Objective To provide a practical device and protocol to hold conscious rats for subsequent operations which can overcome the disadvantages of existing methods. Users can complete the experiment more efficiently, with or without prior experience. Methods Using transparent plastic film, plastic sealing machine and sponge to make a simple device for holding rats, by taking advantage of their escaping nature. To compare the performance of the new method and existing methods for holding and injecting rats. Results Compared with existing methods, the new device and method can reduce the time-consuming to hold rats by 44.7%, from 18.13 seconds to 10.03 seconds. For holding and injecting, the new method can reduce the time-consuming by 55.3%, from 139.33 seconds to 52.26 seconds. Conclusions The new device and method is good for holding and injecting rats or drawing blood from the caudal veins. It can shorten the time of operation and reduce the stress reaction in the animals. It's especially helpful for inexperienced experimenters such as students in teaching and research tasks.