Gothic Nail Care Forum

Re: bad rat!?!!!

Posted By: Mariposa
Date: Tuesday, 10 December 2002, at 9:27 p.m.

In Response To: bad rat!?!!! (scary girl)

You *can* train your rat not to chew your nails, and it really isn't that difficult! The minute he starts to chew them, make a loud squeak, similar to the sounds other rats make when they're playing with each other and get too carried away, like saying "OW! Watch those teeth, that hurts!" This works well, especially when you reward him for stopping immediately. I trained one of my ratties this way (he liked chewing on everything, my clothes, nails, jewelry, etc.).
Another thing you could try is to give your rat a treat when you hold him, like a grape or a piece of a carrot or something he really likes that is hard and requires a lot of gnawing (like a biscuit or cookie), something that will take up a lot of his attention and hopefully distract him from chewing on your nails! Also, if you don't want to feed your rat treats all the time, you could wear gloves or mittens when you hold him. He'll still be able to smell you through the gloves and your nails will still be protected (unless he finds he likes chewing on your gloves!).
Rats are such sweet pets, good luck with yours!

Messages In This Thread

bad rat!?!!!
scary girl -- Monday, 9 December 2002, at 8:06 p.m.

Re: bad rat!?!!!
Mariposa -- Tuesday, 10 December 2002, at 9:27 p.m.

Re: bad rat!?!!!
DarkWyccan -- Thursday, 2 January 2003, at 8:14 p.m.

Re: bad rat!?!!!
jadedraven -- Friday, 18 April 2003, at 7:30 a.m.

Rat Parties
Laura Gelsing Morse -- Wednesday, 16 February 2005, at 2:58 p.m.

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