biting rats

[captainphil]

I am new here but I am not new to having rats. Previously, my family had 2 rats, they were my babies and utterly amazing creatures. Once they died, we decided we were ready for some new ones and got 4 from a pet store (my previous rats were also from a pet store). Now, we realise pet store rats are not the ones to get.

We brought them home and left them in the cage for the three days they are to be left and while they were very skittish, they were happy to come out and be held. At least a month or two later, one began biting whenever we went in to get them, by the end of the week, every one was biting. My family and I are now too terrified to go back in.

We want nothing more than to handle them and play with them but the fear of being bitten is too great. While they are more comfortable with us around the cage and will eat food out of our hands, the fear is too much.

How do we do this? Has anyone else been through something like this? The started biting for no reason at all which is sad because they are such beautiful animals.

 

[odoriusagi]

Hi Captainphil and welcome to the forum!

I am new to rats, but I recently had to deal with an aggressive and vicious hormonal pair of males. Well, one of the boys was just downright mean, the other was simply unpredictable.

My boys bit me more when it got them what they wanted (which was me to get out of their territory), which is a positive reward. To avoid having the rats learn that biting gets you away from them (since it sounds like they are probably still afraid), I suggest not allowing them to be in a situation where they can bite. With my mean boy, I still gave him treats, allowed him to roam and play, spoke sweetly to him, but I never reached into his cage, never picked him up and never offered a finger or a knuckle to him. I wanted him to forget that he ever had any reason to bite!

The other boy was less mean and more cage aggressive. If you reached into the cage too fast to refresh or clean something in it, he would strike with lightning speed to attack. Now I always respect the boys' space and never do anything inside the cage unless they are both out of it. This way, they have learned to trust me, learned to feel safe in their cage and have begun to respect me as somebody who understands their language.

I've only had this pair for two months (they were rescued when they were about a year old), so I can't back up my advice with a lot of experience like many people can here on this forum. But what I have described above, in addition to neutering my boys to get rid of any hormonal issues, has worked wonders. It has taken awhile, but these rescue guys, which may have been neglected before and/or learned to bite to get people to leave them alone, have become sweet, funny, more trusting and have not bitten for quite awhile!

 

[jorats]

I have a few questions for you.
How old are the rats?
How big is the cage?
Where is the cage situated? High traffic area?
Any other pets in the home that has access to the cage?

Once we know more, we'll be able to help you better.
I'm sorry you are going through this, please know, it's quite uncommon for rats to be aggressive. We'll figure this out!

 

[captainphil]

The rats were just weeks old when we got them so probably around 1, 1 and a half perhaps.
They are all females.
The cage is fairly big but they haven't grown as large as our last pair.
The cage is in a high traffic area as we felt they were scared and to stop them being scared was to get them used to the noise and it seemed to have worked slightly.
There are no other pets in the home.

 

[captainphil]

the rats have also bitten the whole family, it isn't just one in particular. I have been bitten a few times myself.

 

[dspch911]

Their all biting? I assume we're talking biting with dripping blood - crime scene worthy? I'm stumped if its all of them - if one I'd say perhaps she's sick..

 

[jorats]

Rats are usually sold at 4 weeks old, would you say they are 2 months old? If that's the case, I'll assume they are not biting but instead nipping. Many young rats to this because they don't know better. You need to make it clear to them that they can't nip but squeaking to them when they latch on. Also, be sure to never give treats through the cage bars.
But if you are telling me they are 1 year old, then it's a different issue altogether.

 

[captainphil]

our previous rats would nip when they were scared. but these little guys draw blood and will not let go once they have bitten. it's quite scary.

 

[jorats]

These are indeed babies?

 

[Joanne]

Yes, are they 1 1/2 MONTHS old? Or around 1, 1/2 YEARS old?

Have they ever been treated for mites? Just trying to cover all bases - sometimes they get cranky if they have buggies...