Our relationship was rocky at first - Rosie and I definitely had to get used to each other. Before the first lab last Wednesday, I was a bit nervous about getting a rat. Growing up, I had never had hamsters, gerbils, or any rodent as pets. I had a cat for a short time...and that's it. Having no experience with rats whatsoever, I was (understandably) anxious to learn how to interact with this animal. Attempting to hold Rosie for the first time was a memorable experience: I was nervous about how to grab her out of her cage (was my grip too firm or too loose? Was she going to escape? Was I going to hurt her?). Dr. Trench had to lift her out for me. She then placed Rosie on my arm and I held her for a couple of seconds before she started to squirm and attempt to escape my grasp. At that point, I awkwardly handed her off to Brian, who seemed to be a natural with her! I felt like a bit of a failure after that first encounter with Rosie. I knew that learning to handle her was going to be a challenge, a challenge that I looked forward to facing throughout the semester.
After that initial experience, Brian and I went back the next day to start getting to know Rosie and getting her used to us. That Thursday, Brian encouraged me to be the one to lift Rosie out of her cage and hold her first. After much hesitation, I did it! I held Rosie for almost ten minutes that day, and it has gotten easier to pick her up and hold her without hesitation ever since then.
Today, Rosie was quite fidgety, more so than usual. Brian and I think it could be due to the rats' feeding restrictions in preparation for our training tomorrow. In general, Rosie squirms, sniffs, and tries to escape our grasp when we hold her, actions that I would think are pretty normal for a rat. She grooms herself quite frequently and likes to burrow herself under our fingers when we hold her. She doesn't seem to like when we pet her (it seems to startle or rile her up), so I've started just holding her securely in my hands without attempting to pet. I'm attempting to observe Rosie more and understand her habits; though this is because I'd like to get to know my rat better, it also has selfish reasons - Rosie has pooped on me two of the seven times that I have held her :). I think once I better am able to recognize the signs precluding her actions, we can avoid this!
The name Rosie just popped into my head the day after Brian and I met her. She seems to like it, and we think it fitting :). Rosie definitely seems to be quite curious about her environment, so we think that she will be an excellent learner and we look forward to working with her!
Great start Liz! You definitely went above and beyond my questions.
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