All Videos of Rats

This video is the most important one in this gallery; if you can only watch one, watch this one. Holding Lila, helping her become less shy. Giving her a "grip cave". While it might appear that I have Lila in a clench, or that I'm "forcing" her to be still, neither is accurate. She physically relaxes in the "cave". She often bruxes, has yawned, and once to my delight wagged her tail. Sometimes she naps. (See examples of tail-wagging on some embedded youtube videos in Grooming to Bond.)

Prey can't remain in place or in the open for long, so moving in-and-out of the grip-cave is helping her learn she won't be eaten. My rats aren't allowed down on my bed, so we work continually on settling into my arms when we have individual snuggle time.

The pressure from my hands needs to be just right, and scritching (grooming) her during the "grip" is important. Too little pressure and she seems to begin to fear exposure again, too much pressure and she experiences physical force that I would call abusive. She seems to focus on the scritching as a signal that she is safe and everything is okay for the moment.

I have both introvert and extrovert rats (Lila is an introvert), and "gripping" seems to help the introverts most, although all of them benefit. An extrovert rat seems to need a lighter grip with less pressure directly on the face.

All this said, I haven't teased out the "gestures of the language" involved in "gripping" or the "grip-cave".

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From Snug Holding Pet Rats