Help me with my rats please?

I have owned fancy rats for several years, from Dumbos to Hairless, and i recently adopted 2 very young rats from a lady at a Petco store. She said they were about 3 weeks old, and the momma rat died while giving birth to the babies. She bottle raised the babies, so they had plenty of human contact. I have had the pair for 2 weeks now, and they are scared to death of me. One of them even tries to bite me when I do something as simple as give them fresh food. They both scream at me when my hands get too close. Tonight, the male jumped out of the cage, onto my arm, and ran off into my closet, where there was a small enough hole for him to get under my house. I am convinced he is gone, and there is no way to find him now. I also found out recently that these were descended from common brown rats, and the parents were wild. Should I continue to work with the female, or will she never warm up to me?Help me with my rats please?
I'm thinking the Petco lady wasn't exactly truthful with you.





If it was me, I'd send her for breeding. She will probably be happiest with very little human contact. ';Setting them free'; is inhumane. Chances are, she won't be able to find food, and either make a nuisance of herself until someone poisons her, or starve to death. Predators are also a big concern.





Snakes eat rats. It's the ';Circle of Life';, I don't see a problem with breeding rats to feed captive snakes, and it's a ';good living'; compared to actually being the meal. That's all they eat, where else are you gonna get them?





I would call that Petco lady and tell her the problems you've had. Tell her that it might have been a mistake, but she needs to be more careful in the future.





I would go to a private pet owner who's female had a litter unexpectedly. They make the best pets.





Good luckHelp me with my rats please?
Please continue to work with the female,... I've known people who've adopted a wild brown rat,.. just a common Norway rat when young and it became a very tamed pet.


Also leave an open door cage with food close to where you think the male escape,... he just may return and surprise you (did that with a loved pet rodent that accidently escaped in my houseful of feral and tamed cats! Little crapper snuck back in cage to grab food while I was on sofa watching TV,,.. caught her then).





[rats are so intelligent, I myself am repulsed by the breeding, feeding of them to snakes,.....yeh, yeh, yeh,.. I know, snakes have to eat too,........does snakes come when called? My rats did, by name! Just my 2 bits]
My firecest hamster bite me on my fingers and held there until my finger have 4 deepest cuts that is visible to this day.





Yet, my firecest hamster is actually my tamest hamster after spend months of warming up to him.





Try for another 3 months and see how things goes before you decide to let her go. Who knows you might even grow to love her.





PS: Don't ever let a hamster out of your house into the wild. Pet rodents have mild survival instinct as compared to their wild counter parts. They are likely to die within 3 months.
well if that were me, i would definitely try to keep continuing to work with her but if theres no progress, i guess i would let her out rather than feeding her babies to a snake
Ive tamed a rat just like that, takes alot of time and effort but it is well worth it in the end.
well, first of all, never buy from petco again.





It can take a lot longer than 2 weeks for a rat to warm to you and trust you (I doubt these babies have been hand-raised, though. Maybe she filled a bottle and held it there for them)





She shouldn't have sold you a 3 week old rat unless you were a re-habber, which for some reason, I don't think you are.





So, I say find a re-habber. Of course, you could be very very gentle. I have tamed wild mice this way, just by leaving my hand near them in the cage, and spending at least 5 or 6 hours a day solid with them. It does work, it is rewarding.





But never accept a rat under 6 weeks again (if itwas really three weeks, which is just after their eyes open.)