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Anonymous
I have 2 rats, each a little over a month old. Just got them 3 days ago.

How do I go about getting them used to me picking them up, and holding them? Right now when I try just normally picking them up, they cringe back, they hate it. They try crawling out of my hands when I hold them, and it seems all they want to do is burrow into my sleeves and just crawl around inside my shirt.

Also, it seems whenever I put food in their bowl, they eat. Even when they just ate. I don't know if I'm supposed to just keep their bowl filled, or If I should limit how much of it they eat or what.

And what about treats, like pumpkin seeds and veggies? How much of that kind of stuff should I give them each day?
>> Anonymous
And one more thing... They're both albino rats. Look EXACTLY alike...

Would I be able to use a non-toxic marker or something to put a mark on one of them so I can tell which is which?
>> Anonymous
>>320433
That'd be dumb, give one of em a collar of some sort, unless it'll probably work it's head out of it.
>> Anonymous
>>320434
Wow....didn't think of that. Really fucking simple.

Sounds good.
>> Anonymous
First off, this is normal. They'll be skittish as fuck and scared of you at first. Handle them for just a little bit every day and they'll start warming up to you, but just don't overdo it. Hand-feeding is an excellent way to build rapport, but again, don't overdo it. Occasional treats are good but too much fat is never healthy. Give them mostly fresh veggies.

As far as telling them apart... well, you'll learn to spot the differences between them as they grow. I guarantee you they'll have discernible personalities.
>> Anonymous
One way that I bonded with my rats is not bothering with putting food in a feed bowl. I give them their food by hand. I give them each a block, they go stash it and come back for more, I continue till they have enough for a day or so.

I figured since they immediately stash their food once they find out about it anyway, why not cut out the bowl altogether?
>> Anonymous
I bonded with mine by placing their cage beside my bed and sitting on my bed with the covers over my lap. They could have free range of hiding under my covers but in order to hide, they had to be near me.
One of my rats, who was painfully shy, took a good while before she got over it but she's doing fine now!
Don't worry about them being identical. Like anon said above, once you get to know them, you'll be able to tell the difference between them just by personality. I can tell which rat I'm petting just by their reaction to my hand.
As for food, I also used 'eating from your hand' trick. I used sticky food like babyfood to let them lick off of my fingers. (so they don't just grab and go). I also give mine a small amount of fruit and vegi's every day as a nice treat. When I really want to spoil them, I give them 'human' food.
Also, like dogs, it's recommend you give them feeding times.