When we first got Mana & Lucy in 2019 (gosh, that long ago!), they were fearful of us and did the “helicopter tail” every time we picked them up, to signal their discomfort. We knew that from the perspective of a baby rat, we might as well have been the giants from Attack on Titan, so we had to think of ways for them to associate our massive hands with food, pleasure, safety.
The obvious way to do so was to slather baby food on our fingers. Unfortunately, I tried to pet their faces more than once while covered in goo, and that probably left a lifelong distaste among at least one of our ratties. #fancyrats #rats
The Rat Chronicles 