Hoarding and nipping... ideas?

[Blizzisme]

We have 2 new rats (~5 weeks old)

Firstly. Both of them nip at our fingers. Its not outright biting, and usually follows them licking our hands or rubbing up against our hands. My GF doesn't like it. How would you suggest I discourage it?

Secondly. We started giving them Harlan tonight. One of the two is taking them(all) and hoarding them, while the other one settled down with a single block and is munching contentedly. She literally cleared the entire bowl(and stashed it in a tube on the bottom of the cage).

I am going to un-stash it soon... Figured I would let her finish first. At their old home I don't think they were getting enough food/water. Should I just keep filling it(and un-stashing) until she decides to stop it, or is there something else I should do?

 

When they nip you, gently pull away and squeak! ..also don't feed through the cage bars (ie: treats).
Hoarding food is normal, everytime you clean, just put the food back in the dish.

 

[jorats]

Nipping at this age usually stops soon enough. As for the stashing, that's perfectly normal. Unstashing is a good idea but don't be surprised if she goes right back to stashing.

 

Mine always just bring it back to their stashing place :giggle: ..but it gives them something to do, so I always put them back in the bowll during everyday cleaning.

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

I have found the best way to discourage baby nips is to leave your hand there rather than pulling it away, then they realize faster that nipping doesn't equal getting rid of fingers.

 

[PitLuvs]

I have found the best way to discourage baby nips is to leave your hand there rather than pulling it away, then they realize faster that nipping doesn't equal getting rid of fingers.

Ditto. Our 9week old boys nipped when they came here, god knows how they were fed before us. I left my hands in the cage and the nipping became more tastes, and now its just playtime. If you pull back, they get a reaction thats fun which could turn into more aggressive bites down the road.

Ours hoard blocks like its their last meal! I forgot about hoarding until I cleaned the cage and found a bowl full until the tunnel hehe

 

[ATez]

My rats nip at my fingers too, when they do i just move my fingers around and they stop. They do it especially if i just touched food, they try to run away with my fingers. I wouldn't just leave my fingers there tho (I mean not move them) because they might mistake your nails for food. One of mine has done this before and drew some blood but never realised what happened... he just kept begging for food. :wink: