Willow Joins Me

Willow builds up her nest, taking up the entire top level of her cage. There are tunnels and multiple doors. I strip it all out once a week so she has to start over. Then I feed her fresh coffee filters or magazine shreds every night so she can build bigger.
Every time you see Willow's nose touch me, she's executing tiny "bites" in rapid succession. She can do a hundred of these little light bites in one play session. Willow, very unsocialized (she lived almost all of her 2 years alone, and with no human touch), is faux biting me. I had one other rat, Dicey, who was originally very aggressive, do this same behavior as she turned friendly. The first time it happened, I was uncertain as to the meaning. I stopped in place and waited until Dicey finished and pulled back. Then I slowly began to pull out of the box my hand was in, thinking she didn't want me there. "Oh no no NO" she said, as she grabbed my hand and dragged me back inside, where we repeated the "biting" play a few more times. It's a pleasure to let a rat treat my skin like she would do with a buddy rat. I encourage this kind of good teeth activity. More on that subject can be found here: http://www.joinrats.com/EarningTrust/RatsUsingTeeth/15630450_hH8bsw.
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Before I adopted her, Willow had lived her entire first year alone in a small cage with few enrichment items. In my new "flight cage", which I just set up, she gets to be the first rat visitor. She seemed awestruck.
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Willow builds up her nest, taking up the entire top level of her cage. There are tunnels and multiple doors. I strip it all out once a week so she has to start over. Then I feed her fresh coffee filters or magazine shreds every night so she can build bigger.

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When Willow came to me at about 1.5 years of age, she had never been touched or handled by a human. Using Positive Reinforcement I helped her to love to hop onto my shoulders and go for rides. Over time, I helped her come down onto my arms and enjoy staying in place.
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Willow builds up her nest, taking up the entire top level of her cage. There are tunnels and multiple doors. I strip it all out once a week so she has to start over. Then I feed her fresh coffee filters or magazine shreds every night so she can build bigger.
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