 Once you arrive home, place the rat immediately in the prepared cage and leave it to settle. It will take the rat a couple of days to get used to all the new smells and sounds of its new home and will find this time a little stressful. Therefore although you may be tempted to get your rat out and play with it, try to resist for the first couple of days so that it can first of all get used to its new surroundings and feel comfortable around you. This will help to keep its stress to a minimum.
After a few days the rat will have become accustomed to its new home and will generally seem more settled. This is the time when you can start to introduce your rat to handling. | 
