart to learn a trick so fast! 😮👍 Thanks very much for sharing this video!! 💖 *Greetings from Costa Rica!* 🌴

[@nattyoch5998]

Im sad i have adult rats two girlies and they dont want treat they want me..They always jump on me :(I cant train them ..:(

[@ShadowTheRat]

I can pretty much promise you that they act that way because they aren’t super comfortable in their environment yet - I suggest you set out a lot of hides and tubes and such, then open the cage and let them decide to come and go. Do this for an hour or few daily (or several times a week at least) and offer liquid treats like yogurt whenever they approach. It might take a week, but they’ll adjust pretty quickly if you give them hides and cage access and after that you can start training the lure and go from there.

[@elizabethcox570]

Do both genders enjoy trick training?

[@ShadowTheRat]

Yup! How fast they initially pick things up seems to depend on the individual rats personality, but it has no relation to which sex they are. And regardless of their individual temperaments once they get into the training habit they all quickly pick things up and absolutely love it!

[@hijadewebber]

This is incredibly helpful and thorough! Thank you so much

[@cloverde14]

My mouse can learn this tricks?

[@ShadowTheRat]

Yup! Both rats and mice are very quick to pick up new tricks and absolutely love training!