Unsocialized 3-5 month old ratty... she's a bit nippy

[NicodemusRattus]

I just acquired some new ratties within the past month, two of them are sisters maybe 3-5 months old? They're being kept in their own cage until I feel the time is right to introduce everyone. I'm not sure if they're used to being handled by people, but judging from their shyness I'm guessing no. I don't usually have much trouble with socializing new ratties, especially younger ones, but one of them seems to be a little more resistant. One of them has been very...nippy. Her sister's warming up to me, but this one has kept her distance from us, and tries to bite us when we put our hand in the cage. I'm used to the slight nibble/investigation nips a new rat might give, but this is more than that. She's drawn blood on my boyfriend twice, and gave me a pretty nasty bite when I was adjusting something in the cage. He said they were on the opposite side of the cage when he stuck his hand in to put the food dish in, and she apparently jumped at him from across the cage and latched onto his finger. I've never really dealt with this behavior with most of my other rats, I know they can be territorial over the inside of the cage, but usually when I have shy new rats they just hide and avoid me when my hand's in the cage. We try to avoid putting our hands near her when we remove/replace the food dish, but now she's doing this running over and attacking thing and it worries me. I think she's probably 3-5 months, but she still seems young enough to me, and I feel like there's some way to correct this behavior before she gets too old to change it? I've only had her for about a month. Her sister's been much easier to get along with. They're black berkshire females, and in my experience that's been one of my favorite breeds and usually pretty friendly. When I take them out of the cage to clean it, she doesn't seem as aggressive. I've been picking her up and holding her, and while she's out of the cage she seems more mellow. I'm sort of worried she might give us a surprise attack while she's out of the cage though, but I don't want this to deter me from handling her. Any tips on getting her to settle down?

 

[hopefloats]

She could very well be cage aggressive. I have a girl that way and they are not fun. Keep working with giving her treats in the cage build up trust in the cage so she can see you are not out to get her.

 

[Petunia]

You can try leaving your hand in the cage so she gets used to the smell of it and all, at least this is what I'm doing with my two new boys as one of them will attack my hand in the cage sometimes. Both of these boys were put in with a snake, and one of them has scars so the snake did attack him at some point and he's the one who will go at my hand, til he realizes it's me.
The more times I put my hand in the cage and he sees nothing bad happens, the more he accepts it and doesn't try to bite it any more unless I startle him.
it kinda sucks having to be so careful but I am sure, at the rate he's going, I'll be able to fully trust him eventually. He is timid outside of the cage but does not try to nip me at all.

 

[jorats]

It does sound like cage aggression, a lunge and bite. Lots of extra socializing can help. Lots of holding her and putting her down, scooping up, putting her down. Each time you scoop her up, you give her treat.

 

[NicodemusRattus]

Thanks for the advice all, we're continuing to work with her and it's been a slow process so far lol. A few mins ago my boyfriend just had his hand in the cage petting the calmer sister, who was enjoying the attention... until once again her sister lunged from across the cage and latched onto his finger. I'm not sure how the person who bred them handled them, but I'm guessing not very well... but the calmer sister has been pretty relaxed around us since the first week.