Rats are highly intelligent rodents who make great pets for children. Rats who are socialised can be affectionate and quite patient with children. Because they are such clever animals, they need mental stimulation on a regular basis. Teaching your pet rat new tricks will also help to strengthen your bond with him.
One trick you can teach him is to ‘shake’ your hand on cue. This is a fun and relatively easy trick to teach him.
What you need
It doesn’t take much to teach your rat this trick. All you’ll need is:
- Your rat’s favourite treats in very small pieces
- Time
- Patience
Teaching time
As with any training, start with small steps and don’t expect your pet rat to learn this trick in one go. Make sure he masters each step and practise it often before you proceed to the next step.
Would you like to read the rest of this interesting article? Get the Winter #346 edition of Animaltalk magazine from retailers or order a digital or printed copy from www.coolmags.co.za.
