Rescue Rats from Hoarder Situation

[Courtney Wilson]

Hi everyone! I'm in dire need of help. I've had a pair of rats before that were shy at first but were young and fairly easy to tame.
My local shelter has just received over 80 rats, adults and juveniles. Thankfully other rescues have stepped in to help take some of the rats but they really only took the young ones and the friendlier females. The ones who are left are all males. We are in the process of neutering all 50ish of them but they have had little to no handling and most are aggressive. I've been bit numerous times by these guys. I need some advise on how to tame them and get them use to human handling or else they will never get adopted! We are in desperate need of help so any tips to help get rid of the aggression would be helpful.

If I stick my hand in the cage the alpha males will run, bite, and latch onto my hand. They are in large 4 story Midwest cages I believe with about 10 rats in each. We've been giving them treats and fresh veggies everyday and I've been feeding them low fat low protein dog food off a spoon to try and get them use to my presence.

 

[BoBa]

https://www.google.co.jp/amp/s/amp....ts/1glw0b/advice_on_taming_an_aggressive_rat/
Here is an answer I found on Reddit.
It has good advice so I hope it helps

 

[lilspaz68]

Get them neutered first, because a fearful hormonal boy is very difficult to deal with. Just start with being the Provider of Good Things like you are doing. Talk to them, sing to them. Let them settle in first and then start working with them more seriously. Some males only take 2 weeks before the hormones recede, others can take longer.

When they bite you, are they puffed up, chattering their teeth, arched back? or just slashes and chomps then running away again?

Were they mixed in with females? This would make the dominant males even more dominant.

 

[jorats]

I always neuter any males who bite humans or their buddies. It makes for calmer colonies.

 

[SQ]

Do what lilspaz68 said ..... and once they are neutered and their hormones start to settle you can also check out the suggestions on joinrats.com