My rat makes un natural noises when you pick her up!?

Question

i am taming my two rats by just picking them up, one of my rats are almost fine with it but my other female rat is much harder to pick up and when we do pick her up (eventually) she makes squeeking noises and scraches me on my hands (towards the cage so she obviously wants to go back) what should i do?!?

Answer 1

what you should do is get her checked by the vet to make sure she doesn't have any tumors or she , you know, pregnant, lol. if she isn't try putting your hand next to her and if she sniffs it and is done try to pick her up then if she keeps l*****g your hand wait till she stops pick her up then.

Answer 2

I wouldn't worry.  Some rats love to hear themselves squeak.  I have a had 2 screamers so far.  It often is an indication of being startled; one of the rats that does it is nearly 100% blind and deaf in one ear.  The other just makes indignant squeaks in response to anything forced on him.  This isn't uncommon.  Females especially tend to not like being held.  

If there is no other sign of sickness they most likely don't need a vet.  It's good of you to be concerned though!

You might want to try trust training.  It's slower but it will help the rat feel more comfortable with you.  Below are links with more information.

Answer 3

It sounds like shes really scared but it might be uncomfortable for her when you hold her because there may be something wrong with her. Take her to the vet, and until then dont take her out as it will just keep scaring her and she will eventually be impossible to handle altogether so get her checked out!

Good luck.

Answer 4

Don't panic, this is just the rats way of telling you, "hey, I don't want to be picked up right now!" I've had to tame rats that have done this early on, but once they get used to you handling them, the squeaking will become less frequent. Spend lots of time interacting with both rats, and make sure you take them out of the cage everyday for at least an hour. Even if she squeaks, it usually does not mean you are hurting her unless you really are squeezing too hard, but I doubt that. Do not let her go back to the cage, try and put her down on a bed or couch where she an not escape and sit with her. This helped me a lot in the past. Goodluck!

Answer 5

leave her alone