Hi, I'm new here, and I've got some issues with my foster rat. Some background information: I had a pair of female rats a few years ago, when I was in high school. Before I got them and while I had them I did a lot of research and discussed (in other places) common rat problems, etc. So I experience in having friendly female rats who never bit.
I started fostering a single male rat on Friday, and he's a puzzle. He was found in a wood stack, where he's being living as a stray for who knows how long, so the animal rescue named him Woody. He was probably someone's pet until he got loose. He was fine being handled at first, but Saturday morning he bit me twice while I was handling him. He's generally okay being petted, and sometimes he bruxes, but he hisses when I try to pick him up, and he often squeaks when I'm holding him. He also tries to nibble on me quite a bit - he'll sniff my fingers and hands, and then open his mouth slowly and try to close it around some part of my hand. I'll generally say something like "Hey!" in a loud voice and pull away when he does this. On Sunday I realized that he has health issues as well because he somehow managed to trip over while walking quite a bit. Today vet confirmed that he had an inner ear infection, so I have antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication to give him now. I had no problems giving him the medication mixed with some food, so that's not really a worry of mine. That brings us to now. The biggest issue I have is that he seems moody. Sometimes he'll be quite friendly, and sometimes I'm scared of him. Any advice?
EDIT: If it helps, he's not timid and he's not neutered. Generally he's quite curious about his surroundings and eager to explore, though I haven't been letting him out much because picking him up to put him back in his cage is an unpleasant chore.
I started fostering a single male rat on Friday, and he's a puzzle. He was found in a wood stack, where he's being living as a stray for who knows how long, so the animal rescue named him Woody. He was probably someone's pet until he got loose. He was fine being handled at first, but Saturday morning he bit me twice while I was handling him. He's generally okay being petted, and sometimes he bruxes, but he hisses when I try to pick him up, and he often squeaks when I'm holding him. He also tries to nibble on me quite a bit - he'll sniff my fingers and hands, and then open his mouth slowly and try to close it around some part of my hand. I'll generally say something like "Hey!" in a loud voice and pull away when he does this. On Sunday I realized that he has health issues as well because he somehow managed to trip over while walking quite a bit. Today vet confirmed that he had an inner ear infection, so I have antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication to give him now. I had no problems giving him the medication mixed with some food, so that's not really a worry of mine. That brings us to now. The biggest issue I have is that he seems moody. Sometimes he'll be quite friendly, and sometimes I'm scared of him. Any advice?
EDIT: If it helps, he's not timid and he's not neutered. Generally he's quite curious about his surroundings and eager to explore, though I haven't been letting him out much because picking him up to put him back in his cage is an unpleasant chore.
