How to Teach an Old Pet Rat NEW Tricks!

Rats are completely capable of being trained to perform tricks and simple commands. Owners train rats to exercise the rats’ minds and display their intelligence. There are hundreds of tricks, commands, phrases, and games that rats can learn very quickly. The owner must be prepared to spend several hours training the rat to execute particular commands and tricks, much like a dog or any other pet. Rats actually ENJOY learning new things, as they have a need for mental stimulation.

 How Do You Train a Pet Rat to Perform Simple Tricks and Commands?

Training a rat involves a lot of patience. Rats are consistently curious, investigating every minor detail of their surroundings. They are constantly learning about the world around them, and this is something they genuinely enjoy doing. This means that a rat could quickly become interested in something other than training; much like an excited, active puppy who would rather run and play. Keeping the rat’s attention requires a quiet room with few distractions, as well as lots of treats! Check out the videos below to learn how to teach your pet rat some new tricks or commands. There are hundreds of videos that give detailed instructions for training rats, which are much more useful than blocks of text. I hope you all can show us some of the new tricks that you and your rats have learned!

Can I Train Rats to Use a Litter Box???

Absolutely!! Rats are very capable of being litter trained, just like rabbits and ferrets. Litter training not only helps to keep the cage cleaner; it helps the cage to smell better! One of the favored litters for rats is rabbit food. It smells good, is highly absorbent, harmless if ingested, and cheap! It can take some discipline when teaching ratties to poo and pee in their litter boxes, and teaching them not to pee and poo everywhere else. You will have to be diligent in moving the waste to the litter box daily, or multiple times per day. This commitment teaches the rats that they should only potty in their litter boxes, and leave their cages cleaner. Rats are very clean animals, and generally choose one corner to potty in. The litter box should smell like waste, so that they continue to use it.