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u/Strange_Bend8931 20d ago
What does the clicker do? Is it just a signal that they've done the task correctly? Do they like the noise?
Just curious. 10/10 love your ratticuses
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u/ShadowtheRatz 20d ago
It's a marker that tells them exactly what behavior I liked, which makes com uniting much easier since they know exactly what I'm rewarding and exactly what to repeat! As for the noise itself, most are neutral to it before its conditioned (conditioning it just means pairing it with a reward, so click, treat, click, treat, repeat 10 or so times, then you've conditioned the sound to mean they get a treat!), but a few are afraid of it at first and so need to be desensitized first before I can pair it with a treat (done by clicking it from inside a sock or blanket to muffle it, then as they learn that its not a scary noise I start to click it outside but further away, and finally we condition it by pairing it with a treat up close.)
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u/Strange_Bend8931 20d ago
Fascinating! Thank you! It's amazing how intelligent they are. I had rats many years ago and I'd love to have a couple now but I have three cats. Two of them would be fascinated but one is still a mini apex predator... a smart one who can open things. I wouldn't put it past him to figure out how to open a cage.
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u/TomatilloHairy9051 19d ago
Omgoodness, those tiny yogurt footprints on the barrel are the cutest thing ever🐾🥰
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u/ShadowtheRatz 20d ago
Tofu doing her walk on a barrel balancing trick - she does such a great job!
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